Comments on: WU aims to bring trolleys back to Delmar Loop area

By: Joe Edwards’ Trolley « Exploring St. Louis

Joe Edwards’ Trolley « Exploring St. Louis — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:41:08 +0000

[...] Also, WashU Students seem to have voiced opinions similar to mine in comments on this article. [...]

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By: Jerome Howard Bauer

Jerome Howard Bauer — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:36:20 +0000

PS. A footnote to the above: the University has been sitting on North Campus for years. Quadrangle Housing (the University’s off campus housing management company) has its office on this otherwise vacant lot. Rumors have always abounded about the University’s plans for the site. I know students who were working on a sustainable design for a housing complex on the site, but they were always reluctant to say very much, as if the future of the site was being hotly contested, as it probably was. The best information I could ever get is that the site would be used for graduate student housing, a very sensible plan. This was always represented to me as some kind of open secret.

Now we hear about a “clean coal” plant to be built on the site. We hear that this is just a proposal. At least the administration is being transparent now, to their credit. Is it too late for a change of plan? I hope not. At least let’s have some public discussion of this.

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By: Jerome Howard Bauer

Jerome Howard Bauer — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:25:45 +0000

This should be seen for what it is: part of a de facto policy of gentrification, and company-town-ification, with a layer of WashU greenwash.

The trolley will run down DeBaliviere from the History Museum (a Metrolink stop) to Delmar, right past the Delmar Metrolink stop, on to the terminus of the Loop business district. As a transportation system, it is redundant. I heard Joe Edwards defending his trolley scheme a few years ago on a local radio program. When asked why a connecting bus serving this route would not suffice, he responded that bus routes can be cut (don’t we know it?). A trolley would be permanent, and would spur development. Loop developer Joe Edwards wishes to extend his empire eastward, and southward, to put upscale shops and restaurants all the way to the History Museum. He and his backers want public funding for his project, and now they want the University to support this as well. If the project proceeds, property values between Des Peres and DeBaliviere will rise, and more Washington University faculty, staff, and students will move in. Long term residents, mostly working class African Americans, will be forced out. This is how many community members perceive the project, including some of my African American students who grew up in the neighborhood. The University has moved aggressively to purchase property in this neighborhood, though perhaps the recent decline in endowment and the economic downturn has given us a reprieve. For example, the University’s proxy real estate buyer has made no recent attempts to buy my house, a welcome change since it is not for sale.

However, the plan to construct a coal plant on the North Campus, instead of a proposed graduate dormitory, will no doubt result in more housing purchases in our neighborhood and on the Loop. The plan to put wind generators on the Corner Building, now owned by the University, is a recent example of what we can expect: greenwash to cover the overrepresentation of coal executives on our Board of Trustees, and the proposed “clean coal” plant on the block.

All this having been said, as a non-driver, I welcome any and all expansion of public transportation. If this trolley will accept a Metrolink pass, I will certainly ride it. I welcome the University’s sustainability initiatives, because these are small steps toward a better future. I applaud the University’s constructive engagement with the Skinker-DeBaliviere community. What else can we do? The University is not going away. At least let us all be good neighbors.

Lecturer Dr. Jerome Bauer
Local homeowner and taxpayer

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By: Tammy

Tammy — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:55:29 +0000

This project’s justifications don’t make much sense. It’s an enormous cost. Benefits: Reducing cars in the Loop – could be done by running a wheeled trolley, rather than a tracked trolley. Encourage investment – does anyone believe that developers need encouragement to build in that area? It’s fancy and it’s cool, but it’s not very practical. Put a privately-run, privately-financed wheeled trolley on that route (with dedicated trolley-only lanes, sure, why not?) and see how it does before spending that stunning amount of money on an experiment. Trolleys in St. Louis – yes. But in that location? It just doesn’t make sense.

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By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:27:31 +0000

If you also look at the map, while it servers the Loop itself and goes into Forest Park, it does not really make access to either of those areas any easier for Wash U students. While I love the idea of public transportation, especially by rail, it’s a project that is more just for heritage and display, rather than something actually economically feasible.
I also believe it will be more of a convenience for those already walking, rather than an alternative for those driving. It does not connect with the Wash U campus at all, so it will not be bringing that much increased patronage by the students. The short length of it also makes it more of just a heritage line. It does not connect centers of population (such as Wash U campus or urban neighborhoods) with the commercial center.

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By: Not a Fan

Not a Fan — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:27:11 +0000

For 2.2 miles – $48-$57M to build and an additional $4.2M annual operating cost. And to fund $40M of the project the supporters are asking our congressmen to fund this initiative? Let’s compare this project to the 10.5 miles the Hwy 40 project that cost $535M & the amount of travelers each project will help. This is a waste of taxpayers money. Why not buy a hybrid bus – paint a streetcar design on the side – and have it run this route? This would only cost just under a million. I’m sure we could find something better to do with the other $39M they want.

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By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:42:00 +0000

The money for the trolley should be put to improving Metro, not a competing system. I hope Metro service won’t be reduced on that route. If we must have a trolley, we need to integrate it with Metro so that Metro users can use their transfers or passes to ride the trolley.

Without integration with Metro, this system is an expensive sideshow.

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By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:10:07 +0000

“One by one, the city pulled its trolley tracks from the road.”
Actually, when the asphalt wears down on a lot of the roads, you can start to see the steel rails underneath in areas where the rails where left. I remember on Delmar just W of Skinker 2 years ago when a pothole started to form you could see them. I’m sure that’s been paved over by now though.

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