East-West Board of Directors, in conjunction with Bi-State, Metro and the city of St Louis have denoted the preferred alignment for the future Metrolink street-running at-grade light-rail service as Jefferson, running from Fairgrounds Park to Chippewa. 

In this conceptual plan, much equity is being brought to the northside...rightfully so, with the addition of 4 stops near the new NGA and Old North. However, in their plan, a noticeable and glaring issue has arisen. They are opting to eliminate stops at Washington Ave, Russell Blvd and Arsenal St..stops that originally were in consideration for the first concept presented publicly. 

What does this mean for south St Louis neighborhoods? 

With a wide gap planned between Gravois and Cherokee St., transit riders who live in Benton Park and Benton Park West will see a spacing of 4,343 feet between stops..not accounting for walking from within the neighborhood to a station. 

The other location which will experience inequity is the gap between Gravois and Park Ave. The distance between these stops will be 4,869 feet, for residents of McKinley Heights and Fox Park. 

What does this mean for downtown?

With the elimination of the Washington Avenue stop, stops would be located at Market & Jefferson and MLK & Jefferson. Sure, a case for Market St could be made, based on proximity to the St Louis City SC complex. But how did they conclude a stop was needed at MLK and Jefferson..an intersection lacking critical mass or much life to begin with, with no residential to speak of and auto-oriented design...and Wash Ave, a critical commercial and residential spine with immediate access to the densely populated downtown loft corridor, was no longer in consideration? Again, they are basing the station placement on distance, rather than where demand is called for.

Why this petition

North-South Metrolink is a long overdue city amenity, that has been dragged time and time again through study after study. And in many surveys, residents enthusiastically reacted to the notion that most major neighborhood-central intersections would be provided a conveniently placed, easy to access stop. Having stops in Benton Park, Fox Park, McKinley Heights and at the western terminus of the Wash Ave residential corridor would be game-changing. It would encourage those who drive to ditch the pump and consider a rail-based commute. Most people are unwilling and many are unable to walk nearly a mile to a station. If Metro is serious about amping up their ridership numbers, you have to infiltrate the most populous areas. By dumping the stations that would have the most ridership potential, which are walking distance to most peoples homes, in favor of basic spacing, in locations that are auto-oriented and dangerous to pedestrians and bicyclists is short-sighted. Their study tells them that more people would board at Gravois and Sydney, than at Arsenal and Jefferson? Really?

For a $1 billion street-running light-rail, the citizens of St Louis deserve to see value and convenience in their municipal services. The northside stations provide value to the citizens that live there by providing them with quality, reliable transportation service where not much currently exists, that also incentivizes developers to create transit oriented developments on what is currently vacant land, created by years of neglect, questionable city policies such as allowing red-lining and restrictive deed covenants and white flight. But what about the densely populated south side neighborhoods and downtown residential core, where demand has been highest for decades? Where most of the tax-payers and workforce actually live in St Louis these days.

Sign this petition if you want Bi-State, Metro, East-West Board of Directors and the city of St Louis to hear you, in saying no. Do not eliminate the stations at Russell Blvd, Arsenal St and Washington Ave.