Chatted with a woman who lives in Mill Ridge this evening. She said she was told by the owner of that development that the County was going to build the Page-Olive Connector where existing Creve Coeur Mill Road lies and would be removing a few of the development's buildings closest to that road. She was unaware, as well as distressed to learn, that the County instead plans to build behind her development. She didn't think other residents in her development knew this either. She indicated that she, as well as some of her neighbors, would sign the petition demanding an EIS.
We need to inform these people what the truth is.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
From MoDOT 2002 Environmental Assessment:
23SL735 is a historic site located on the south side of Olive Boulevard. Recorded by Naglich and Nixon in 1989, site 23SL735 includes the Arminia Lodge Cemetery (circa 1874-1905) as well as the buildings at the neighboring Prestien Farm complex. The Prestien Farm complex is considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in the areas of architecture and agriculture.
Reading on in the EA, page 101:
All of the buildings at the farm complex are located within the area of proposed new right of way and would be demolished to make way for the proposed improvements. Impacts to the property cannot be avoided through redesign since the corridor at Olive Boulevard is so narrowly constrained that the highway would still bisect the farm and significantly alter the historic setting of the complex. There is no practical alternative for construction of the proposed highway improvements on the preferred alignment that would not result in an adverse effect on the historic Prestien property.
How can they do this?!
23SL735 is a historic site located on the south side of Olive Boulevard. Recorded by Naglich and Nixon in 1989, site 23SL735 includes the Arminia Lodge Cemetery (circa 1874-1905) as well as the buildings at the neighboring Prestien Farm complex. The Prestien Farm complex is considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in the areas of architecture and agriculture.
Reading on in the EA, page 101:
All of the buildings at the farm complex are located within the area of proposed new right of way and would be demolished to make way for the proposed improvements. Impacts to the property cannot be avoided through redesign since the corridor at Olive Boulevard is so narrowly constrained that the highway would still bisect the farm and significantly alter the historic setting of the complex. There is no practical alternative for construction of the proposed highway improvements on the preferred alignment that would not result in an adverse effect on the historic Prestien property.
How can they do this?!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
St. Louis County doesn't need a 'Road to Nowhere'
Letter to the Editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, published 6/19/09
We are taxpayers and residents in West County, where St. Louis County and the Missouri Department of Transportation plan a new highway of four to six lanes from Ladue Road to the Maryland Heights Expressway. A recent editorial ripped the cover off the fiction that these two 1.7-mile road projects ever had anything to do with congestion. This is greed and laziness, plain and simple. Congratulations for accurate insight on the "Road to Nowhere."
It is the duty of MoDOT, St. Louis County traffic and our elected officials to watch out for our communities and support projects that maintain or increase our quality of life, not just fill the county coffers with money. Without even looking at other options to fix the problems along Woods Mill Road and Highway 141, they are expecting us to agree to having our homes, communities and green space blitzed for the roads; fork over $34 million per mile of new elevated road and two tunnels that do not have adequate, current environmental or financial analysis; and, inevitably, provide tax subsidies for their future "Mosquito Marsh Mall" down in the flood plains along Creve Coeur Mill Road and Maryland Heights Expressway.
In short, they want us to pay for their "progress" and build the road to it too.
Soon after, they'll expect a bailout when it inevitably floods and the "For Lease" signs overwhelm them. Why don't they just send us all an invoice and be done with it? Encourage re-development rather than new development; this would save money and local farms and showcase us as leaders of responsible development rather than government waste. We hope all readers who have had enough of irresponsible development will protest directly to St. Louis County and their own community city hall. Complain like a paying customer; that's what you are.
We are taxpayers and residents in West County, where St. Louis County and the Missouri Department of Transportation plan a new highway of four to six lanes from Ladue Road to the Maryland Heights Expressway. A recent editorial ripped the cover off the fiction that these two 1.7-mile road projects ever had anything to do with congestion. This is greed and laziness, plain and simple. Congratulations for accurate insight on the "Road to Nowhere."
It is the duty of MoDOT, St. Louis County traffic and our elected officials to watch out for our communities and support projects that maintain or increase our quality of life, not just fill the county coffers with money. Without even looking at other options to fix the problems along Woods Mill Road and Highway 141, they are expecting us to agree to having our homes, communities and green space blitzed for the roads; fork over $34 million per mile of new elevated road and two tunnels that do not have adequate, current environmental or financial analysis; and, inevitably, provide tax subsidies for their future "Mosquito Marsh Mall" down in the flood plains along Creve Coeur Mill Road and Maryland Heights Expressway.
In short, they want us to pay for their "progress" and build the road to it too.
Soon after, they'll expect a bailout when it inevitably floods and the "For Lease" signs overwhelm them. Why don't they just send us all an invoice and be done with it? Encourage re-development rather than new development; this would save money and local farms and showcase us as leaders of responsible development rather than government waste. We hope all readers who have had enough of irresponsible development will protest directly to St. Louis County and their own community city hall. Complain like a paying customer; that's what you are.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
MoDot Double-talk
The following is from one of the MoDot I-64 updates advising people on what to do if they hit congestion at rush (half)hour. Why wouldn't this be their solution for 141/Olive?
From:
info@thenewi64.orginfo@thenewi64.org
Date:
Wed, Jun 17, 2009 8:18 am
I-64 and City of Richmond Heights Issue Safety Reminders
· If you are experiencing congested travel, try shifting your commute time. A difference of 15-30 minutes can improve your trip during rush hours.
From:
info@thenewi64.org
Date:
Wed, Jun 17, 2009 8:18 am
I-64 and City of Richmond Heights Issue Safety Reminders
· If you are experiencing congested travel, try shifting your commute time. A difference of 15-30 minutes can improve your trip during rush hours.
Monday, June 15, 2009
MoDot intends to extend highway 141 from Ladue road to the Page extension in west St. Louis county. The purpose of this extension is to encourage commercial development of land owned by the cities of Maryland Heights, Creve Coeur, and Chesterfield. MoDot's motivation for expansion is jobs for their people and increased tax revenue for the cities. The city's hope is that nonexistent businesses will want to locate in a flood plain in the very part of the country with the highest rate of economic decline.
Their traffic model constraints, variables, and assumptions are a joke.
Some development of highway 141 may be needed to alleviate traffic congestion, but MoDot has produced a massive, wasteful plan for highway expansion that will misuse 65 million dollars of taxpayer money.
There is a glut of available commercial real estate and high unemployment in St Louis.
Job losses in the automotive and aerospace industries have had a substantial and long lasting affect on the St. Louis economy. Those jobs are gone. They aren't coming back. There are no industries with the potential to replace those lost jobs in the near term.
St. Louisans are furious that money is being spent to create a massive west county outer loop that will do no more than destroy what little remains of the wetland and wildlife corridors in the area.
Why can't a more reasonable highway extension be built with less cost incurred? Why can't some of this money be put to good use creating jobs for the region? Many people in the area realize St. Louis is a great rear view mirror city. They are leaving for Texas, the east coast, even overseas. Work has already begun on this massive waste of taxpayer funds. St. Louisans watched half of the city of Bridgeton get wiped off the map to add a runway to Lambert airport when a runway was not needed. When will we ever learn?
Their traffic model constraints, variables, and assumptions are a joke.
Some development of highway 141 may be needed to alleviate traffic congestion, but MoDot has produced a massive, wasteful plan for highway expansion that will misuse 65 million dollars of taxpayer money.
There is a glut of available commercial real estate and high unemployment in St Louis.
Job losses in the automotive and aerospace industries have had a substantial and long lasting affect on the St. Louis economy. Those jobs are gone. They aren't coming back. There are no industries with the potential to replace those lost jobs in the near term.
St. Louisans are furious that money is being spent to create a massive west county outer loop that will do no more than destroy what little remains of the wetland and wildlife corridors in the area.
Why can't a more reasonable highway extension be built with less cost incurred? Why can't some of this money be put to good use creating jobs for the region? Many people in the area realize St. Louis is a great rear view mirror city. They are leaving for Texas, the east coast, even overseas. Work has already begun on this massive waste of taxpayer funds. St. Louisans watched half of the city of Bridgeton get wiped off the map to add a runway to Lambert airport when a runway was not needed. When will we ever learn?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
St. Louis County and MoDot have plans to spend $170 million of our local and federal taxes to build a 6-lane elevated highway from Highway 40/I-64 (St. Luke’s Hospital) north to the Maryland Heights Expressway.
The County and MoDOT insist this highway is essential to relieve congestion. The truth of the matter is that developers and officials want to take this $170 million road and win tax-incentive-financing to “develop” the floodplains in the Howard Bend area.
The County and MoDOT insist this highway is essential to relieve congestion. The truth of the matter is that developers and officials want to take this $170 million road and win tax-incentive-financing to “develop” the floodplains in the Howard Bend area.
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