Category: Policy

Thoughts on the Narrow View Taken By the National Park Service

The NPS Environmental Assessment will in fact assess the impacts of the proposed “lid” on the visitor experience, but only in the context of the proposed west entrance, revitalized Luther Ely Smith Square, and connectivity with the Old Courthouse. It’s...

/ 3 April 2012
Gateway Arch

Myopia on the Part of the National Park Service

It’s been more than a month since I sent a tweet to @CityArchRiver complaining that their website’s comment form was broken after attempting to submit a comment. The message I attempted to send was as follows: The JNEM EA received...

/ 20 February 2012

Comments for the JNEM EA Pieced Back Together

When the National Park Service published the document containing all the public scoping comments for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial environmental assessment, they did so in a rather interesting way: The NPS split comments apart and organized them by category....

/ 25 January 2012

MoDOT Proposed Gas Tax Increase Falls Well Short of Funding New I-70, Future Projects

So MoDOT recently came forward with some ideas on how it might pay for the $1.5-4 billion project to rebuild and widen I-70 between Kansas City and St. Louis. The two options they proposed included 1) a 15¢ increase in...

/ 19 December 2011

Stagnant State Gas Tax Contributing to MoDOT’s Funding Woes

It’s been a few months since MoDOT announced that it has been forced to layoff and curtail a large portion of its operations. Whereas in recent years MoDOT had been living large spending $900 million to $1.2 billion a year,...

/ 28 October 2011

A Voice for All Transit Riders in St. Louis

Today, on the 62th anniversary of the formation of the Bi-State Development Agency, we are pleased to announce the formation of the Transit Riders Union of St. Louis (TRUSTL) which will fight for the public transit needs of the citizens...

/ 20 September 2011

Support City to River, Send Comments to National Park Service ASAP

The scoping process is the most important step in any environmental study. Project scopes are often created with specific ideas in mind and shape the alternatives that are created and considered later on in the process. If an idea does...

/ 18 August 2011

Imagining a Wild Mississippi River

Earlier this year, as the Ohio and Mississippi River flooding worsened, many turned their attention on the Old River Control Structure in Louisiana. This set of 3 dams is all that is keeping the Mississippi River from changing course and...

/ 12 July 2011

This Is What the Antithesis of Transit-Oriented Development Looks Like

Representing SUNCO LLC, attorney James Mello made a presentation to the Maplewood Plan and Zone Commission on April 4. The presentation covered the revised concept plan for the Sunnen site which will include a relocated Mini dealership and commuter parking...

/ 13 May 2011

Car Dealership, Parking Lot To Anchor Transit-Oriented Development At Sunnen MetroLink Station

Since it opened in 1993, MetroLink has been lauded for it’s ability to connect so many of the St. Louis area’s great activity generators and centers of employment. As the years have worn on, MetroLink has, also, come under criticism...

/ 12 May 2011

Metro Postpones Scheduled Fare Increase

A scheduled fare increase in July for Metro transit services has been postponed. The fare increase would have raised MetroBus and MetroLink base fares by 25ยข to $2.25 and $2.50, respectively. Ray Friem, Chief Operating Officer of Transit Services for...

/ 5 May 2010

East-West Gateway’s Website Needs Updating

East-West Gateway’s website is old and outdated. Not surprising for a design that likely harkens back to the beginning of this millennium. The design, however, reflects poorly on the agency responsible for the proper allocation of hundreds of millions of...

/ 23 April 2010