ST. LOUIS â The plan to build a new MetroLink line connecting the cityâs north and south sides won a critical vote from regional leaders on Wednesday. But it almost didnât.
The $1.1 billion project, aimed at connecting long-struggling city neighborhoods with opportunities in the thriving central corridor, ultimately dodged an attempt to derail it at the East-West Gateway Council of Governments board meeting.
Officials can now move forward with advanced design work on the project and a campaign for hundreds of millions of federal dollars to help pay for it.
And St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, the projectâs chief proponent, hailed the decision as a victory for people who need help getting to growing job centers in Midtown and the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency facility on the near north side.
âThis vote moves us closer,â Jones said in a statement.
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But it followed a tense debate over whether the plan can actually live up to its promise and price tag as well as a close vote against shelving the plan.
Opponents from outlying counties argued that the new line wonât serve enough people to be worth it. They said bus service might address residentsâ needs better and more affordably.
One said he felt like the region was making a blind bet.
âItâs âbuild it and they will come,ââ said St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann. âAnd I donât think weâre going to see any Chicago Black Sox coming out of the cornfield.â
The back and forth was nothing new for an idea that leaders have been batting around for more than 15 years.
It came on a day city officials couldnât afford to lose the argument.
For once, they have momentum. Money from a special sales tax approved by voters in 2017 to help pay for the expansion is piling up. They finally have a supportive partner in St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. And the federal government under President Joe Biden is spending big on infrastructure.
But construction costs are rising. Staff for Bi-State Development, which operates MetroLink for the region, told local officials on Wednesday that they needed to move quickly to secure affordable bids. Left unsaid were worries about what might happen to federal spending if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House next year.
And officials from outlying counties, who are mostly Republicans in contrast with the Democrats who run the city and St. Louis County, wanted to slow things down.
They invited David Stokes, an analyst at the libertarian Show-Me Institute, to present research casting doubt on the expansionâs ability to draw the 5,000 daily boardings officials expect. He recalled multiple times when previous expansions failed to meet ridership expectations. He said that fewer people use mass transit in St. Louis now than they did before MetroLink started.
And he said the new line would just take passengers away from bus service thatâs cheaper and easier to move when commuting patterns change.
âThatâs not really an improvement,â he said. âItâs an expensive change.â
Jefferson County Executive Dennis Gannon worried about falling short of ridership projections. He said if that happened with the expansion, it wouldnât be able to cover its own expenses.
Tim Brinker, the presiding commissioner in Franklin County, asked whether Bi-State had considered a dedicated bus line on the Jefferson corridor.
And Ehlmann, the St. Charles County executive, worried that the whole thing was a risky gamble, and failure could threaten future federal funding. He also noted that Bi-State officials cited changing commute patterns as one of the reasons to build the line, which he found nonsensical.
âIsnât that the best argument against building anything on a track?â he asked. âIf they move, arenât we stuck with a train that goes nowhere?â
But Jones pointed out that the line would stop at the new NGA headquarters, a city workforce development hub, a new hotel near the soccer stadium in Midtown, and Harris-Stowe State University.
âWere are doing this in response to current development plans,â she said.
Aldermanic President Megan Green said city voters are demanding the project.
âItâs the No. 1 question the mayor and I get at neighborhood meetings,â she said. âAnd the question is never if this is going to happen, itâs when itâs going to happen.â
Ehlmann moved to table the discussion. It fell just short, eight votes to 11. Franklin County Sheriff Steven Pelton, whom Ehlmann had expected to back the effort, abstained because he didnât get meeting materials beforehand.
Jones then moved to approve the plans, which passed 14-5.
The project needs one more vote at East-West Gateway â after federal funding is secured.
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