MetroBus Guide For SLU Law Faculty, Staff, & Students

Very soon the Saint Louis University School of Law will move into a renovated building downtown, near the courts.

Last month (April 2013) the exterior of the new law school was basically complete, with new glass elements and a new top floor.

The same building in September 2012

But this post isn’t about the alterations to the building, this post is meant to help faculty, staff & students understand how to use the MetroBus system.

The distance between the current law school on the main SLU campus and the new building is 2.3 miles via Lindell/Olive & Tucker. Driving time is 9 minutes end to end, but no parking is available at the ends, so walking time needs to be added.

Taking the #10 (Gravois Lindell) MetroBus is 16 minutes, per Google Maps, including walking time.  Time on the bus is 11 minutes plus 5 for walking, so taking the bus is competitive with driving in this example.

Those going from the main campus can catch the #10 in one of two places: on Lindell east of Spring or Lindell east of Grand. You’ll exit the bus on just after it turns on 14th St., next to the Ford Building.

Riders returning the SLU main campus can catch the #10 at this bus stop at 14th & Pine, the Ford Building at left is the stop for those going to the law school.

In the opposite direction you’ll walk two blocks west along Pine to the stop shown above. You can exit at Grand to Spring for the main campus.

Frequency is every 30 minutes, 40 minutes after 11pm. The #10 line is the bus I use most often, the 30 minute frequency isn’t a problem when you know the schedule. I personally don’t use the printed schedule, I just check the times on the Google Maps iPhone app (or online) as needed.

The bus route number is shown on the front left followed by the the final destination. This example is the #70 (Grand) MetroBus heading NB.

The route number & destination is also displayed on the curb side of the bus, just behind the door.

Here are some other things to remember:

1. Make sure you look for your bus, if you are busy reading the bus driver may not realize you want to board and pass you.
2. Transfers offer a good value. Say you board the bus at 10:30am and pay $3 ($2 fare + $1 transfer), you’ll get a transfer good until 1pm!
3. Bus drivers can’t offer change, so having $1 bills is a good idea, a monthly pass is $72. Hopefully a new SLU administration will join the Metro campus programs like St. Louis Community College, Washington University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).
4. Let others get off the bus before boarding, when you exit use the back door rather than the front door. This reduces delays.
5. You’ll need to pull the cord to signal you want to stop at the next bus stop.
6. Don’t be afraid to sit toward the back, the front seats must be given up for elderly & disabled passengers.
7. Other MetroBus lines within 2 blocks of the law school include: 30, 41, 74, 94, 97, 99. Four blocks away at 14th & Market adds the 4 & 11.

Anyone else have any positive advice?

– Steve Patterson

Readers: Don’t Build South County Connector

A majority of readers favor Trailnet’s suggestions to focus on transit, biking, and walking efforts to reduce automobile congestion:

South Hanley ducks under railroad tracks.

Q: How should St. Louis County reduce auto congestion between Hanley & Watson?

1. Focus on transit, bicycling and walking solutions 60 [57.14%]
2. Build proposed “South County Connector” partially-elevated roadway 25 [23.81%]
3. Do nothing 16 [15.24%]
4. Unsure/no opinion 4 [3.81%]

The pro-Trailnet crowd combined with the “do nothing” group total a whopping 72.38% that didn’t select the built it option.

A public meeting will be held Thursday May 30th.

The South County Connector Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be available for public review and comment from Friday, May 3, 2013 to July 19, 2013. During the review period, the St. Louis County Department of Highways and Traffic will host a public hearing for the Draft EIS on Thursday, May 30, 2013 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Shrewsbury City Center (located at 5200 Shrewsbury Avenue, Shrewsbury, Missouri 63119).

The public hearing is an opportunity for interested persons to give testimony concerning the Draft EIS, including potential social, economic, and environmental impacts of the proposed roadway alternatives. Representatives of the South County Connector Study Team will also be available to provide information and answer questions about the Draft EIS at an open house meeting held at the same time as the public hearing. No formal presentation will be made. Display boards and copies of the Draft EIS will be available for review at the open house meeting. (South County Connector)

If you are among those who don’t think this project should move forward please contact all of the following:

• The study team (link with form and email address)
• The St. Louis County Council (this is in the 5th district)
• St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley

We’ve invested millions in transit, now is the time to double-down on transit to get a return on our existing infrastructure investment.

– Steve Patterson

Potential Development Sites Along Proposed Streetcar Line, Part 3: 14th & Olive To North Florissant & St. Louis Ave.

In the first two parts of this series on development sites along a proposed streetcar route I looked at Olive from 15th-16th and Olive from 16th-18th. In both cases it was a small area and I looked a specific buildings and parcels of land. Heading to N. Florissant Ave. & St. Louis Ave. nearly everything is a development site.

Let’s start downtown and work our way north. At 14th & Olive you have the library on the NE corner and the library administration building & a charter high school on the NW corner. I think the library admin building has office space available for lease.

The parking lot at 14th & Locust is privately owned, a good candidate for new construction. Photo is from 2007 before the charter school added another floor to their space on the left.

1400 Washington has had numerous development plans, it is now becoming a parking lot, same owner as the previous lot across the alley.

I’d like to see these two buildings on Washington Ave west of 14th get renovated, along with a thin wedge between the east wall and 14th. Photo from 2011.

Before we go any further north it makes sense to look at the route on a map along with a development zone on each side of the line. Light rail has stations miles apart, whereas streetcars are more like buses by having more frequent stops along the route.

The blue line is the proposed streetcar route, green about 660ft (1/8th mile) and the red about 1,320ft (1/4 mile). Purple is the new bridge connecting into Tucker.
Click to view in Google Maps.

The area between the green lines is the immediate area that I estimate to be part of a special transportation district with slightly higher property taxes, pro-rated based on distance.  The red lines are a quarter mile distance, the usual distance a person is willing to walk.

Quite a bit of this area is in what will be one of the Northside Regeneration job centers.

Numerous parking lots occupy significant land north of Washington Ave, ideal candidates for new construction.

A former BarnesCare building built in 2001, is now vacant. With no pedestrian access and large setbacks from both MLK & 14th this building should be razed and a new urban building constructed on the site.

Hogan Trucking uses two city blocks, Carr St has been vacated. Interestingly the property owner is listed as Hogan Redevelopment Corp.

This site must legally remain a public park, as it has been since 1842.
Click image for more information.

Many would love to see the crumbling Carr School get renovated. Click image for more information on this 1908 structure.

7.9 acres ready for development, the original lot boundaries remain since they were never consolidated.

The 14th & O’Fallon St bus stop is always busy, but that hasn’t spurred development to date. This stop is currently served by the #32 & #74 MetroBus routes

On the west side of 14th, south of Cass, is the O’Fallon Place Apartments owned by McCormack Baron Salazar.

Looking NW on N. Florissant from 14th, vacant land and mostly vacant buildings are all around.

The Mullaphy Emigrant Home at 1609 N. 14th could finally get renovated if the streetcar connects the near-north side to downtown. Click image for more information on this historic structure.

Looking back toward downtown we see evidence of disinvested in the area along N. Florissant near Madison St. The city says property owners are responsible for sidewalks but in this case the city is the property owner.

The City of St. Louis is the legal owner of the 668 sq ft wedge-shaped lot at 1458 Madison St.

This small building at 2100 N. Florissant Ave was built in 1906, the owner is in St. Louis County.

A bank in Illinois now owns the unfinished daycare at 1501 Clinton & 1500 Monroe. The buildings to the north are owned by several owners, including the LRA & Northside Regeneration.

The mostly vacant St. Liborious complex at Hogan & North Market is a city landmark, it is privately owned. Click image for more information.

Vast open areas are prime for redevelopment along the proposed streetcar route. This is north of North Market on the west side of North Florissant

The vacant gas station at 2418 N. Florissant was built in 1972.

Two blocks north at 2618 N. Florissant is another vacant gas station, this building has been modified many times since 1938.

This building, owned by a person in Atlanta GA, needs to be replaced. The Church’s Chicken could operate out of a storefront in a new building.

This building from 1940 should be replaced.

This bank was built in 1993 after the urban bank at the corner of N. Florissant & St. Louis Ave was razed, despite neighborhood objections. This should be replaced with an urban building on the corner.

The NE corner of N. Florissant & St. Louis Ave. had a cute diner until 1998

With so much vacant land & buildings, this stretch of the proposed streetcar line has the greatest potential for redevelopment. It will also be a challenge initially to get projects funded. Once the line is open and Paul McKee builds one of his job centers near Tucker & Cass things will start to take off. Form-based codes requiring dense urban design will be key to getting the right kind of construction.

It’ll take at least a decade, if not two, for this to be built out.

– Steve Patterson

b

Shrewsbury: MetroLink to City Hall

I love rail transit, but a problem with our MetroLink light rail system is getting from the stations to your destination. Last week I attended a meeting hosted by Trailnet at Shrewsbury City Hall, a mile from the station. I could’ve caught a bus that would’ve dropped me off at Murdoch & Shrewsbury Ave but I still would’ve had 4/10ths of a mile to reach city hall. It was decent out and my power chair had a full charge so I decided to “walk” the mile.

But first a little background information.

The Shrewsbury MetroLink station opened with the blue line extension on August 26, 2006.
Click image to view video of the arrival of the first train pictured above.

The Shrewsbury MetroLink station is located in the City of St. Louis, but the Shrewsbury city limits is the western edge of the commuter parking lot. The station has been open neatly 7 years now so there’s been time to better connect the surrounding neighborhoods to transit.

Okay, let’s head to Shrewsbury City Hall located one mile away at 5200 Shrewsbury Ave.

My planned route Lansdowne, Murdoch Cut-Off, Murdoch, Shrewsbury Ave, click map to view in Google Maps

From the station platform I could see the direction I needed to go to reach the Shrewsbury City Hall.

Looks like many walk up/down this hill

Others walk here, but I’d better find a sidewalk I can use.

Now I’m headed down toward Lansdowne Ave, sandwiched between the retaining wall on the left and the auto driveway on the right. Not a friendly environment!

At Lansdowne Ave I see pedestrians crossing the street without a crosswalk. I couldn’t cross here even if I wanted to because of the numerous curbs.

More pedestrians risking getting hit by cars

I stick to the north side of Lansdowne Ave and head west under the railroad tracks, the Shrewsbury city limit.

I want to cross Lansdowne Ave here but there is no curb cut or crosswalk to allow me to do so.

I’m able to use this crosswalk to reach the other side of Murdoch Cut-Off

But there’s no sidewalk on this side of Murdoch Cut-Off

So I returned to the intersection to cross Murdoch Cut-Off to reach the point I originally wanted to reach but couldn’t

After passing the gas station I discover there’s no sidewalk on this side of Murdoch Cut-Off either. It looks like many pedestrians walk in the narrow dirt path, I had to use the narrow shoulder. This point is about 400 feet from where I left the station property.

Looking back from where I’d just traveled you can see a bus stop encouraging pedestrian use of this area.

As Murdoch Cut-Off approaches Murdoch a sidewalk does exist.

But the sidewalk doesn’t continue, it turns and heads back east. This is about 1/8th of a mile from the station.

I head south on St. Vincent Ave, this view is looking back north from Notttingham. Only the west side of St. Vincent Ave has a narrow sidewalk.

The streets intersecting with St. Vincent don’t have sidewalks for the first block to Danbury Ave., I cautiously proceed in the street.

Once past Danbury Ave sidewalks are available

That doesn’t mean the sidewalks weren’t blocked at times. This owner had more room on their driveway before their garage door, more than enough to keep the sidewalk clear.

After I reached Shrewsbury Ave I went north to Murdoch to see where sou;d’ve been dropped off had I taken a bus. This point is about a third of a mile from the corner of the transit station property.

Looking east on Murdoch, the direction I originally thought I’d take. No sidewalk, only shoulder.

The north side of Murdoch has a sidewalk next to the apartment buildings only.

This is the bus stop heading back toward the MetroLink station, I caught a bus here a couples of hours later to return downtown.

Heading back south toward city hall I passed charming houses and the route was paved and easy to navigate. The distance was over a half mile but it was fine, the worst part of the journey was closest to the transit station.

Getting closer to city hall and the adjacent Wehner Park

Newer houses mix well with older houses.

Almost there!

The sidewalk just ends, dumping me into the street. No crosswalk or visible sidewalk into the Shrewsbury City Center complex grounds, just a sidewalk going east & west.

No way in on the east side of the auto drive.

No pedestrian route on the west side either, so I had no choice but to use the auto driveway

A pedestrian route along the east side of the auto driveway would be a direct path to the main entrance of the Shrewsbury City Center complex. Voters approved a bond in 1991 to pay for the renovations to city hall, the work was completed in 1993 — both after The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Leaving at night via the auto driveway. I’d imagine many neighbors drive here from just blocks away because that’s the message the design suggests.

My only other time here was Saturday June 17,2006 for a charrette on connecting St. Louis & Shrewsbury to the open MetroLink line, attended by residents, businesses and elected officials. I drove on that visit.

Given the substantial capital investment made in the MetroLink expansion and the commitment of sales taxes to help fund Metro I find it unacceptable that nothing has been done in nearly 7 years. Well, the sidewalk along one side of St. Vincent looks like it was done in that time frame, but nothing else looks different. Employees & customers should be able to walk from the MetroLink station to the businesses along Murdoch & Murdock Cut-Off. Shrewsbury residents living within a 1/4 mile of the station should have a easy walk, but they don’t.

I suggest the following action steps:

1. Metro, St. Louis, Shrewsbury, Trailnet, etc. begin to examine ways to improve the pedestrian experience to/from the Shrewsbury MetroLink/MetroBus station.
2. Shrewsbury begin to evaluate multiple routes from the station to destinations with Shrewsbury, starting with a walking audit. I’d be happy to participate. Dan Burden from the Walkable & Livable Communities Institute would be an outstanding facilitator.
3. Shrewsbury work to add an ADA-compliant accessible route to the main accessible entrance of the Shrewsbury City Center complex.

I’m emailing various officials at Shrewsbury & St. Louis this morning to try to raise awareness and get some action.

– Steve Patterson

Potential Development Sites Along Proposed Streetcar Line, Part 2: Olive 16th-18th

This is part 2 of a multipart series looking at potential sites for development along the proposed streetcar line that’d run along Olive/Lindell from downtown to the Central West End and the BJC hospital complex as well as north on 14th Street . In Part 1: Olive 15th-16th a week ago I looked at one city block on the north side of Olive between 15th-16th.

That block is underused surface parking, the Campbell House Museum, YMCA and 100 vacant apartments over the YMCA. Potential for both new construction and rehab. The south side of Olive is the 1950s Plaza Square high rise apartments, these will become more desirable after the streetcar line opens.

For this post I want to look at parts of five city blocks rather than just one; they’re bounded by 16th Street on the east, St. Charles St. on the north 18th on the west and Pine on the south. These blocks have a mix of buildings including rehabbed/occupied, non-rehabbed/occupied, vacant buildings, vacant land, a church, a non-public library building, etc.

I’ve organized them by City Block and listed the property addresses.

City Block 509

1700-1706 Olive was built in 1918, it is for sale. The facade on the base appears to have been modified later, possibly to fit in with the adjacent buildings. Click image for map.

1708 Olive, built in 1951, is less than 24ft wide.

1710-1714 Olive was built in 1946

1718 Olive (left) and 1720 Olive (right) are both occupied. 1718 was built in 1900, 1720 in 1926.

1728 Olive was built in 1929

I like variety & scale of the buildings on this block facing Olive, but with the exception of 1700-06 Olive the density is too low to be on a streetcar line and not tall enough relative to the width of Olive. The two 3-story buildings in the middle might be able to be kept with new construction on either side. However, most of these buildings contribute to the Washington Ave national historic district so rehabilitation should be considered.

The rest of the block is surface parking for the Blu Condominium Association and a dumpy 7-11.

Even though the 7-11 faces 17th, the property address is 1701 Pine.

City Block 510

1717 Olive occupies the entire block. Originally the Butler Brothers warehouse built in 1908, later renamed Plaza Square.

The building does have a few business tenants but overall it is in need of a major rehab. Because of the condition, the rents are low. Care should be taken to not price businesses out of the building/neighborhood. On the other hand, those of us living nearby would appreciate it if it was maintained to a higher standard.

This building has potential to house offices and residential.

City Block 511

1601 Olive is a 2-story office building built in 1965, it is vacant and for sale. I’d rather see a larger structure on this corner.

1613 Olive is a vacant lot owned by the city, used for parking for the building to the west.

1621 Olive is owned by the city, used for parking enforcement offices right now

1625 Olive is privately owned and is occupied. Built in 1948, it has an interesting facade. Retain the facade but build up?

1624 Locust is part of the St. Louis Library system

The 2-story building at 1610 Locust was built in 1917, next door is The Leather Trades Artist Lofts.

With the exception of the Leather Trades Artist Lofts, the block to very low in height and density. Although I don’t like the building heights, I do like the facades. Those facing Olive should probably be razed for taller structures.

City Block 828

1601 Locust is a privately-owned surface public parking lot next to Printers Lofts (1611 Locust). Loftworks had planned new construction to attach to Printers. A great site for new construction.

Although I live in the Printers Lofts building, shown above, I don’t know the legality of building on the lot with respect to the four condos and our common space that face east. Presumably this is addressed in our condo documents and in the recorded information on the vacant lot. I’d love to see new construction on this corner, though my neighbors might object. The beautiful Blackwell-Wielandy building occupied the corner until it burned down in 1988.

City Block 829

1701 Locust is a handsome 4-story building built in 1926. It has had several owners in the last decade. It is vacant.

1711 Locust was built in 1903 as a power substation for a private streetcar company, it is vacant and in disrepair. It was #5 on the Landmark’s 2010 Most Endangered List, click to view

Both of these buildings are among my favorites. The substation is a creative challenge, but I’m sure someone could come up with a creative use for the space.

Closing thoughts…

Just in this small area there is room for lots of potential development over the next 10-20 years. In this type of exercise you look long-term at what the potential is for the coming decades. Some development will open before the streetcar line does, but most will come after that time. Developers will be eyeing the locations I’m highlighting in this series.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: How Should St. Louis County Reduce Traffic Congestion Between Mid & South County?

St. Louis County is still trying to make it easier to get from Hanley to Watson Rd., now through what’s being called the South County Connector. Various schemes have been around for decades:

A plan for an improved connection from south St. Louis County to central St. Louis County has existed since the late 1950s. The original concept was for a freeway “inner belt expressway” to provide better north-south access through the St. Louis suburbs. This freeway concept became Interstate 170 north of Interstate 64/U.S. Route 40. Originally, Interstate 170 was supposed to continue south into the southern part of St. Louis County to provide improved access between Interstates 44, 64 and 55. After much deliberation, area leaders decided in the 1990s not to pursue a southward extension of Interstate 170 due to public concerns. Although this option was abandoned, St. Louis County, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), and other local agencies continued planning efforts to identify potential options for north-south access improvements in south St. Louis County. (source)

Here’s a summary of the current proposal:

John Hicks, the county’s Transportation Development Analyst, says the county is now presenting two alternatives to the public, but both roughly follow a route from River Des Peres Boulevard at Watson Road, through a portion of the Shrewsbury MetroLink parking lot, across I-44, into Big Bend Industrial Court, crossing Deer Creek Center and ending at Hanley Road near Flora Avenue. (KMOV)

A good portion would be elevated roadway.

South Hanley would be widened where it ducks under railroad tracks near Deer Creek Center.

Proponents say the project is needed to address projected increases in traffic, critics say the focus should be on transit, biking, and walking solutions.  They also say the widened/high-speed intersections would be dangerous to bikers and pedestrians.

I want to know what you think about it, the weekly poll is in the right sidebar. Cast your vote and share your thoughts below.

– Steve Patterson

Transit-Oriented Planning Eliminates 22nd Street Interchange, Reconnects Street Grid

For years I’ve been accused of being a naive dreamer, coming up with big plans without the existing market to implement. I’ve just smiled and continued sharing my long-term vision for St. Louis.

In June 2007 I wrote:

The 22nd Street Interchange, part of an abandoned highway concept from a few decades ago, needs to be ripped out with the land returned to active tax-paying use. The Missouri Dept of Transportation (MoDOT) should rework the interchange at Jefferson Ave to allow for on/off ramps in both directions and therefore eliminating the need for the current ramps at 22nd. MoDot could sell the land to fund the revisions to the highway ramps. (St. Louis Should Abandon Linear Gateway Mall Concept)

Then in December 2008 I wrote:

I picture a new bridge at I-64/40 and Jefferson Ave — one with a single point urban interchange (SPUI) and both East & West on/off ramps. Build that and then remove the 22nd interchange completely. Bring in form-based zoning codes to require a denser urban environment. Make a strong connection through the back of Union Station (between the shed & highway) so that pedestrians from this newly developable land have the opportunity to walk to Metrolink and the 14th street transit station beyond that. The fact that much of this area is already excavated and free of utility lines would simplify the construction of underground parking in new buildings. (MoDOT Needs To Put The 22nd Street Interchange On Any Wish List For Funding)

By May 2009 I noted that St. Louis’ 22nd Street Interchange Part of McKee’s Plan so it elimination would need to be worked out with him. Presumably MoDOT agrees with McKee because they’re replacing the Jefferson bridge over I-64/40 with no plans for on/off ramps to/from the east.

Then, last month, at an St. Louis Regional Transit Oriented Development Study presentation around the Union Station & Civic Center Metrolink stations the Denver-based consulting firm suggested largely what I had outlined years earlier.

Preliminary plan around Union Station, the Drury (former YMCA) and other existing buildings should be shown in the final presentation.

Ok, they still have on/off ramps for I-64/40 to the east, but they are compact and feed into the reconnected street grid I had advocated. The above image is preliminary, I pointed out it was missing buildings like the Drury Inn on 20th, formerly a YMCA and later a gay bar/hotel/bathhouse. Hopefully their final will be more accurate than the draft shown at the last meeting.

Still they see what I and others saw, the need to repair the street grid and fill in the gaps in the urban fabric.

The 22nd Street interchange is just on/off ramps.

1958 aerial of the area west & north of Union Station

This is not about trying to recreate the buildings and feel of the area prior to the demolition for the highway interchange. This is a forward-looking vision to create a walkable/urban environment for those interested in such. Some prefer the look & feel of new buildings, new sidewalks, new trees, etc. This is an opportunity to create an entirely new neighborhood largely from scratch yet have access to existing transit.

Per McKee’s plans, a few new employers could anchor the neighborhood. Workers & residents would attract restaurants, dry cleaners, and other services.

None of this is rocket science, it’s Urban Planning 101. St. Louis still needs lots of basics to rebuild the connections that were ripped out in the 20th Century.

– Steve Patterson

Potential Development Sites Along Proposed Streetcar Line, Part 1: Olive 15th-16th

The proposed streetcar from St. Louis’ central business district (CBD) to the Central West End (CWE) along Olive/Lindell is moving forward. Regular readers know I’m a streetcar advocate because of how it can increase development activity in a way no bus route ever can. I thought I’d take a close look at potential sites along the proposed route, starting with the area nearest my loft.

The block on the north side of Olive between 15th and 16th is nothing but two surface parking lots.

Looking west from 15th Street, YMCA at right

The larger lot with entrance on 15th serves the building the occupies the block to the east. This building contains the administrative offices for the St. Louis Public Library and the Confluence High School. That building contains parking underneath as well as some surface parking within that block. The library owns the building and this surface parking lot.

The surface lot, shown above, doesn’t get much use. Once the streetcar line starts running there won’t be as much need for automobile parking, hopefully the library can sell the large surface overflow parking lot to a developer for new construction. This is currently subdivided into 4 parcels with addresses 1501 Olive, 1507 Olive, 1509-1529 Olive, and 1527 Olive with a total area of 26,964sf or 0.62 acres. See map.

The west end of the block is a smaller privately-owned public surface parking lot, legally divided into two parcels with addresses 1531-1533 Olive and 1535-1537 Olive. The total area of these two parcels is 11,676sf or 0.27 acres. Combine all six parcels owned by two entities and you have 38,640sf or 0.89 acres.

Purple is the smaller privately-owned lot, blue the lot owned by the library and the red outlines the building with library offices and charter high school.

The only structures on this city block are The Campbell House Museum and the 10-story YMCA. The 100 upper floor apartments have been vacant for at least 5 years now, hopefully a streetcar line will get someone interested in taking on the project. Other buildings in the area range from 1-10 floors, but most are greater than 5.

A stop is highly unlikely at 15th because the streetcar line will have a major connection at 14th, but I’d like another stop at 16th or 17th.  Even if the next stop isn’t until 18th or 19th I can see this block filled in with apartments and/or condos along with new ground-floor restaurant/retail space.

– Steve Patterson

National Train Day In Two Weeks: Saturday May 11th

My only pic of the Kirkwood Amtrak station is this blurry one taken in December 2010 on the way to Kansas City.

Like trains? Two weeks from today is National Train Day across the country with many events, the St. Louis event will be at the station in Kirkwood (map):

Station open house at the historic former Missouri Pacific depot adjacent to the busy Union Pacific main line with displays from the National Museum of Transport, Kirkwood Historical Society, Big Bend Model Railroad Club, Kirkwood Fire Dept., Union Pacific Railroad Special Agents and National Railway Historical Society among others. Rail safety information display by Missouri Operation Lifesaver. An operating model train layout will be on display along with a telegraph display and demonstration from the Morse Telegraph Club. Food will be available from the Kirkwood Optimist Club. Amtrak will have a drawing for tickets to Chicago or Kansas City. Live music will be performed after 10am. (Amtrak)

Sounds like a fun day!

– Steve Patterson

County Voters Approved Proposition A For Transit Three Years Ago

The westbound #32 MetroBus on Chouteau just barely west of Grand.

It was three years ago today that St. Louis County voters approved Proposition A, activating a sales tax previously approved by voters in St. Louis City.

Proposition A, a ½-cent sales tax in St. Louis County, passed on April 6! It will provide revenue needed for continued operation and expansion of the transit system including MetroLink, Metrobus and Call-A-Ride services for the disabled. The County tax will raise approximately $75 million annually – and now triggers a matching quarter cent sales tax that was passed in the City of St. Louis in 1997 which will add an additional $8 million a year to the program. (source)

In the last three years Metro has been able to restore MetroBus service to areas where it had been cut due to lack of funding. St. Louis County is holding back some of the tax revenue generated  each year, to use for local match for an expansion of MetroLink light rail.

But where?

• South from the Shrewsbury end?
• North along I-170?
• Out to Westport Plaza?

I haven’t kept up with the long range planning so perhaps the next route has been selected already, anyone know?

– Steve Patterson