The Southside corridor extends from downtown St. Louis to I-55 in south St. Louis County.  A 1991 Systems Analysis prioritized the Southside corridor as a Tier II priority for consideration of a light-rail extension.  As part of a 2000 MTIA , East-West Gateway identified transportation problems and potential solutions in the north-south areas from the City of St. Louis across south St. Louis County to the Meramec River known as the Southside Corridor. Out of the multi-modal MTIA came a number of improvements including the proposed extension of light-rail from from downtown St. Louis to Butler Hill in south St. Louis County.   The proposed light-rail line selected from the 2000 MTIA would conceptually originate from a counter-clockwise one-way loop of Downtown streets, follow Chouteau between downtown and Grand, then follow the Union Pacific railroad right-of-way across south St. Louis City  to I-55, and along I-55 to Butler Hill in south St. Louis County.

In 2005, East-West Gateway received $2.9 million in Missouri transportation tax credits for the advanced planning of MetroLink within eligible distressed communities. The recent sale of tax credits will finance a $2.5 million study of the Northside and Southside transit corridors within the City of St. Louis between I-70 and I-55. The study will re-evaluate the transit Locally Preferred Alternatives identified by the 2000 MTIA and complete conceptual engineering within the project area.  If more funding is available, the study may expand beyond the project area currently limited to the City of St. Louis between I-70 and I-55.

The Northside-Southside Study is an 18-month study currently underway, with completion anticipated in 2007.

REPORTS/DOCUMENTATION:

• Southside Study Area Major Transportation Investment Analysis - Final Evaluation Report - prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc., July 2000
• summarizes the results of East-West Gateway's Major Transportation Investment Analysis (MTIA) for the Northside Study Area which provided local decision-makers and the public with the information necessary to determine the locally preferred transportation investment alternative for the Study Area.