Have You Heard of the ‘Market Street Interconnect Project’?
I had not heard the phrase “Market Street Interconnect Project” until I was reviewing board bills for introduction tomorrow at the Board of Aldermen. From Board Bill 338 to be introduced by Lewis Reed (D-6th Ward):
An Ordinance, recommended and approved by the Board of Public Service of the City of St. Louis (the “Board of Public Service”), establishing a public works and improvement project for the design and construction of the Market Street Interconnect Project between Compton Avenue and Tucker Boulevard (the “Market Street Interconnect Projectâ€); and authorizing and directing the City of St. Louis (the “City”) by and through its Board of Public Service to let contracts and provide for the design, construction, materials, and equipment for the Market Street Interconnect Project, authorizing the Board of Public Service to employ labor and consultants, pay salaries, fees and wages, acquire real property interests, and to enter into supplemental agreements with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, Federal Highway Administration, utilities, and other governmental agencies for the Market Street Interconnect Project all in accordance with the federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (23 U.S.C. 110, et seq.)
It looks as though the design & construction of the project is estimated at $1.55 million with the city’s 20% match being $310,000, the balance coming from federal transportation money. I’ve read through the entire bill and nowhere does it actually state what the project is. I can tell it involves Market Street from Tucker (aka 12th) to Compton (basically end of Market) but beyond that I have no clue.
Along the route is the 22nd Street Interchange, just West of Union Station. From MoDot:
The I-64 at 22nd Street Interchange is the key entry into the St. Louis Central Business District (CDB). It will stimulate development of vacant land and reuse of older, underutilized buildings. The current interchange configuration consists of high-speed ramps, which take up a significant amount of state owned land that could be made available for higher density uses compatible with surrounding activities and supported by transportation infrastructure. The location of the interchange area is in the Locust Business District, a Special Taxing District and political subdivision of the State of Missouri, which is in the process of carrying out initiatives to revitalize the residential and business opportunities in the area and improve the economic well being of the area.
Reworking this old space-consuming interchange should be a top priority for the city, and a natural fit while looking at anything along Market Street. A competition is also being planned for the tired Gateway Mall area so I don’t know how the Market Street Interconnect Project fits in with those intentions. I certainly known the length of Market from Jefferson to Compton, adjacent to A.G. Edwards is depressing and unwelcoming. I suppose we’ll know more about this once the design is complete and they ask for public input.
This project is going to tie in with the downtown traffic signal upgrade currently under construction. For anyone who’s been downtown lately, this is why the City is tearing out narrow strips into intersections and replacing it with asphalt.
Basically the project entails an upgrade of signal controllers and linking signals together by a fiberoptic cable. Besides Market St from Tucker to Compton, these improvements will be done along 14th from I-64 to Locust, 18th from Spruce to Locust, and 20th from Market to Pine.
Unfortunately this project isn’t related to the 22nd street interchange, although I’ve heard it may be resurrected in the future.
As someone who drives downtown regularly, I can vouch for the need to synchronize traffic signals all over downtown. However, I hear the City has received federal funding for such programs for other parts of the city and those systems aren’t working.
Truman parkway, with it’s cameras and new signals is a traffic disaster. There is a green arrow for traffic to turn into a closed street. Hello? Anyone paying attention to these things? The detectors on Lafayette are a joke. Traffic backs up while the sensor detects an imaginary vehicle, thereby giving a green light to an empty lane.
Market St. has always been a nightmare, especially eastbound from Compton. Signals at deserted crosswalks stop traffic for no reason and I think those signals at the crosswalk are rather new. Will this new project replace those? Why weren’t those signals done with working pedestrian buttons a few years ago? Then, as soon as you get a green light at the crosswalk, you get a red light at Jefferson.
The lack of any intelligent planning and synchronizing of traffic lights has turned St. Louis drivers into maniacs who routinely run stop lights to avoid futher delay ahead. But I bet the red light cameras will work just fine and we’ll all end up with tickets for running those stop lights.
I thought this was a project to build a one-runway airport downtown with a landing strip on Market Street (which would also have the benefit of enriching Fredo, er, Gerard Slay). Face it, our old airport is way too big with that new runway and needs to be closed. Good to see we’re getting a smaller one built.
Fredo: I’m your older brother, Mike, and I was stepped over!
Michael: That’s the way Pop wanted it.
Fredo: It ain’t the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I’m smart and I want respect!