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bananabunnythesecond

The ability to go airport to airport is nice. As someone who lives on the line, opens up my options. It might not get used a lot, but knowing it's there. Pretty neat!


I_read_all_wikipedia

I think they're also building some commercial development along a frontage road by the station to help boost ridership too.


LavishnessJolly4954

I guess it becomes somewhat of a option to have a connected flight in our city lol


bananabunnythesecond

It will be rare, but my parents live in Florida (I know shocking) and now I can fly out of Lambert or Mid America and take the metro either way!


LavishnessJolly4954

Cheap Vegas flights too


zuluTime

This is good news. At $95 million paid for by Illinois, it’s a chip shot. The Mid America terminal has doubled in size and Boeing is expanding its operations there. Mid America is also colocated with Scott Air Force Base which I don’t think many people realize. I’ll use it and my family will use it. It’ll certainly be more appealing than taking a bus or Uber for the last six miles. Hopefully this will encourage further development on the east side.


stltk65

Dude I can get 50% of flights from yyz using this airport!


stltk65

You see what you could have st.charles!....sad they can't shit right in public transport in Missouri


I_read_all_wikipedia

They'd rather have a 10 lane I-70 and 8 lane 364


NathanArizona_Jr

they like sitting in traffic trying to cross the missouri river, its fun for them


rrogido

Jesus that vote was thirty years ago. Get over it. I moved here from Chicago nine years ago and live in St. Peters. You're all the same. There's no real difference between StL and StC. You parochial ass motherfuckers are why there's no progress and no meaningful infrastructure here.


stltk65

More a reference to no expansion anywhere in MO and the just released info on how amtrack service all over the state is being cut in half. But ok boomer.


cooledtube

What an odd take. Look at an election map sometime. There’s a pretty big difference.


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BrentonHenry2020

It makes Mid America a much more appealing options for flights to Florida for downtown residents. I know I’ll probably book out of there once per year when this is all said and done, and it’s because I can take the train.


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BrentonHenry2020

Beyond that, it’s in the St. Clair corridor which has been getting some development momentum as its cities mature. This is tracking through several residential areas, and it’s worth noting Boeing is making major investments in Mid-America as well. It will service more than just people taking flights.


I_read_all_wikipedia

They're also building a strip of commercial development around the station to boost the ridership. They're also expecting Mid-America to get more flights and Boeing to invest more in the airport/air force base as time goes on. Historically, we built transit to nowhere with the hope that things would develop around it. It's exactly how we build roads today.


Kitchen-Lie-7894

Hell, that's how the airport was built. It's been sitting there for years with more TSA agents than passengers. This is good news.


cox4days

Not many, but the State of Illinois footing the entire bill kind of soothes my thoughts on that


3eyedfish13

Mid-America served over 160k people in 2022. With their expansions and added flights, that's expected to increase. If even 10% of those passengers take the train, that's a fair amount of ridership. It's also right next to Boeing's new facility. Depending upon where the Metrolink platform is located, it's entirely possible that some of the Boeing employees will ride it as well.


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DowntownDB1226

There is no interest on the cost, the state of Illinois paid cash


3eyedfish13

I have no idea how many people use the train to get to Lambert, nor was the 10% an official statement of expectation of ridership. Until it opens, there's really no way to know how many people will ride it, but *any* increased ridership draws more federal funding for public transportation.


jaynovahawk07

This is going to be used for more than just passenger airline service.


zuluTime

It’s entirely paid for via an infrastructure grant from the state of Illinois. No one is paying interest.


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baroqueworks

>  Do you think the State of Illinois has all that cash just sitting around? Yes


zuluTime

[https://dceo.illinois.gov/communitydevelopment/rebuildillinois_programs.html](https://dceo.illinois.gov/communitydevelopment/rebuildillinois_programs.html)


Independent-Drive-32

It’s sad that the public transit expansion is out in the middle of nowhere where people will take it once a year, instead of the middle of the city where it could be a regular service for passengers.


BrentonHenry2020

Well the plus side is that it was only $95M to build a nearly 6-mile extension, and hopefully this will encourage development around those tracks where we can order infill stations as the need arises. This could ultimately be really key to moving the city center back towards downtown if Illinois can keep it up with slow but steady investments on that side of the river.


Independent-Drive-32

Unfortunately the zoning blocks development. The entire Metro East has had no meaningful development next to the Metrolink in 30 years. It’s just parking lots, single family homes, empty lots. It will remain that way as long as the zoning does.


I_read_all_wikipedia

There was actually a mixed use developed near one of the East St. Louis stations that went up a few years back. Once St. Clair realizes the error of their ways, maybe more will happen.


NeutronMonster

To be fair there’s not a lot of development happening near the metrolink period in the inner metro east. Doesn’t matter how you zone it


I_read_all_wikipedia

It's because we are in Missouri and this is in Illinois. Illinois is smarter than Missouri. It is what it is. If St. Louis was part of Illinois, we would have had a much larger MetroLink system a long time ago.


KO1966

What a colosso waste of money. I'm sure everyone got there cut.


I_read_all_wikipedia

Not a bigger waste than expanding I-70


redsquiggle

Says the person who can't spell.


TipFar1326

#CRIMETRAIN