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St. Clair County Extension

The first phase of the St. Clair County MetroLink extension from the 5th and Missouri station to Belleville Area College opened on May 7, 2001 for revenue service.

Currently, the new extension is 17.4 miles. New station canopies can be seen along the alignment. Emerson Park and the Fairview Heights stations have the largest park-n-ride lots with 815 and 835 parking spaces respectively.

The second phase will run from Belleville Area College to Mid America Airport. The planned Shiloh station was eliminated to reduce costs in Phase II of the project. MetroLink's St. Clair extension will eventually consist of 26 miles of right-of-way when it is extended in phase two to Scott Air Force Base and Mid America Airport.

Throughout the construction process in St. Clair County, officials listened to feed back from residents affected by the construction. One objective of the process was to maintain a good working relationship with residents that were affected by the construction.

The St. Clair line is 17.4 miles with 8 stations including:

• Emerson Park, north of I-64 near 15th Street
• Hall Park, north of I-64 west of 25th Street
• Washington Park , south of St. Clair Avenue west of IL-111
• Fairview Heights, southeast of the intersection of IL-161 and US 50
• Memorial Hospital, north of IL -161 near 57th Street
• Swansea, west of IL - 159 near Fullerton Road
• Belleville, northeast of Clay Street on Scheel Street
• College Station at Southwestern Illinois College.

The average speed, including station dwell time, is 34 mph. From any point on the new line the commute to downtown is no more than 34 minutes.

There are several reasons for its efficiency and speed. The track is super elevated, allowing 70% of the curves to be taken at 55 mph. Super elevation banks the track up on one side giving the train a slight tilt and the ability to take curves faster. Secondly, there are few at-grade crossings and the stations are relatively far apart.

Overall, ridership is running above expectations. St. Clair County Transit District reports that average daily ridership is above 16,000.

The project cost for MetroLink's St. Clair extension was $339,169,856. The federal share of the Full Funding Grant Agreement of the capital cost of the project was 71.92 percent while the local share (28.08%) was provided by revenue from a 1/2 cent sales tax in St. Clair County.

Cross County MetroLink Extension

The Cross County MetroLink extension Segment 1 will be 8.2 miles in length with a redesigned Forest Park Station and nine new stations - two of which wil have park-ride facilities. An additional 18,000 riders per day is forecast with the opening of this line. Here is a description of Segment 1.

The Cross County MetroLink extension begins at the existing Forest Park MetroLink Station, which will be called Forest Park Junction. New stations along the extension will include Skinker, University City- Big Bend, Clayton-Forsyth, Clayton-Central, Richmond Heights- Galleria, Brentwood-Eager Road, Maplewood, Sunnen and Shrewsbury.

It is projected that revenue service will begin in 2005. The Bi-State Board recently approved 30 percent engineering and has given the go ahead for final engineering and construction.

With the opening of the Cross County Extension in 2005, it is estimated that average daily ridership will hit 82,000 There will be 38 stations total with 51.5 miles of alignment in the St. Louis region.

North, South & West MTIA

The Major Transportation Investment Analyses (MTIAs) are complete in the Northside, Southside and Daniel Boone Corridors. Included in these studies, which identify transportation issues and problems and analyze potential solutions for each of the corridors, were possible light rail alternatives for the North, South and West.

This is the third phase of a larger region wide planning process for St. Louis conducted by the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council. The MTIA looked at all feasible transportation options in each corridor including light rail, bus improvements, road improvements, bicycle, pedestrian and other modes of transportation to solve transportation issues or problems relative to that corridor.

The light rail alternative was the locally preferred alternative in the Northside corridor. A light rail alternative was the locally preferred alternative in the Southside corridor as well, but the possibility of a busway was left on the table. In the Daniel Boone Corridor, light rail was the preferred alternative to the West Port area.

 

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