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* For those who aren’t familiar with the Metro East area, MetroLink is the transit agency that serves both sides of the Mississippi River in the St. Louis area. Here’s St. Louis Public Radio…
MetroLink will soon get $223 million from the federal government to replace aging light rail cars and repair damage from flooding, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in East St. Louis on Monday.
The first portion of the federal money, $27 million, will help repair damage sustained last summer during record flooding. The remaining $196 million will fund 48 new light rail cars.
“We know how much transit means to people, and we know that this community has been through a lot,” Buttigieg said in a speech at MetroLink’s Emerson Park location. […]
Buttigieg, alongside U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield; U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis County, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, praised the MetroLink investment as the work of President Joe Biden’s administration. […]
Local officials said earlier this year that Emerson Park [in East St. Louis], the site of Monday’s press conference, would be the location of a new $13.6 million public safety center. The facility is currently being built and is scheduled to be completed in February.
The 16,000-square-foot center will include a new St. Clair County dispatch operation and space for the sheriff’s department.
Gov. Pritzker announced earlier this year that the Illinois State Police’s Metro East regional headquarters would be located in East St. Louis.
* Buttigieg also visited Urbana on Monday…
In looking toward the future, Buttigieg put forth the idea of “complete streets.”
“Now is a great opportunity not to repeat some of the mistakes that we’ve inherited,” Buttigieg said. “There was a period that we thought, for example, that the only function of a road going through the middle of a built-up area where a lot of people live is to blast vehicles through as quickly as possible.”
A “complete street,” according to Buttigieg, would include sidewalks and more space so that cars, bicycles and pedestrians, including wheelchair users, can “coexist peacefully.”
He said that while this may seem like a new idea to some, he sees it as going back to basics, approaching city planning more like someone would have before the invention of cars.
“We were so excited about what cars could bring that we neglected to fit that into a bigger picture,” Buttigieg said.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 2, 23 @ 9:53 am
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This is great news. I’m not a frequent rider but do still use MetroLink when I’m back in the area to visit. The rail cars are really showing their age and are due for an upgrade.
The metro east has some pretty solid public transportation given it’s population and density.
Comment by SIUEalum Wednesday, Aug 2, 23 @ 10:21 am
Pretty sure the absence of sidewalks is a feature of some locales who don’t want “riff-raff” traipsing through their neighborhoods.
Comment by PublicServant Wednesday, Aug 2, 23 @ 12:12 pm
In the past, highway engineers said they couldn’t accommodate bicycles and pedestrians because highway funding came from the motor fuel tax. This federal funding, along with more and more state infrastructure funding, has no connection to motor fuel taxes. I’m glad to see all transportation modes and users finally recognized and accommodated.
Comment by Sir Reel Wednesday, Aug 2, 23 @ 12:59 pm
Is he not aware that campustown in Urbana has some of the best bike facilities around?
Comment by Soccermom Wednesday, Aug 2, 23 @ 3:42 pm
“Is he not aware that campustown in Urbana has some of the best bike facilities around?”
I believe he does, that’s why he/his staff picked Urbana.
Comment by Proud Sucker Wednesday, Aug 2, 23 @ 4:50 pm
Sir Reel - IDOT has had policies to accommodate bikes on all roads since the late 1990’s.
Complete Streets for State routes has been around for a long time as well.
For the local routes, it has been IDOT policy that the local agencies have to accommodate multimodal transportation for the past 10 years or so.
The funding has had nothing to do with the bike accommodations.
So none of this is new. It is just in the news.
Comment by Huh? Wednesday, Aug 2, 23 @ 7:28 pm