urbanSTL

goat314 wrote:^ Interesting perspective about contractors looking at rail projects for work. I've always wondered why local construction firms have not came out for major Metrolink expansion. I'd imagine a campaign to build out Metrolink like DART in Dallas or Fastracks in Denver would create tens of thousands of construction jobs over a couple decade period.

I've wondered that myself. I think they'll support building whatever is put in front of them. Page Ave X, sure! New runway, sure! New MRB, sure! New stadium, sure!

I am sure the timeframe you mentioned has nothing to do with the rapid increase of cable service penetration and the related "news" services that appeared .

In second thought, not surprised at the rail work For one, a lot of the freight rail capacity increase involves everything from grading, site work to piling and structural bridge work whether you have a road deck on top or tracks & ties on top. Second, I believe the private freight railroad capital expense is at records dollars and approaching $30 billion annually if I recall my numbers right. That is almost at 75% of the annual highway trust fund spending. Which says a lot on how much the US is willing to spend on its own infrastructure these days.

Where as most states are taking a pro active approach from Maine and NC governors pushing respective transportations bonds as of late to Jerry Brown in Cali calling a special session with respective parties putting forth proposals to bridge a $6 billion dollar deficit for 10 years to get the infrastructure to a state of good repair you got dysfunction junction of MO. Heck, Cali cap and trade will be sending $500 million to high speed rail in the state. Imagine if Northeast states banded together for cap and trade, the NE Corridor would finally have the necessary funding to rebuild its tired bridges and add much needed Hudson River & Baltimore tunnels with the ability to push electrification & the benefits of increased speeds & frequency into VA and NC.

Apologies for having just posted this over in the "Comparing St. Louis to Other Cities" thread, but I thought it might contribute to the conversation over here as well.

A map recently linked to by The Atlantic's CityLab shows every job in the United States according to the 2010 Census. The methodology clearly isn't perfect, but it gives a good idea of where there is job density in the region. No real surprises, but in terms of transportation investment, one can see how a Westport/Daniel Boone extension could make the most sense if a major goal of any new alignment is access to employment opportunities.

Job density:


That said, a Maryland Heights/Westport extension would still have significant "last mile" issues. And it is surprising (according to another map posted by the Atlantic) what an absolutely massive void of residents Maryland Heights has across its light industrial zone, despite also having some of the densest residential pockets west of 170.

Residential Density:

We could certainly do worse than a Page extension. I'd prefer a north south first like most everyone else here, I'd think, but how to make that happen?

I absolutely love dot maps. Thanks for sharing. Referencing your post in the other thread, it is odd that Frost campus jobs are either missing or have been exorcised south.

Politics and transportation in Wisconsin and Milwaukee.

Overpasses: A love story

http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/20 ... ays-000153

http://m.stltoday.com/business/local/mo ... touch=true

In no way surprised about this. Writing has been on the way for a long time. People buying more cars (car sales tax) registering them (registration fees) and buying more gas (gas tax). The 3 amigos of state transportation revenue.

Here's an org seeking reform

Alliance for Rational Transportation in Missouri

http://www.art-mo.org/

Editorial by their Exec Dir
http://www.ttnews.com/articles/letterte ... Priorities

^ some solid points and some very not solid points....sure they main argument that rural MO is robbing urban MO is in the grand scheme of things true but if everyone got what they deserved the City of STL would get majorly screwed. As my math showed a few pages back in the last 10 years and the next 4 going forward MoDOT is per person is spending more money in STL CITY then any other place in the region.


St.Louis County 2004-2014
413 Projects awarded at $1,312,876,000
St.Louis County 2015-2019
56 Projects planned at $211,624,000
Per Person Spending for 2004-2014: $1312
Per Person Spending for 2015-2019: $211


City of St.Louis 2004-2014
137 Projects awarded at $580,692,000
City of St.Louis 2015-2019
20 Projects planned at $108,644,000
Per Person Spending 2004-2014 : $1814
Per Person Spending 2015-2019: $339


St.Charles County 2004-2014
171 Projects awarded at $422,653,000
St.Charles County 2015-2019
22 Projects planned at $51,256,000
Per Person Spending 2004-2014: $1097
Per Person Spending 2015-2019 : $133

Franklin/Jefferson Counties 2004-2014
228 Projects Awarded at $397,246,000
Franklin Jefferson Counties 2015-2019
22 Projects planned at $100,542,000
Per Person Spending 2004-2014: $1218
Per Person Spending 2015-2019 : $308

St.Louis County:
Share of the Population: 49.31%
Share of the Spending: 48.38%

St.Louis City:
Share of the Population: 15.63%
Share of the Spending: 21.40%

St.Charles County:
Share of the Population: 18.98%
Share of the Spending: 15.58%

Franklin/Jefferson:
Share of the Population: 16.07%
Share of the Spending: 14.64%

Is per capita spending the right metric to evaluate fairness?

Looks like too much for Stl City, but it has 4 interstates and other state roads.

Looks like too much for rural areas but raw materials and goods need to get to market as you pointed out.

^ That is a good point. Also isn't the rural areas where its more likely you need to spend money to do road work for safety reasons? Since some roads aren't exactly the safest due to design. Another is the impact of large trucks on a number of routes. Finally there is also a lot of older roads and bridges that need to be rebuilt in rural areas.

Basically there is a differing set of needs and priorities for rural areas than cities which are also needed. Actually wouldn't' most of the congestion issues be relieved in metro St. Louis highways if large trucks had restrictions in use during rush hour? An idea I had was congestion pricing on trucks between 6-9am and 3-6pm on weekdays if in use within a zone to discourage use during those hours. Zone I had was on and within 270/255 extending to 141 on 44 and 55 and out to Wentzville on 64 and 70. Especially target the 18 wheelers that are just passing through the metro area and contributing to congestion due to driving during rush hour. This could also generate revenue, of course the trucking lobby might have issues with it.

About transportation in Seattle and Washington and an engineer for Seattle's DOT

Streets Experiments Made This City Engineer a Celebrity Bureaucrat

https://nextcity.org/features/view/seat ... te-streets

quincunx wrote:Is per capita spending the right metric to evaluate fairness?

Looks like too much for Stl City, but it has 4 interstates and other state roads.

Looks like too much for rural areas but raw materials and goods need to get to market as you pointed out.

its not the right metric

Here is how the current modot funding is divided...this is from 2003 but its the same concept just different #'s in 2015
http://www.modot.org/pdf/plansandprojec ... b_flow.pdf
http://www.modot.org/pdf/plansandprojec ... erview.pdf

its all based on The Planning Framework that was developed statewide with all areas involved
https://webtest.modot.mo.gov/plansandpr ... 102504.pdf

Les Sterman supported it.
https://webtest.modot.mo.gov/plansandpr ... s_0304.pdf

TheWeek.com - It's time to abolish the Interstate Highway System

http://theweek.com/articles/442326/time ... way-system

^ didnt read it but by the title i assume it means get rid of the Federal Highway Admin and fed gas tax and have the states maintain the interstates through tolls?

how would that work with enforcing same standard for the interstates? unfunded mandates don't hold well in courts.

OK, one of the more idiotic proposals in my opinion coming out of the Missouri State house. Lets raise the cig tax (good idea) and put it to transportation (bad bad idea) which would be equivalent to a 3 cent gas tax (what, you couldn't muster the political courage to raise gas tax by 2 cents??) . Missouri needs to raise both, cig tax and gas tax. Any cig tax needs to be dedicated to health care

Of the course the petro guys support it. Anything that subsidizes the cost out of some one else's pockets is a good deal to them. This time, hit up the smoker as he goes into the stores after filling the tank.

On side a note, it will be interesting out here in California for a couple of weeks. A special session was called to handle transportation and health issues. State trying to find a way to increase revenues $6 billion a year for 10 years to rebuild the roads and bridges.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... af470.html

The newest appeal for a hike in Missouri's tobacco tax could mean $800 million over a decade to be used for transportation funding. But already there is competition for proceeds from such an increase that would need voter approval.

The most-recent idea to raise the tax is being pushed by an unlikely supporter — the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, which has fought three increases ultimately rejected by voters since 2002.

Missouri's current state cigarette tax is 17 cents a pack, the lowest of any state in the nation.

The group on Monday filed two nearly identical versions of an initiative petition seeking a vote on hiking the tax on cigarettes to 40 cents a pack — a 135-percent increase that is less than two other proposals being floated, and that the group calls fair and more likely to win voter approval.

The increase would be phased in, with an additional 13-cent tax per pack going into effect on Jan. 1, 2017; another 5 cents on Jan. 1, 2019; and the remaining 5 cents on Jan. 1, 2021.

The group also is proposing a 50-percent tax increase on other tobacco products.



Under one version, the proceeds would fund transportation. The money would go to the state's general revenue fund under the other proposal.

Ron Leone, executive director of the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said Monday that his group will see which is more popular with voters, but he expects people to support the version allocating the extra money to fund transportation projects.

He said the hike would be equivalent to a 3-cent hike in the gas tax. A measure to increase the state's gas tax by 2 cents died this year in the legislature.

The 325 System we all heard so much about 4-5 months ago...won't see that again anytime soon..

^ Wasn't their also a HSR grant application for the bridge a few years back. I believe some preliminary engineering funding was approved but lost out on the full grant application. Can't recall the details but believe it was to put the bridge back in a state of good repair such that the bridge would support two trains on the same time again. From the article, sounds like they are looking at a replacement all together.

On a different note concerning intermodal gateway, Port of Houston I believe is another round of expansion of its Bayport Container terminal including 1,000 lf dock expansion and recent widening of its bayport channel and turning basin. Problem is that most gulf ports including Houston don't have the plus 50' of draft that LA/Long Beach & Oakland have to support the monster container ships. Believe Long Beach is looking at going to 80' deep draft channel to support its newest container terminal.

ABC17 - Missouri Department of Transportation gets money to repair decaying bridges

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has voted to give MoDOT extra funding that came in from state taxes, vehicle taxes and licensing fees from the 2014 fiscal year. After the ability to match federal funds, that will equal about $200 million. Half of that money will go toward repairing bad pavement and the other half will go toward repairing bridges, State Bridge Engineer Dennis Heckman said.

http://www.abc17news.com/news/missouri- ... s/35186978

State revenue from gas tax (state taxes in the piece not sure why) sales tax on cars and license fees came in about $47M more than projected for Fiscal Year 2015 (July 1 2014-June 30th 2015) that in turn matched more of Fed funds for an additional $250M statewide, i think the STL District got $65M ish

I was wondering about something, specifically the #56 bus route from Meramec CC to Shrewsbury. This route travels alternately through semi-dense residential and compact downtown business districts, and connects to MetroLink. Would it be feasible to make a bus like this run every 10-15 minutes, so that people might actually use it? Would people use it?

I feel like if ever a bus route could be made to work in non-poverty suburban StL, it would look a bit like this one.