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Metro area reacts to news of St. Louis-Chicago high-speed rail
(by Julia Werner - February 17, 2010)
In late January, the Obama administration announced economic stimulus grants of $8 billion to aid 13 high-speed rail corridors that link major cities across the U.S.
In addition to Missouri receiving $31 million for passenger rail upgrades between St. Louis and Kansas City, St. Louis will also benefit from $1.1 billion that was given to Illinois to develop a high-speed line between Chicago and St. Louis.
The long-term vision is for the corridor to reach speeds of 110 mph and decrease travel time between the two cities to approximately four hours, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“I think it’s going to be a huge boost for downtown,” said Tom Shrout, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit. “A four-hour trip is really very, very competitive. It’s far better than driving and it’s very competitive with air travel.”
These initial funds, however, cover only a quarter of the estimated project costs and have been designated for constructing tracks, signals, stations and other improvements north of Alton, Ill., and into Dwight, a city about 75 miles southwest of Chicago.
Metro’s Chief of Planning and System Development Jessica Mefford-Miller said she feels that these improvements will benefit the St. Louis region, but there’s more to be done a lot closer to home.
“It’s incremental progress and it begins with forward-looking planning,” Mefford-Miller said. “It’s capitalizing on these investments as they come and then planning for subsequent investments so we can complete the project.”
Currently, Metro is in the process of submitting its long-range transit plan for approval, first to its Board of Commissioners, then to East-West Gateway Council of Government’s Board of Commissioners on Feb. 24. In the short term, this plan includes service restorations, passenger amenities and improved technology.
In the long term, Metro hopes to expand light rail and bus rapid transit and add commuter rail corridors southwest to Pacific and north to Alton.
“It was knowing that these discussions about high-speed rail were going on that prompted us to consider commuter rail as an option,” Mefford-Miller said. “They are still viable options but it’s not something that is imminent, not something that I could put a timeline on.”
Before commuter rail could be implemented, she said improvements need to be made in the St. Louis metropolitan area for intercity passenger trains like Amtrak and freight rail.
She explained that getting Metro’s transit plan approved would be the first in a long line of steps toward obtaining funds for these potential projects. Today, federal funding for up to 50 percent of the capital costs for such projects is being offered through the federal transit administration’s New Starts program.
“Federal funding is available for major projects — building things, fixing things, buying buses, trains — but not for the ongoing operating costs,” Mefford-Miller said. “That comes from state and local sources, so we have to get those first. First local, then state, then we can leverage those resources to attract federal money.”
Local funding could come in April if St. Louis county voters pass Proposition A, an initiative that would raise sales tax by a half cent to restore services and provide operating funds for Metro.
“Today the plan is not funded and we’ll begin implementing these [enhancements] as funds become available in the future. So if in April that tax is successful, we’ll be able to get going quickly,” Mefford-Miller said. “But if it’s not then we’re still in this holding pattern and aren’t able to actually implement anything yet.”
In Metro’s plan, the bigger picture is more than 30 years away, and the road to get there is long and expensive, but Mefford-Miller said she’s staying positive.
“We are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were a few weeks ago before this announcement and appropriation were made, and there will be more appropriations,” she said. “We’re optimistic.”
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