Jaywalking: the Practical Way to Cross North Hanley Rd

In a recent Road Crew Chat on STLtoday.com, one person had a question regarding jaywalking near the North Hanley MetroLink station. mike: at north hanley and I-70, there are pedestrians crossing hanley from the apartment complex between the gas station...

/ 23 February 2011

Chicago-St. Louis High-Speed Rail Project Continues to Move Forward

Since September 2010, Illinois has been busy upgrading 90 miles of track on the Chicago-St. Louis rail corridor to support speeds of 110 mph for passenger rail service. This particular project will cost $110 million and if it hasn’t already,...

/ 17 February 2011

Realigning MetroLink to Better Serve St. Louis

In the post I wrote last week comparing the Grand and Central West End MetroLink stations, I concluded with a question: “Would additional stations or even a different alignment have better served the neighborhoods MetroLink passes?” As the map above...

/ 16 February 2011

Comparing the Grand and Central West End MetroLink Stations

The original MetroLink line that opened in 1993 between North Hanley and 5th & Missouri is often praised as one of the most creative uses of existing right-of-way and financing for a light-rail line in the United States. MetroLink planners...

/ 9 February 2011
MO-141 at Olive

Less Congestion, More Sprawl, a Lot More Time in the Car in St. Louis

Good news for St. Louis commuters. According to the 2010 Urban Mobility Report published last week by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, St. Louis is one of the least congested cities in the US. Amongst the 31...

/ 25 January 2011

Harland Bartholomew’s “Theoretical Diagram of Proposed Transit System”

Harland Bartholomew came to St. Louis in 1916 at the invitation of the Civic League of St. Louis with the charge of creating a comprehensive plan for the city of St. Louis. Three years later, he was appointed City Planning...

/ 13 January 2011

St. Louis Elevated and Rapid Transit Railway

New York built the first elevated railway line in the country on Ninth Ave in 1868. After replacing the initial cable propelled system with steam locomotives, the elevated system began expanding rapidly. By 1882, 3 more elevated railway lines extending...

/ 5 January 2011

A San Francisco Fantasy Map

Click on image to view the complete map. Often times my thoughts turn to other cities. This fantasy map for rail-based transit in San Francisco is the culmination of some of those thoughts. Introduction / Mission Bay Station The premise...

/ 15 December 2010

Illinois May Receive More Money for High-Speed Rail

According to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, the White House is going to redirect high-speed rail money previously allocated to Wisconsin and Ohio to other states including Illinois. Congressional sources say the Obama administration is taking $1.2...

/ 9 December 2010

Speeding Through Downtown at 35 MPH

4th St. at Spruce St. The speed limit on the majority of streets in the St. Louis CBD is 25 mph. Outside the CBD, but still within downtown, speed limits are commonly set at 30 mph. Some of the arterial...

/ 1 December 2010

Fountain Park Bike Lane in the Door Zone

Streetsblog San Francisco recently posted an excellent article titled “Why Are We Building Bikes Lanes That Are Hurting People?” The premise of the article is that many bike lanes are marked too closely to rows of parked cars putting cyclists...

/ 15 November 2010

MoDOT Trying to Squeeze More Capacity Onto I-64, Too

MoDOT has ambitions to add capacity to I-64 between I-270 and MO-141, if its recent failed TIGER grant application is anything to go by. Much like its planned project on I-270 between I-44 and Manchester Rd, MoDOT plans to add...

/ 5 November 2010