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Infrastructure Initiative
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The Private
Sector Infrastructure Council is Organized to Represent the Interests
of the Business Community in the Development of the Region’s Transportation
Plans.
As the economic development catalyst for the region, the RCGA is
interested in all issues that impact the region’s ability to attract
and retain businesses. Infrastructure is an essential element of
the region’s economic development strategy. Transportation is consistently
ranked as a top issue that concerns both residents and business
leaders in our region. The region’s surface transportation system
(i.e roads, bridges and transit) must be attractive to prospective
employers now, not 20 or 30 years in the future; otherwise the region
will lose economic opportunities and jobs.
Above:
Barry Beracha RCGA Vice Chairman Infrastructure Chief Executive
Officer Sara Lee Bakery Group
The Private Sector Infrastructure Council has identified the short-,
mid-range and long-term transportation needs as identified in current
transportation plans for our 12-county bi-state region. The PSI
agenda includes both roads and bridges as well as transit priorities
for the region. The objective of the agenda is to have a regional
infrastructure that is equal to or superior to our competitor regions
in terms of cost and performance, providing a strategic asset for
economic growth and enhancing the region’s quality of life. In addition
to our top priorities for improving the region’s infrastructure,
the RCGA and the PSI have been actively involved in:
- planning
the Highway 40/I-64 redesign
- supporting
the expansion of MetroLink into Southwestern Illinois
and the planned extension to Shrewsbury
- finding
solutions to the re-opening of the McKinley Bridge
- designing
a pedestrian walkway along the Eads Bridge.
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Above: Taking
a look at the new Mississippi bridge design at the RCGA are: (left
to right) Missouri Congressman Lacy Clay, Missouri Highway and Transportation
Commission member Marjorie Schramm, Illinois Congressman John Shimkus,
Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Henry Hungerbeeler,
Illinois Congressman Jerry Costello, Missouri Highway and Transportation
Commission Chairman Lee Kling, St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall,
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, Illinois Department of Transportation
Deputy Secretary Rob Newbold, and St. Clair County Board Chairman
John Baricevic. In July 2001, a world-class design was unveiled
for the new Mississippi River Bridge. At 222 feet wide, the bridge
will be the widest cable-stayed structure in the world, and with
a main span of 2,000 feet, it will be the longest cable-stayed span
in the Western Hemisphere and the fifth longest in the world. If
funding is approved this year, work on the bridge would start in
2004 and be completed by 2010.
Top Infrastructure Priorities for 2002
-
Total transportation funding package for Missouri
- Funding
for construction of a new Mississippi River bridge
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Above:
Missouri House Minority Leader Catherine Hanaway addressed a
forum on transportation funding for the St. Louis region. The RCGA,
in association with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri
Department of Transportation, convened public forums last September
in Jefferson County, St. Charles County and St. Louis County to
raise awareness for the need for greater statewide funding for Missouri
for roads, bridges and transit. In 2002, The PSI Council will press
the Missouri Legislature to increase statewide multi-modal transportation
spending by at least $600 million per year. |
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