New bridge set for christening in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS -- More than 30 years after its mention in a regional master plan, a new Missouri River bridge and 8-mile extension connecting St. Louis and St. Charles counties opens this weekend to both fanfare and concern.

Commuters anxious to cut their driving time, as well as developers and area politicians who pressed for the new corridor, are touting its completion. But advocates for more measured regional growth, such as one municipal league official, see the ribbon of concrete known locally as the Page Avenue Extension as a "poster child for dumb growth" that the region can't afford.

The state transportation department admits it has no money for two future phases of the project scheduled for 2010 and beyond, estimated at $270 million, as well as a $25 million ramp where traffic will merge onto Page Avenue from busy Interstate 270 in west St. Louis County.

The $350 million first phase of the Page Extension is from the 1985-2000 era when the department focused on expansion to the detriment of preserving the older highways that are in bad need of repair, said Tim Fischesser, executive director of the St. Louis County Municipal League.

Jan Stanczak, who carefully times her commute home in O'Fallon from her job in St. Louis County, is hoping the new bridge will shorten her drive time. It currently ranges from 40 minutes on a good day to an hour and 45 minutes on a bad day.

While it's true the Page Avenue extension will reduce congestion -- in the short term -- on two other Missouri River bridges connecting the two counties, it's fiscally irresponsible to build new bridges with no increased tax base to support it, Fischesser said. He added: It rewards and caters to the population shift instead of halting it and caring for the systems already in place.

"In this age of sprawl, we are building ourselves out of congestion but at the same time inducing more traffic and not solving the problem. We're moving the congestion around. It's a continuous sprawl cycle."

Greg Horn, the state transportation department's assistant district engineer, said Missouri ranks 46th in the nation for revenue-per-mile of highway and bridge construction. That means only four states have less money than Missouri to build and maintain highways and bridges. He faults the economy, low gas taxes, and bonding projects three years ago that now have to be paid back.

"We're the implementing agency," he said. "The region made the decision that this should be a priority."

The 10 lanes of St. Louis' Page Avenue bridge are to carry about 60,000 cars a day in the near term but double that load over the next two decades. The extension reaches from just west of I-270 in west St. Louis County through Creve Coeur Park and over the Missouri River and links up to Highway 94 in St. Charles County.

The Missouri Coalition for the Environment, which fought unsuccessfully to stop the extension, said it is one more overture to floodplain development. Other opponents say people who chose to move to St. Charles County should deal with the traffic they encounter on their way to jobs in St. Louis County. In the 1990s, they rejected MetroLink light-rail as a transportation alternative.