Bi-State Development, the agency that oversees Metro Transit, will get about $375,000 in federal money to help plan the proposed Northside-Southside MetroLink route.
鈥淎 significant portion of the corridor, particularly on the north side of 50度灰视频, is economically distressed and requires careful planning and incentives to attract development,鈥 according to the Federal Transit Administration.
The money is part of a grant application submitted by Bi-State that drew fire from 50度灰视频 County Executive Steve Stenger over the summer. He until other routes also were studied and objected to the project being labeled as a regional priority without the endorsement of 50度灰视频 County.
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The move put Stenger in conflict with Mayor Francis Slay, who strongly supports the north-south line. Signatures on a letter in support of the grant included Slay鈥檚, as well as those of John Nations, president and chief executive of Bi-State, and Joe Reagan, president and chief executive of the 50度灰视频 Regional Chamber.
Stenger has since said that he wasn鈥檛 arguing against the Northside-Southside route, but rather against the process.
The route, which has been estimated to cost $2.2 billion, would stretch from north 50度灰视频 County near the Florissant Valley campus of 50度灰视频 Community College, into downtown and south 50度灰视频 and down Interstate 55 into south 50度灰视频 County.
Metro is one of 16 groups nationwide to get a share of $14.7 million in grants to support comprehensive planning projects that improve access to public transit, the agency said Tuesday. The money is coming from its transit-oriented development planning pilot program for communities looking to develop or expand public transit.
The FTA said the funding will be used to 鈥減lan for ways that diverse populations can benefit from a proposed 17-mile, 28-station MetroLink light rail line that will connect downtown 50度灰视频 with the city鈥檚 northern and southern limits.鈥
That effort will include looking at transit-oriented development 鈥 including incentives for such projects and a citywide commission on the effort 鈥 as well as land use and zoning policies and access plans.
The city, Metro Transit and the East-West Gateway Council of Governments also will use the money to fund a study that will include evaluating sidewalks at each proposed station and making recommendations for service, employment, housing and recreation opportunities, Slay鈥檚 office said.
鈥淭he U.S. Department of Transportation would not award these funds if it did not believe in the enormous potential of this project, as I do,鈥 Slay said in a statement Tuesday. He also said transit-oriented planning ties into work around the site of the future National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency鈥檚 campus in north 50度灰视频 鈥 an area with the lowest rate of car ownership in the city.
Funding to study five proposed MetroLink routes, including the north-soute route as well as a Ferguson connector.