tad bit more complex than that.ajwillikers wrote:Liability issue, eh? Seems to me a "Road Closed" sign and gate would cost a tiny fraction of $10 Million.
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Oh, I'm sure and your points are nothing but on point and fair.dbInSouthCity wrote:tad bit more complex than that.ajwillikers wrote:Liability issue, eh? Seems to me a "Road Closed" sign and gate would cost a tiny fraction of $10 Million.
I'm filled with spite for rural Missouri and the way current tax revenues are structured (with rural interests) to completely throw a pricing mechanism out the window to match supply with demand.
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^ i can tell you that urban modot districts feel the same way..at least some of the people working at those districts....
HJR 70 is passed by voters would hold up tax credits until MoDOT's projects are fully funded.
http://www.house.mo.gov/billsummary.asp ... 016&code=R
Want HTCs to help rehab a house whose property values have been undermined by sprawls subsidies? Get in line.
http://www.house.mo.gov/billsummary.asp ... 016&code=R
Want HTCs to help rehab a house whose property values have been undermined by sprawls subsidies? Get in line.
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that bill is insane....It’s just another attempt to continue to chip away at the MoDOT commission’s constitutional authority.
Alexandria News - Governor McAuliffe Announces Virginia’s First Prioritization Process Scores Nearly 300 Proposed Transportation Projects
https://www.alexandrianews.org/governor ... -projects/
https://www.alexandrianews.org/governor ... -projects/
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http://m.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-a ... touch=true
Something that's generally unknown is about 15 years ago MoDOT and east west gateway agreed to have MoDOT SL district spend about $35m a year on pavement preservation and $35m a year on bridge preservation. EWG let MoDOT pick those jobs and when to do which roads. Since system preservation was the nuts and bolts for engineers to figure out EWG stayed out of the way. But any money beyond that $70m that MoDOT STL had it was up to the EWG board to pick a direction on how to spend it. Which corridors to rebuild. The page extensions ect. So that's when the counties and city pols work out who gets what and when. Once the direction is set MoDOT does the nuts and bolts.
Something that's generally unknown is about 15 years ago MoDOT and east west gateway agreed to have MoDOT SL district spend about $35m a year on pavement preservation and $35m a year on bridge preservation. EWG let MoDOT pick those jobs and when to do which roads. Since system preservation was the nuts and bolts for engineers to figure out EWG stayed out of the way. But any money beyond that $70m that MoDOT STL had it was up to the EWG board to pick a direction on how to spend it. Which corridors to rebuild. The page extensions ect. So that's when the counties and city pols work out who gets what and when. Once the direction is set MoDOT does the nuts and bolts.
And off we go again
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does that say trillions?MoDOT Commission approved a 5 year construction budget today. Covers July 1 2016 to June 30 2021. It's about $4,500,000,000 statewide. $1.3b for st.louis. There is another $500,000,000 that all 7 MoDOT districts will compete for statewide. Stl district should grab about 180-200m of that
Minneapolis is on a transit planning/construction roll with the green light given for Blue (Hiawatha) Line extension to the NW suburbs:
http://www.metrocouncil.org/Transportat ... nsion.aspx
Looks like they are running it down the middle of a highway and along an existing freight railroad ROW.
http://www.metrocouncil.org/Transportat ... nsion.aspx
Looks like they are running it down the middle of a highway and along an existing freight railroad ROW.
^ Time to revisit MetroSouth along the BNSF right-of-way? Part of the reason no locally preferred alternative was chosen was because BNSF's request for vertical separation from MetroLink made the alternative 40% more expensive per mile than the route along I-55 and the River des Peres. If vertical separation was not required, then the route along the BNSF railroad would become much more reasonable.
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The rail right of way would be a very viable routing looking at where it goes. It also would go through or near a number of neighborhoods and could be easier in terms of a grade separation with streets. Odd that in one place BNSF has no issue with no vertical separation but here they want it. Wouldn't another plus to using this right of way is more connection to job areas in South City in various facilities along the current tracks along with some redevelopment areas?
^I think the entire stretch from Vandeventer to S. Broadway should be bought or taken from BNSF (with eminent domain) to be used as an exclusive Metrolink corridor. Running them side-by-side seems exorbitant and unnecessary, especially considering the limited number of trains BNSF runs along that route.
Wabash, I believe you are referring to the UP Line through S City that UP gains access via BNSF. As you stated, sees very little traffic, has few remaining customers on it as well as the fact that it meets up on UP's river line & therefore not really needed as run through line. Ideally, this makes a lot of sense to buy out and relocate current users in order to set aside for future lightrail, trail corridor for the region. Of course, that would require political cooperation for the greater good of the region which seems to be in very short supply even between the city and county.
Where as Mill204 believe is referring to the BNSF line that runs through Shrewsbury/Afton/S County, alongside Shrewsbury metrolink station. Believe this line does see some much more use and freight/customer base farther down the line. Driven under the Lansdowne Ave bridge hoping one of those loaded coal car going over the bridge doesn't tip over. I don't see BNSF giving up that right of way and believe even taking over would require a comparable replacement which would probably make the 40% markup for vertical separation look like a great deal.
Where as Mill204 believe is referring to the BNSF line that runs through Shrewsbury/Afton/S County, alongside Shrewsbury metrolink station. Believe this line does see some much more use and freight/customer base farther down the line. Driven under the Lansdowne Ave bridge hoping one of those loaded coal car going over the bridge doesn't tip over. I don't see BNSF giving up that right of way and believe even taking over would require a comparable replacement which would probably make the 40% markup for vertical separation look like a great deal.
But don't railroads still have very strong property rights? I mean, it's very, very hard to take right-of-way away from the railroads.
^Yeah. You're not going to eminent domain a railroad. Their right of away is essentially given to them by the federal government. I believe this dates back to the Civil War era when they were being built. You'd be trying to eminent domain federally backed property
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Improving rail conditions that bypass St. Louis city can make a case for rail operators later abandoning routes through the urban core. Personally I'd be happy to give the I-270/I-255 median to trains for use however they need it.
They could move a lot more freight between Lambert and the Tri-City Port District along the 270 median.
They could move a lot more freight between Lambert and the Tri-City Port District along the 270 median.
St. Charles may turn over city bus system to private company
Anyone know if there was any talk about outsourcing to Metro/BiState at any time?
Interesting name for the bus system.To save money, St. Charles officials are considering hiring a private company to operate the city's five-route bus system. The City Council on Tuesday night discussed a proposal to contract with JED Transportation to run St. Charles Area Transit, which is now operated with city-owned buses and city-paid drivers. The system is commonly known by its acronym, SCAT.
Anyone know if there was any talk about outsourcing to Metro/BiState at any time?
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Work on the overall railroads in the metro would be helpful to prevent the railroad bottlenecks that occur in the Chicago area, which has been discussed in relationship to HSR network. Another help would be to look at the river bridges since there is a need to look at replacing the various bridges due to age and capacity issues.CarexCurator wrote:Improving rail conditions that bypass St. Louis city can make a case for rail operators later abandoning routes through the urban core. Personally I'd be happy to give the I-270/I-255 median to trains for use however they need it.
They could move a lot more freight between Lambert and the Tri-City Port District along the 270 median.
If some sort of a North County freight train line would be nice. Since Lambert is having as one focus cargo growth and to connect to the facilities being constructed around Granite City and to the rivers. This could also be a way to solve the issue of downtown rail bridges and their age if you put a new rail bridge around chain of rocks area and possibly replace the rail bridge in St. Charles.
To be able to get some of the rail traffic outside of the core area could free up lines that could be future metrolink corridors or at the very least used as bike trails as an interim.
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Speaking of 270 in the north. I think that's the next major regional priority