After years of dormancy, this project just popped up out of nowhere. In an message to students and faculty of Saint Louis University, the university’s President Lawrence Biondi revealed that a bridge over the railways between Chouteau Avenue and Interstate-64 on July 1, 2010.

Details are very sparse at this point, but it sounds like the bridge will be closed for a year in order to demolish the old bridge, and build the new bridge and Metrolink station. The last renderings for this bridge came out in 2006 so there is no telling what it will look like. But with the construction date to start so soon, you can expect we will be seeing much about this very soon. Read more

In a move that Metro has been threatening since Proposition M failed in November, the Metro governing board has approved a proposal to trim service starting March 30, 2009 in order to drastically reduce costs by $36 million a year. Read more

This past January the St. Louis area was braced for the worst. With the pending shutdown of Highway 40-61 (I-64 if you prefer) from 170 to 270, everyone was changing their driving habits in anticipation of the change. It turns out that the impact was less than expected. So much less that many people have reverted back to their old habits. Unfortunately, the exaggerated impact of the Phase 1 closure has most people ill prepared for what is to come with Phase 2. Read more

*NOTE – This article was originally written in July of 2006 for the newsletter.

While we wait for the Cross County Metrolink line and in the midst of discussions on cutting back Metro services, area transportation managers are busy planning future MetroLink expansions.

Area leaders feel that this public transit service needs to expand into North & South City, in order to provide transportation alternatives to a broader area.. The East-West Gateway Council of Governments, Metro and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) have been studying such a possibility for almost a year.

The study is analyzing the potential costs and available routes, as well as the positive and negative effects of this proposed expansion. The year and a half long study is scheduled to be completed in early 2007 and is being funded by Tax Credits from MODOT.
One area of particular interest in this study is the incorporation of transit-oriented developments. These developments would revolve around individual MetroLink stops and focus on “walkable” mixed-use developments, without the necessity of using a car. This type of development has grown increasing popular with City Administrators in recent years. A local example would be the development around the Amtrak Station in downtown Kirkwood.

The proposed routes for this expansion project, along with other information ,can be found at www.northsouthstudy.org