This (or at least 2024/2025) could be something of the end of an era for East Side Metrolink expansion. St. Clair County has done an impressive job serving a lot of their largest communities (East St. Louis, Fairview Heights, Belleville) and institutions/employers (Scott, SWIC, Casino, JJK Center, Memorial Hospital, MidAmerica) with a single line. But it's a lot cheaper building along corn fields than across their mess of railroad ROWs and highways. Without another major anchor/institution to serve in St. Clair County or an appetite from Madison County for mass transit (which could bring SIUE, Edwardsville, Alton, etc... into play), I don't see where further expansion will happen. Time for that to come back to the MO side I guess.
I know. St. Clair County needs positive returning infrastructure investments just like everywhere else.
^^ Omg....why are they designing it to be so far away from the terminal. This is an awful design so far. Why not bring the end of the line up to the front section of the lot. Between Air Terminal Drive and the parking lot. See that gap space?sc4mayor wrote: ↑Jul 14, 2021MetroLink Extension To MidAmerica Airport Expected To Be Finished By 2024
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/economy ... ed-by-2024The extension is currently in the middle of its design phase, Sharkey said. It will include approximately three miles of double-track section and 2.5 miles of single-track trails. Along with the extension will be a bike trail from the Shiloh-Scott Station to MidAmerica that will follow the line.
The design phase is expected to finalize in August of 2022. Construction will begin at around the same time and will last until November 2024. Sharkey said passengers most likely will be riding the new rail by December 2024.
Sharkey said the total cost of the project can’t be determined while it remains in its design phase and because of the current market for construction materials being so “volatile.”
Because it's about spending the money, not actually making it practical for users.
There is going to be a terminal expansion built near there that will probably require widening that road and adding additional pickup/drop-off lanes in the near future. Boeing's St. Clair plant is right next to that and is planning an expansion too. I don't know if these are the reasons but it's also only about 700' to the front door.
If I were you I'd reach out to the St. Clair County Transit District and share your concerns and ask these questions. It's still in design, maybe they'll heed your advice or at the very least tell you why it's rendered as it is so far.
If I were you I'd reach out to the St. Clair County Transit District and share your concerns and ask these questions. It's still in design, maybe they'll heed your advice or at the very least tell you why it's rendered as it is so far.
I think a big factor is trying to limit the number of crossings.SRQ2STL wrote: ↑Jul 16, 2021^^ Omg....why are they designing it to be so far away from the terminal. This is an awful design so far. Why not bring the end of the line up to the front section of the lot. Between Air Terminal Drive and the parking lot. See that gap space?
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What about all the times the pedestrians walking from the platform to the terminal have to cross roads and dangerous lanes in a parking lot where motorists often don't see pedestrians? Its a matter of values. Planners around here value the comfort of motorists over the comfort of pedestrians, even when designing mass transit.wabash wrote: ↑Jul 16, 2021I think a big factor is trying to limit the number of crossings.SRQ2STL wrote: ↑Jul 16, 2021^^ Omg....why are they designing it to be so far away from the terminal. This is an awful design so far. Why not bring the end of the line up to the front section of the lot. Between Air Terminal Drive and the parking lot. See that gap space?
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^Yeah, I think I'll have to agree with that. Looks to be almost a quarter mile across asphalt that will be baking in the summer and potentially treacherous in the winter. (I measured it at 1200', more or less. Now that is by a logical walking path from approximate track shelter location to main entry. If you just go straight line tracks to door it shaves off a few hundred feet.)
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Pedestrian improvements such as canopies or one very long canopy, curb bump outs at the main drive, and use of landscaping like arborvitaes to help reduce wind shouldn't be hard to add in the future. Heck, even an enclosed walkway (with heat and AC) with people movers is probably easy to build once public transit traffic increases.
I put the chances of this changing any of the existing plans at about .000001%, but I sent this to the SCCTD and BLV folks just to put a bug in their ear. Can't hurt.
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Or perhaps this, which wouldn't cross the main airport access road (Metrolink riders wouldn't have to cross it either), only the industrial road, which assumedly has mush less traffic:
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^ Yeah I tried to keep it away from Boeing and the terminal expansion area since I don’t know how those will look. But yeah, either way.
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I would be thrilled to see an Illinois side expansion one day that follows the rail corridor through Madison, Granite City, Wood River and terminates in downtown Alton. If you do it right there is some serious TOD opportunity up there.
Reminds me of our terminal 2 treatment of metrolink passengers . You get to drag your luggage down an elevator or winding ramp. Follow a minimally marked path in the garage then up another elevator to the departure level where you cross the driveway before you enter the building)
Meanwhile, cars pull up within 50 feet of the building entrance.
You’d think they were trying to discourage transit use or something
Not designed for anyone other than the most determined transit user.
Meanwhile, cars pull up within 50 feet of the building entrance.
You’d think they were trying to discourage transit use or something
Not designed for anyone other than the most determined transit user.
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I'd love to see that happen as well.
It wasn't all that long ago that I decided to head up to Alton for an afternoon to explore around. I thought the place was fantastic, though maybe in a little need of love.
Downtown Alton has some serious potential. Of course, I haven't experienced it or seen it, but I've seen through the news that flooding there and in Grafton can get pretty dang bad.
I wonder how many people would hate on a Metrolink extension to Alton simply because it has Amtrak?
It wasn't all that long ago that I decided to head up to Alton for an afternoon to explore around. I thought the place was fantastic, though maybe in a little need of love.
Downtown Alton has some serious potential. Of course, I haven't experienced it or seen it, but I've seen through the news that flooding there and in Grafton can get pretty dang bad.
I wonder how many people would hate on a Metrolink extension to Alton simply because it has Amtrak?
^ First things first…Alton and Grafton are already badass river towns 
Secondly, I don’t think too many would hate on what you suggest. Amtrak doesn’t provide anywhere close to the same service. Metro’s much older long range plan called for traditional commuter rail to Alton while an LRT line would have ran towards Edwardsville.
None of that can happen unless Madison County votes to fund Bi-State. Considering all their recent crime fighting initiatives (focused almost solely on people “coming over from St. Louis”) I wouldn’t expect that anytime soon.
Secondly, I don’t think too many would hate on what you suggest. Amtrak doesn’t provide anywhere close to the same service. Metro’s much older long range plan called for traditional commuter rail to Alton while an LRT line would have ran towards Edwardsville.
None of that can happen unless Madison County votes to fund Bi-State. Considering all their recent crime fighting initiatives (focused almost solely on people “coming over from St. Louis”) I wouldn’t expect that anytime soon.
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Don't get me wrong, I think Alton and Grafton are fantastic. That entire drive along the Great River Road in Illinois is, actually.
When I went up that way to explore Pere Marquette State Park, I ended up also taking the Brussels Ferry over to Calhoun County, where I found a unique and old family-style chicken restaurant by the name of Wittmond's. I've taken a few people on that drive, ending there, and they always really enjoy it.
Maybe someday Madison County will be in a better place and can start thinking about transit expansion.
When I went up that way to explore Pere Marquette State Park, I ended up also taking the Brussels Ferry over to Calhoun County, where I found a unique and old family-style chicken restaurant by the name of Wittmond's. I've taken a few people on that drive, ending there, and they always really enjoy it.
Maybe someday Madison County will be in a better place and can start thinking about transit expansion.
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This is just incurring an extra and ineffective long term cost. Why not just build it right the first time? As others have pointed out, this is still in the design phase.Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Jul 16, 2021Pedestrian improvements such as canopies or one very long canopy, curb bump outs at the main drive, and use of landscaping like arborvitaes to help reduce wind shouldn't be hard to add in the future. Heck, even an enclosed walkway (with heat and AC) with people movers is probably easy to build once public transit traffic increases.
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For some reason I didn't realize Madison Country was red, 55% voted for Trump in 2020.
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^The idea of Illinois as a liberal bastion has always amused me. It's a view held by people who never go there. (Or maybe a few who go only to Chicago.) In reality, it's not so different from Missouri. In the end, the biggest difference is the ratio of city to farm. (Which is helped along by a third of Missouri's largest metro being in Illinois.)
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I mean, there are blue counties in IL outside the major cities and college towns. Not so much for Missouri
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^Looking at the CNN election map I'm seeing basically eight areas that went for Biden. Chicago goes without saying. Rockford is simultaneously a good sized city and almost a bedroom community of Chicago anyway. (And it only went to Biden by 2.5 points, so . . . hardly a blue oasis.) Rock Island is a part of the Quad Cities metro. While small next to Chicago it's still mammoth next to anything in Missouri save St. Louis or Kansas City. It's not a "major" city, but it's a good sized middling city. Likewise Peoria. Likewise Bloomington-Normal in McLean County. Champaign-Urbana, obviously, is a heck of a college town much like Columbia. (And also a middling sized city.) Jackson County has Carbondale, which is itself the hub of a small CSA of a shade over a hundred thousand people. And it went Biden by less than a point and a half. And that's it. Everything else went Trump. Even Springfield. And while the numbers aren't uniformly horrid north of Springfield they're absolutely awful south of there. 75-25 more often than not. Basically northern Illinois looks like Iowa, but with a big city. Southern Illinois looks like Missouri. Illinois has more middling cities and small liberal arts colleges. And generally better connectivity between regions, at least north of center. (Which again, is more like Iowa.) Honestly, absolutely none of this should be surprising. Corn country works one way. Cotton country works another way. Cities work a third way. Railroad and river towns work yet another way. (Maybe two other ways.) But in the end . . . Illinois isn't really that liberal. Save for the college towns and major cities. The middling cities are a bit purple. But the rural southern part of the state is as red as red comes. However . . . the city is big. Move half of Chicago out of Illinois and see how well things go there.
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I have relatives in southern Illinois near Nashville. I can tell you that these farmers love their guns, watch Fox News, and will never vote Democrat.
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Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
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Terminal expansion and proximity to Boeing. Plus you’d have to build a bridge over or a tunnel under the access road. So it’s not like just building it closer to the building is cost effective.BellaVilla wrote: ↑Jul 16, 2021This is just incurring an extra and ineffective long term cost. Why not just build it right the first time? As others have pointed out, this is still in the design phase.Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Jul 16, 2021Pedestrian improvements such as canopies or one very long canopy, curb bump outs at the main drive, and use of landscaping like arborvitaes to help reduce wind shouldn't be hard to add in the future. Heck, even an enclosed walkway (with heat and AC) with people movers is probably easy to build once public transit traffic increases.
I suppose it's happened everywhere in rural America, but there was once a lot more blue in Illinois, and the currently blue counties were much bluer.
Going back to 2008, there wasn't too much dark red on this map. Maybe there was a home-state candidate effect, I suppose, but I'm not sure how much that matters when most of rural Illinois doesn't see itself as connected to Chicago. Only a handful of counties that year were were Republican landslides.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Unit ... n_Illinois
Versus Missouri, which was far redder that year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Unit ... n_Missouri
Even in 2000, Illinois' rural areas were significantly more Democratic and Missouri's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Unit ... n_Illinois
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Unit ... n_Missouri
Going back to 2008, there wasn't too much dark red on this map. Maybe there was a home-state candidate effect, I suppose, but I'm not sure how much that matters when most of rural Illinois doesn't see itself as connected to Chicago. Only a handful of counties that year were were Republican landslides.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Unit ... n_Illinois
Versus Missouri, which was far redder that year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Unit ... n_Missouri
Even in 2000, Illinois' rural areas were significantly more Democratic and Missouri's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Unit ... n_Illinois
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Unit ... n_Missouri