St. Louis North-South Metrolink expansion route OK'd by regional board

[DetroitMan]

Regional board votes to OK north-south MetroLink expansion route

The St. Louis region's planning agency voted Wednesday to approve a north-south MetroLink expansion route, though the project still faces future hurdles, including procuring important federal grants.

Members of the East-West Gateway Council of Governments voted 14-5 to adopt the light rail route, running in the street from Jefferson Avenue at Chippewa Street north to Natural Bridge Avenue in the city of St. Louis, and connecting with the current MetroLink system via a transfer station. The organization made the route its locally preferred alternative, allowing transit agency Bi-State Development to work with the city to start project development and apply for federal funds.

Bi-State anticipates completing environmental assessment work for the project in 2025 and design work in late 2026. Construction could come from 2027 to 2030, it said. The agency in January revealed that the extension, which was shifted west in 2022 amid changes in work patterns after the Covid-19 pandemic, could now cost $1.1 billion. That's up from prior estimates, though officials said Wednesday they hoped to get the figure down to $800 million to $850 million, perhaps by utilizing a current maintenance facility instead of building a new one.

The expansion, which would have 10 stations, could attract 5,000 riders a day, Bi-State said.

Bi-State envisions getting $658.9 million in U.S. Federal Transit Administration grants, $218.9 million from U.S. Department of Transportation loans, $132.2 million from bonds it would issue, and $90 million from city of St. Louis Proposition 1 and other funds.

Bi-State President and CEO Taulby Roach cited Prop 1, passed by voters in 2017, as reason to add light rail, as opposed to alternatives like bus rapid transit. Operating costs for the expansion, to be covered by city taxes, would run $8 million to $9 million annually, Roach said.

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