urbanSTL

The Mayor wrote:
Having said all that, there is something to be said for questioning this extension.  Yes, MidAmerica has seen some solid growth, but is it worth a MetroLink expansion?  It's not a stupid question.

Agree, legit question to ask.  I believe capturing 5% of the air traffic at 350,000ish people a year is roughly 17,500 annual riders, or less than 50 riders a day.  You got a legit question on why expansion should wait even if you add a few workers at the airport to the mix..  

I think a much better idea for metro east is push for and seek full funding of metrolink expansion to Edwardsville via Granite City and SIUE.   The $96 million is chump change compare to what the state will put into Chicago transit and believe it is even less then state corridor rail service expansion included.   Heck, at least take the $96 million to secure the Mid America right of way for future expansion if not in hand already and put the rest towards to full on design and engineering, environmental studies of metrolink expansion to Edwardsville.

The thing is, the expansion could have cost $10 million or $400 million, and Elliott Davis still would have done the exact same attack piece. No thought or analysis as to the value of the infrastructure investment, just alarmism.

Also, the argument that all of the concerns around Metrolink’s safety should be addressed before any capital investments are made makes no sense.

When are we going to hear about some progress on N-S? You have developments in St. Louis, such as the one near Lafayette Square on Chouteau, that are essentially speculative and anticipatory. So when is this going to happen?

What was it that voters approved a year or two ago? 

I thought there was a tax - or something - put in place to fund the research phase of this extension. 

Yeah to basically have half the money for it but would need federal to match. I won't believe it will happen until we actually apply for the federal money.

The city doesn't build Metrolink. EW Gateway does.

^^I don’t think the County has any money in a Prop A account. I think they’ve managed to siphon some of it off to pay for roads (justifying it by saying that buses use roads) and some other bus/non-Metrolink related transit expenses and also using it to pay down Metro debt that, at least originally, was borrowed for Cross County.

quincunx wrote: The city doesn't build Metrolink. EW Gateway does.

Not quite. A quick guide of shorts: Metro Transit would build it, if chosen to do so. The East-West Council of Governments (EWG) would be the entity to determine if light rail would be the regional priority, which it determined late last year. EWG - along with many stakeholders - than determines where light rail would go (which was also finalized late last year). When a funding plan is determined, EWG would then determine who best to design, build and operate the system. This could be Metro Transit, but it could be another transit entity (i.e. Madison County Transit in Madison, Ill.). 

I'll be there at 6:00, I might not be able to stay for the whole meeting though. 

Does anyone know how much the account has collected to date? ~$60m?

I know the environmental has to be complete (12 months) but optimistically I feel a portion of this will at least be under construction in the next 3 years. Specifically, NGA to downtown. I’m probably crazy though.

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Jan 06, 2020

Does anyone know how much the account has collected to date? ~$60m?

I know the environmental has to be complete (12 months) but optimistically I feel a portion of this will at least be under construction in the next 3 years. Specifically, NGA to downtown. I’m probably crazy though.

I believe only about $20 million has been collected and "IF" this ever gets started it wouldn't be done until around 2030 sadly.

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Jan 06, 2020

Does anyone know how much the account has collected to date? ~$60m?

I know the environmental has to be complete (12 months) but optimistically I feel a portion of this will at least be under construction in the next 3 years. Specifically, NGA to downtown. I’m probably crazy though.

It collects about $20m a year but $12m is earmarked for NS metrolink and the rest is for other things.

There is no chance any construction would start until 2025 at best.

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Jan 06, 2020

Does anyone know how much the account has collected to date? ~$60m?

I know the environmental has to be complete (12 months) but optimistically I feel a portion of this will at least be under construction in the next 3 years. Specifically, NGA to downtown. I’m probably crazy though.

I could see N-S diverge into a phased  in city low floor modern street car connecting North City via NGA with downtown and South City on current proposed N-S followed by a County BRT route serving city via west downtown by going straight up Jeff Ave offering north and south county residents a direct connection to Wells Fargo Advisors campus, NGA West & easy stroll to new MLS stadium.    A downside with that thought is BRT would not have a good connection to metro link spine line.  

In that scenario I could see city easily starting a first phase low floor modern street car from NGA, through downtown, across the tracks, along Chouteau as per current route with it ending at Jeff Ave within three years.   I would even go with same vendor, trainset & overhead supplier as being used in KC in order to get some synergy & maybe some wishful state support for future capital expenditures between the two systems.  Second and Third city phases would be in each direction, one phase extends north of NGA and another phase extends south of the Chouteau/Jeff intersection  

Do we like the idea of a trackless tram down Gravois not just for transport but to also give Gravois a road diet? It's fairly inexpensive.
https://theconversation.com/why-trackle ... ail-103690

^ possibly. even if they're electric, though, i believe rail is still more energy efficient. and disruptions aside, i would guess that dedicated light rail is faster and more consistent, on average, than street-running anything. for the N-S line i still think a streetcar is not a great idea due to the distances involved from the northern to southern tips of the city.

^ I like all of the alternatives, considering most don’t cost $2.2bn.

But STL leaders are really really bad at adapting and thinking creatively. If the Bi-State CEO were at all interested in leading STL as a transit city, he would be proposing alternatives to the mayor. He isn’t.

I know it’s not their money, I know it’s EWG responsibility to study... but the fact that Bi-State (the areas transit experts) are silent on MetroLink expansion and/or alternatives is SOOOOOOO telling.

leeharveyawesome wrote:Do we like the idea of a trackless tram down Gravois not just for transport but to also give Gravois a road diet? It's fairly inexpensive.
https://theconversation.com/why-trackle ... ail-103690

I like this idea. May need to have it tested more in the Australian cities mentioned, but this could be good. For the cost of North-South line, we could have multiple trackless tram routes built across the city. Surely create a road diet for the routes it takes. This could be a great alternative

goat314 wrote: ↑

Jan 06, 2020

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Jan 06, 2020

Does anyone know how much the account has collected to date? ~$60m?

I know the environmental has to be complete (12 months) but optimistically I feel a portion of this will at least be under construction in the next 3 years. Specifically, NGA to downtown. I’m probably crazy though.

I believe only about $20 million has been collected and "IF" this ever gets started it wouldn't be done until around 2030 sadly.

...which would put it close to the horizon for transportation technology.  Isn't it very possible that all of our current public mass transit technology, and maybe the very concept itself, will become obsolete in the next couple of decades?

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Jan 06, 2020

I know the environmental has to be complete (12 months) but optimistically I feel a portion of this will at least be under construction in the next 3 years. Specifically, NGA to downtown. I’m probably crazy though.

We'll be fortunate if the funded MidAmerica extension is under construction in the next 3 years - and it basically has a determined route and won't involve any bickering between different municipalities.