North-south Study Newsletter_saint Louis

Potential MetroLink Extension Selected for St. Louis City

Dec. 2007, Issue 4

The Board of Directors of the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, our region’s metropolitan planning agency, has approved a

potential MetroLink extension in the City of St. Louis. The board’s vote means that if or when light rail is expanded in the City, this is the route that should be considered. The approved extension, known in transit planning as a locally preferred alternative, would travel in the street, except along the I-55 right-of-way, as follows: • From I-70 north near the Goodfellow Avenue exit south to Natural Bridge; • East to North Florissant, south on 14th Street into Downtown; • East on Convention Plaza, south to 10th Street, west on Clark, south to 14th Street; and • West on Chouteau Avenue, exit south onto Jefferson, to Broadway exit to I-55 right-of-way and terminating at Bayless/I-55. A separate set of tracks would move passengers, in the opposite direction, from south to north. The board’s approval culminates a two-year planning study sponsored by East-West Gateway, Metro and the Missouri Department of Transportation called the “Northside-Southside Transit Improvements Study,” which examined several potential light rail extensions for north St. Louis, south St. Louis and downtown. At the study’s start, with input from elected officials, stakeholders and the general public, it was determined that an expanded light rail system in the City was worth pursuing because it would: encourage economic development, provide access to opportunity, spur job growth and stabilize neighborhoods. Armed with this information, the study team began looking at several potential routes that would achieve these goals. It started with eight possible extensions, then through detailed analysis that included costs, development opportunities, property impacts and ridership, combined with public input, study team members narrowed the options down to one. It was this option that East-West Gateway’s board approved.

Planning Transit Improvements for St. Louis City

Dec. 2007

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Northside-Southside Study c/o Vector Communications 701 N. 15th Street, Mailbox 43 St. Louis. MO 63103

What’s Next? Even though a new MetroLink extension has been approved for the City of St. Louis, it does not mean it will be built in the near future. That’s because currently there is no money available to expand light rail anywhere in the St. Louis area. Plus, the federal government requires that in order to receive federal funding to build a light rail extension, an environmental study must be conducted. The purpose of the Environmental Impact Study is to analyze in detail the economic, social and environmental effects of the proposed alternative and to evaluate whether there are other alternatives that could minimize adverse impacts.

www.northsouthstudy.org

Public Participation - Key to Study’s Success Thanks to you, the “Northside-Southside Major Transit Improvements Study” had more citizen involvement than any St. Louis area transit study in recent history. Furthermore, it far exceeded the federal government’s requirements for public engagement. During the study: • Presentations were made to 33 neighborhood groups, business organizations, ward groups not once, but several times; • St. Louis Aldermen and other elected officials, especially those wards directly involved, were briefed periodically throughout the study; • Three rounds of public meetings were held in north St. Louis, south St. Louis and downtown at major study milestones; • A Technical Advisory Group consisting of well-respected transit officials, engineers and city officials met six times to provide advice to the study team; • A Policy Advisory Group composed of neighborhood and community leaders met three times to offer suggestions to the study team; • A telephone hotline, a website with all project information and information sites at area public libraries were established; and • A project brochure and four newsletters, including this one, were distributed to more than 1,600 households. Local media outlets were also kept informed throughout the study and several television stations and newspapers reported on project milestones. Although there can never be too much public input, the study team thanks you for your participation. Whenever the next stage of planning begins, we hope you will be involved.



Thank You! Dec. 2007

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