Central West End (CWE) MetroLink Station Poorly Connected To Taylor Ave
Our busiest MetroLink light rail station is the Central West End (CWE) station, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to connecting to a public street. If you head up the stairs/elevator at the west end of the platform you’ll get to a plaza where Euclid Ave used to be, now part of the Washington University Medical School/BJC campus that’s decimated the street grid. Head east and the grid remains mostly intact, but getting to it isn’t easy.
The connection is narrow & winding, designed to get MetroBus rides to/from light rail. It isn’t designed for pedestrians to reach Taylor Ave. Why might someone want to go to Taylor Ave? For one, various hospital related buildings are within a few blocks. The CWE is to the north, but one can use the former Euclid Ave to connect with Euclid Ave. To the south, however, is the Forest Park Southeast (FPSE neighborhood) and The Grove, accessed via Taylor Ave.
Expensive investments in mass transit infrastructure, such as light rail, needs to be designed to maximize use and thus, return on investment. If you didn’t see the train occasionally or the crossing gates, you’d never know a station as been just off Taylor Ave for more than two decades.
— Steve Patterson
That is not Metro’s fault, but the hospital’s and the CWE’s.
I never assigned fault, but the parking garage and bus center is Metro. They’re all to blame.
Not that it’s optimal but I typically cut through the lower level of the parking garage as I come and go.
I’ve done that if I’m going north, but not for south. Cigarette smoke from all the smokers is nasty!
I take the pedestrian bridge to access the Grove, its quite pleasant, at least until we get the new station. Some of the TIGER funds are beng used to improve cwe station as well, not hlding my breath that they wil improve conection to Taylor as a result. On the flip side of this is the Clayton station, you exit the train 50 feet from the buses , then have to walk up and over to actually reach them. I see peole just miss buses all the time with the extra time it takes to reach the bus bays.
Everybody’s a critic. When will I see someone pose a solution to a problem instead of just venting about it?
Over the last decade I’ve offered many solutions. This is an example of a situation that is what it is, the time to do it right was prior to 1993.
It points to the underlying problem of poor urban planning. Many solutions have been offered as Steve has said, solutions are not the problem. It’s a status quo political/corporate system of governance that could care less about the general population. The first and pretty well only goal is to direct money into the pockets of a few.
The fault lies in the governance of the City. It is they who are ultimately responsible. The wrong people are running everything, there is no real leadership. The City, Mayor Slay and his various minions are responsible to ensure any changes at BJC and the transit site serve the citizens well. Just as their predecessors are responsible for previous snafu’s.
And people ask why no one wants to ride transit? Look at St. Louis.
Consider also Taylor directly East of this station. It is less walkable than both south to the Grove and North to the West End. This is the type of consideration that should be part of the process as redevelopment occurs. That does not mean chase out existing business. What it means is that as change occurs make sure there are efforts to encourage connections to transit with pedestrian friendly areas.
As it stands, not only is the situation completely absurd, it is a complete embarrassment to the people of St. Louis.