Won’t Solve Long-term Congestion

Proposal and Savings
Deny funding for the proposed Page Avenue Extension. Total cost estimates range from between $550 million to $1 billion, with federal taxpayers responsible for 80 percent.

Background
The proposed project would expand the current four-lane Page Avenue into ten lanes for three to five miles through Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park in St. Louis County. The project has faltered and lost federal funding twice when its use of parkland and poor mitigation plans were discovered to be in violation of federal laws regulating the usage of public lands. Despite these setbacks and various court challenges, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) continues to push project plans and has released a Supplemental Environmental Impact Study.

Status
A petition circulated by Taxpayers Against Page Avenue Freeway gathered some 45,000 signatures to require a full ballot referendum on whether to build the expressway through the park. In November 1998, underfunded highway opponents lost a heated campaign when voters in St. Louis County approved going through the park. In February 1999, MODOT awarded a $173 million contract for the bridge.

Problems with the project

Taxpayer Concerns
The project is excessively costly and will not solve the long-term congestion that the St. Louis region faces. Projections show that even if the extension were built, it would reach maximum traffic volume by 2015 due to project-related development and sprawl. More cost-effective alternatives exist, such as creating high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, increasing capacity on the Daniel Boone Bridge, and expanding Metrolink light rail service in St. Charles County.

Local Community Concerns
Area residents contend that mitigation land being offered as compensation for parkland claimed by the extension is of a lesser quality and located on land that is slated for future road development. Over 20 municipalities have passed resolutions condemning the extension as area residents fear that the project would spread sprawl, create pollution, and reduce property values.

Environmental Concerns
The projected increase in traffic volume made possible by the extension would result in increased noise pollution and vehicle emissions in an area with questionable air quality. The Missouri Coalition for the Environment has filed a lawsuit charging that the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to enforce the Clean Air Act in the St. Louis area. The project may encourage more wetland and floodplain development that could result in future flood problems.

Contacts
Pat Waterston, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, (314) 727-0600.