Page 6 - Taulby Roach News Today

Gov. JB Pritzker, state legislators, mayors and other officials gathered at the airport Thursday to spotlight the investment.

The Bi-State Development Agency received roughly $7.4 million for efforts to expand the city’s MetroLink train system.

The 5.6-mile rail corridor would run north and south between Natural Bridge and Chippewa, providing access to Union Station and the new soccer stadium, CityPark.

Bi-State Development will move ahead in the planning of a proposed north-south expansion of MetroLink with the hopes of landing federal funding.

The East-West Gateway Council of Governments will apply for federal funds to develop a regional action plan to reduce serious injuries and deaths of pedestrians. Having that plan will make the region eligible for additional funding.

Bi-State Development, which runs MetroLink, plans to resume light rail service at every station on the company’s Blue Line on Monday now that workers have made significant repairs to the system following last month's flash flooding.

The $7 million contract covers the design and engineering of the turnstiles, cameras and fencing at MetroLink stations across the St. Louis region. The cost will be covered with a combination of grants and federal funding.

Metro Transit said the historic rainfall and flooding earlier this week also caused unprecedented damage to their systems.

St. Louis just committed to spending $52 million to install gates or turnstiles at its transit stations, and many Calgarians point to Vancouver as a success story because it restricted access to its stations in 2016. Locally, the debate is just heating up.

Metro Transit and union leaders will meet with a federal mediator on Aug. 18 to try to reach an agreement on a new contract. Reginald Howard, the union’s president, said that workers want more pay to cope with inflation, the coronavirus pandemic and a wave of violence in the St. Louis region.