Next stop for MetroLink? St. Louis County will take a fresh look
5 hours ago • By Steve Giegerich
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
In a bid to address concerns over the absence of wide-scale regional mass transit, St. Louis County wants to take a fresh look at expanding MetroLink light rail service.
“We want to keep young people here and we are developing strategies to do that,” County Executive Steve Stenger said in a Wednesday afternoon interview.
Stenger earlier Wednesday informed the East-West Gateway Council of Governments’ board that the county intended to spend $1 million to study MetroLink expansion.
Funding will be drawn from the $80 million the county collects each year from an annual transit sales tax approved by voters in 2010. The referendum designated that money be set aside to analyze nonvehicular transportation alternatives.
“It’s time to keep that promise,” Stenger said.
East-West Gateway will conduct the bulk of the research into the feasibility of building additional MetroLink routes. The analysis will focus on economics, ridership and multiple factors that could influence the route of future light rail lines.
Nearly 15 years has passed since the delivery of the last detailed assessment of the county’s light rail needs.
Earlier proposals identified three possible MetroLink corridors: the “Daniel Boone” running from Clayton to Westport; “MetroNorth” from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to Florissant; and “MetroSouth,” from Shrewsbury to Butler Hill Road.
“The East-West study will determine if there is a viable MetroLink line out there. And by viable, I mean would it qualify for federal funds,” said Jerry Blair, director of transportation for East-West Gateway.
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