Today, we got a heads up on Twitter by @countondowntown that the eastbound entrance to the Convention Center MetroLink Station, next to the former St. Louis Centre building at 6th and Washington Avenue, was really coming along. See for yourself, looks great!
To accommodate construction on the Grand Bridge, Scott Avenue from the Grand MetroLink Station to just west of Theresa WILL BE CLOSED TO BUS TRAFFIC for up to 8 weeks starting Wednesday, April 20.
Passengers will board and alight at the new bus turn around on Scott at Theresa and walk to & from Grand Station. The Grand bus will be rerouted to operate via Compton Avenue in both directions.
April 20, 2011 #70 Grand Compton Avenue Reroute
Additional waiting area will be added at bus turnaround on Monday and Tuesday, but passengers will be without shelters until then.
Metro Transit Service Managers will be out on Wednesday to help guide customers, as well as signage at the Grand MetroLink Station and Theresa St. boarding area. No service delay or time changes are expected with this new route.
The St. Louis Earth Day Festival is here once again!
Sunday, April 17
Muny Grounds at Forest Park
11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
St. Louis Earth Day Festival’s slogan this year is “Be the Change.” Organizers are challenging festival attendees make sustainable choices, including taking alternative forms of transportation to and from the Fest, with several great options for going green:
Metro Transit will be at the Festival in the Green Transportation area with one of the new 38-foot Gillig buses on display, with staff who can help festival goers plan their commute and calculate gas savings when you go transit. Stop by and say hello if you go, and if you go, please go green!
By now, if you drive in St. Louis, you have noticed that gas prices are escalating. At the time of writing, the average price of gasoline is $3.67 in St. Louis and higher in our surrounding Illinois counties. Now is a great time to use transit, and Metro is getting the word out with a new ad campaign on buses, billboards and radio called “Paying Through The Hose?”
It is no secret that Americans love to drive. Nine out of ten , as we spent approximately $42 billion in gasoline last month alone. A study by American Public Transit Association (APTA) estimates if regular gas prices reach $4 a gallon across the nation, an additional 670 million passenger trips on public transit could be expected, resulting in more than 10.8 billion trips per year. If pump prices jump to $5 a gallon, the report predicts an additional 1.5 billion passenger trips on public transit can be expected, resulting in more than 11.6 billion trips per year.
APTA has a comprehensive fuel savings calculator to determine how much you save on your commute by taking transit.
Have you changed your driving habits in response to higher gas prices? Do you know friends, family or colleagues who are or thinking about trying public transit to save money on gas? What do you think about the ad campaign? Let us know.
Metro, along with other business and residents in the Delmar Loop neighborhood, are working with law enforcement and elected officials to deter incidents of illegal or disruptive behavior like those that occurred last weekend. It is important that this vibrant area continues to attract residents and visitors to its many great assets.
Some people have expressed an opinion that public transit is the reason for the recent problems. But the problem is not the mode of travel. Whether people who engage in unlawful behavior arrive by foot, car or public transit, the problem that needs a solution is the behavior. We have an opportunity, as a community, to come together to focus on real solutions to this problem.
What role does Metro play? Metro Security, including St. Louis City and St. Louis County police officers hired by Metro, will continue to patrol Metro property and check to make sure passengers are paying proper fares while providing safe and reliable public transit access for the residents, customers and employees who shop, eat and work in the Loop neighborhoods.
As a neighbor and business in the Loop, Metro will continue to work with community partners, and focus on our mission to meet the region’s transit needs by providing safe, reliable, and accessible service for everyone.
What are the first signs of spring in St. Louis? The white flowers of Bradford Pear trees? Cardinals baseball? Don’t forget about one of biggest signs – the Go! St. Louis Marathon and Family Fitness Weekend Saturday and Sunday, April 8-9, 2011.
Plan on going to the races? MetroLink, due to its own right-of-way, is an excellent way to avoid traffic, parking, and traffic reroute hassles. Grand MetroLink Station remains closed until Monday, April 11. No service disruptions are scheduled for this weekend, and several I-64 exit ramps will be closed in downtown St. Louis for the marathon.
Several race courses for the event (marathon, half-marathon, and 5K Walk) go from downtown St. Louis up midtown to Clayton with thousands of active participants. Vehicular traffic as well as many MetroBus routes will be rerouted to accommodate the race day festivities. Please check the below list and click on your bus route to view any reroutes for Sunday, April 9:
#1 Gold, #2 Red, #3 Forest Park Trolley, #4 Natural Bridge,
#8 Bates-Morganford, #10 Gravois Lindell, #11 Chippewa, #13 Union,
#16 City Limits, #18 Taylor, #30 Soulard
#32 M.L.King-Chouteau, #40 Broadway
#41 Lee, #42 Sarah, #70 Grand
#73 Carondelet, #74 Florissant, #90 Hampton
#94 Page, #95 Kingshighway, #97 Delmar, Part 1 & Part 2
For all race participants, good luck and safe travels!
RIDER ALERT: Grand MetroLink Station will reopen Monday, April 11.
Grand Avenue Bridge demolition activity as progressed to a point that it is now safe to reopen the Grand MetroLink station. Throughout the duration of the Grand Bridge project, due to customer safety concerns, it may be necessary to close the station for periods of time. Station closure will be announced in advance on Metro Rider Alerts, NextStop, Metro’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and platform announcements.
The #70 Grand will resume service to the Grand MetroLink Station via Scott Ave effective April 11.
A quick reminder there is no pedestrian access to Grand Boulevard from the Grand MetroLink Station. The City of St. Louis has designated Scott Avenue as a no parking zone.
MetroLink will be single tracking Wednesday, April 6 and Thursday, April 7 from 8 p.m. until the end of service.
Wednesday, April 6
Grand Station Construction Single Track
Blue Line trains will operate from Forest Park Station to Shrewsbury station only during single track operations. Eastbound departure times from Airport Terminal #1 (Lambert Airport) will be delayed 4 minutes to eliminate major delays in service caused by the single track. Red Line passengers should expect delays of 5 to 10 minutes. Blue Line passengers should expect delays of 10 to 15 minutes.
Thursday, April 7
East Riverfront Single Track
In preparation for construction on the Eads Bridge, MetroLink will operate a special construction schedule on Thursday night beginning at 8 p.m. until the end of service. Red Line trains will single track at the East Riverfront.
Passengers should allow a little extra time to catch the train at the East Riverfront Station during that time period because the eastbound platform will be closed. Passengers will board or deboard from the westbound platform only at East Riverfront Station starting at 8 p.m. Thursday night until the end of service.
Blue Line trains will operate from Civic Center to Shrewsbury station only during single track operations. Red Line passengers should expect delays of 5 to 10 minutes. Blue Line passengers should expect delays of 10 to 15 minutes.
You are standing on the MetroLink platforms, waiting for your train. An announcement about another approaching train comes on the PA system, and you listen, carefully this time. What would you want to hear if you could design the overhead announcements? What information would you put out for riders to hear or watch?
The next week, you are waiting with several hundred other passengers after a baseball game downtown. You take a look at fellow waiting passengers, most of whom are busy chatting with each other, and you realize that maybe many of them do not ride transit everyday. Having this with the sea of red-clad sports fans on the platform gives a great opportunity to capture their imagination, and make transit advocates out of the casual rider. How would you do that?
These are the topics that two local bloggers tackled this week on their sites. Steve Patterson of Urban Review STL asked readers to think about overhead announcements and other possible features to let passengers know when the train is coming. Rencelas at Marketing Urbanism made some criticisms and suggestions for Metro on how to make transit advocates out of the casual transit riders that take the train to and from Busch Stadium or other sporting events.
Now we ask you to do some similar imaginative thinking. Picture in your mind a crowded MetroLink platform. Passengers are waiting for their trains, maybe after a baseball game or another large event. What do you like and appreciate about platforms currently? What would you put on the platforms to make it a better experience for riders? How would you use this opportunity to make transit fans out of casual transit riders?
Remember, like any transit agency, Metro is limited by station enhancement funding, life cycle of technology, overall cost and other restrictions in trying to design a system. But as transit advocates and riders, you have invaluable, street-level feedback. So, what could you imagine?
RIDER ALERT: Construction work on the Grand Bridge continues to require Metro to use the Union Station MetroLink Station as the closest place to board to access locations closest to Grand Avenue. The #70 Grand MetroBus will then continue to reroute to Union Station. Current estimates are Metro will return to the Grand MetroLink Station in April. We will announce the station opening as soon as information is available.
Photos from last weekend’s demolition:
