Historical September–October 2004 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Many of us now perhaps are praying that MetroLink construction will soon terminate so that we can return to the halcyon days prior to expansion.
This major project has asked a lot of us.
We no longer can use our major eastwest artery, the Forest Park Parkway.
Most of our trips take longer and we burn more gas.
Then there is the noise of it all.
It is not constant but when it occurs immediate neighbors lose sleep or concentration. Those in 6100 Pershing have suffered the most, 3 weeks of round-the-clock work. Then, there are the problems with Skinker. Skinker southbound backed up almost every day at rush hour.
Now there are lines at 11am!
It has helped that 2 southbound lanes are now functioning at the Parkway; Metro said the delay was due to Wash U. It’s just another irritation for a neighborhood which has reacted at the highest level to each new impediment. And what about the dirt? Had neighbors and Alderman Krewson not spoken out, we would experience every load taken from the project and in trucks frequently not covered.
Now we get half the loads which is better than all and most trucks are covered.
If you venture down Des Peres toward Lindell, however, you find that the flag people give all precedence to dirt trucks and other Tarleton vehicles, further impeding n e i g h b o r s ’ progress. But, there is less dirt and less noise than otherwise would have been the case.
In an interesting side note, Metro has fired its construction cooordination team citing delays.
The stories in the PostDispatch have also attributed delays to the protests of Skinker DeBaliviere neighbors. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Metro never stopped working when we questioned their route; they did not stop working or hauling while a judge deliberated.
We are as responsible for Metro’s delay as we are for Hurricane Charley.
The Post thought we were wrongheaded. That’s their problem. Any successful neighborhood has to fight for the wellbeing of its neighbors.
We are better off for having raised our voices.
The question now is what further event of consequence will befall us because of light rail expansion. We’re waiting . . .
Original photograph caption
At the MetroLink site at Skinker and Forest Park Blvd., a temporary bridge was set so they could tunnel underground.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September–October 2004.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2004_09.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
