Emerson Park MetroLink Station East St. Louis, Illinois
Yesterday I posted about the challenge of bringing back the area around the 5th & Missouri Station in downtown East St. Louis.Today I’m focusing on the next station to the east on the light rail line: Emerson Park.
Construction on the St. Clair County MetroLink extension from the 5th & Missouri station to the College station in Belleville began in 1998 and opened in May 2001. The extension added eight new stations and seven park-ride lots. The total project cost was $339.2 million, with the FTA and St. Clair County Transit District sharing the burden at 72% ($243.9 million) and 28% ($95.2 million), respectively. Local funding was provided by the St. Clair County Transit District as a result of a 1/2 cent sales tax passed in November 1993.
May 5th marks the 11th anniversary of the Emerson Park station and the area has seen considerable positive change, but planning mistakes were made.
The Good:
New housing, lots of it, has been built and more is under construction now. From last year:
Today marked the groundbreaking of a $17 million development in East St. Louis adjacent to the Emerson Park MetroLink Station, Jazz @ Walter Circle. The $17 million development is a public-private partnership between the East St. Louis Housing Authority (ESLHA), Hampton Roads Ventures and Dudley Ventures, and is the first in the nation to combine public housing development funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with New Market Tax Credits. (NextStopSTL)
This station has seen a steady flow of new construction over the last 11 years.
I’m thrilled with how much has been built in the last decade around the Emerson Park Station. The new senior housing over storefronts will be outstanding for this neighborhood.
The Bad:
As you might expect, mistakes have been made in the past and that continues. Where to begin? Parking is a good place, this station has three parking lots with a total of 816 parking spaces! This is the 2nd highest number of spaces at Illinois MetroLink stations, Fairview Heights has the highest with 853 spaces. The parking is divided among three lots — the main lot and two overflow lots.
The lot to the far right should go away immediately or at least be significantly reduced in size, it serves as a barrier between the new housing to the east of the station. I first noticed the disconnect when I drove there and walked around in April 2007 before I was disabled.
In 2007 this east overflow parking lot had a few cars but on my recent visit it had none. Even if it’s 100% full on days the Cardinals play at home it shouldn’t be allowed to separate the nice newer housing from transit. Huge fail. Who’s fault? No clue, but nobody figured out that a continuous sidewalk would figuratively and literally connect housing to the station.
The sidewalk from Parsons Ave needs to be extended to N 15th St with a direct crossing point to the station. I’ll visit this station again soon during a Cardinals home game to see how much use the two overflow parking get, my guess is not much. No development has happened in the other direction but it could. The new pedestrian bridge over the interstate wasn’t built by Metro, it was an IDOT project. I’m not linking directly to the Illinois Department of Transportation because their server didn’t respond, probably because Illinois has no money.
I’m sure politicians and civil engineers are patting themselves on the back for the great thing they’ve done for pedestrians. Who’s going to use it when the 15th St bridge requires less walking and is relatively level? Another huge (and costly) fail.
With the exception of the expensive pedestrian bridge all these issues can easily be fixed. Hopefully I can meet Metro, city and development officials to demonstrate the problems in person.
– Steve Patterson
A very impressive development, especially considering the surroundings.
I’m not sure exactly what the problem with the east parking lot is, beyond the lack of a sidewalk at the edge. A parking lot is hardly less desolate than the rest of the station’s surroundings – freeway, junk yard, vacant housing lots, etc.
Well I can’t get from the housing to the station in my wheelchair. Parking lots are for cars, not pedestrians. The only people that should walk in parking lots are those who arrived in a vehicle. Otherwise, they are a barrier.
A parking lot is much more accessible to pedestrians than most of the surroundings here.
Obviously sidewalks and wheelchair ramps need to be added, but that is much simpler than destroying the lot and thinking of and funding a better use for the area.
While the curb ramp at the bottom of the stairs is pretty silly, it does appear that there is a pair of curb ramps at 15th & Bowman, Since mid-block crossings are inherently unsafe, it makes more sense to remove the ramp at the bottom of the stairs instead of putting a new one in opposite it.
You state that “I’m sure politicians and civil engineers are patting themselves on the back for the great thing they’ve done for pedestrians [the new pedestrian bridge]. Who’s going to use it when the 15th St bridge requires less walking and is relatively level? Another huge (and costly) fail.” I disagree. Since there are on and off ramps, to and from I-64, at 15th, the new pedestrian bridge will be an attraxctive and safer option for many pedestrians, especially those wanting to access the station platform from the south.
Finally, while I’m no fan of large expanses of parking, I’m glad that Bi-State / Metro have control of the sites. They can both guide TOD here and offer a contiguous land assemblage to potential developer partners.