Coco
Seasoned Expediter
Being from the St Louyis area this is an important issue for me. I thought I would give everyone interested an update.
Dear Colleen
I wanted to update you on our continuing efforts to increase traffic capacity across the Mississippi River at St. Louis.
On May 31, along with Illinois State Representative Jay Hoffman, I revealed an alternative Mississippi River Bridge plan. The alternative, called the Martin Luther King Coupler, calls for the construction of a new four lane bridge north of the Martin Luther King Bridge. The project is estimated to cost $410-450 million, using the $239 million in federal money secured as part of last year’s highway bill, $161 million from the State of Illinois, and $50 million from the State of Missouri spread out over a period of seven years.
The effort to build a new bridge over the Mississippi River has been years in the making. The project took a major step forward last year when we were successful in securing $239 million as part of the federal highway bill. Since then, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) has insisted that a public/private partnership requiring tolling the bridge was the only way it could afford to proceed. I have repeatedly stated my opposition to tolling the new bridge. A few weeks ago, Jay Hoffman and I asked MODOT to either make a financial commitment to the project or provide a detailed plan about how a tolling plan would work by the end of May.
I would like to express my appreciation to Governor Rod Blagojevich, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and the business community in the bi-state region for their continued leadership and support for a new Mississippi River Bridge.
The time has come to make some decisions. The Martin Luther King Coupler is an affordable alternative that will ease congestion, connect I-70 for less than half the cost of the proposed bridge and will not stick taxpayers with a toll for the next 75 years. We need to move forward and it is time for transportation officials from Illinois and Missouri to come together and agree on a plan.
You are invited to sign up for future electronic newsletters. Please feel free to forward this message to friends and neighbors you think might be interested in this issue.
Sincerely,
Jerry F. Costello
12th District of Illinois
Dear Colleen
I wanted to update you on our continuing efforts to increase traffic capacity across the Mississippi River at St. Louis.
On May 31, along with Illinois State Representative Jay Hoffman, I revealed an alternative Mississippi River Bridge plan. The alternative, called the Martin Luther King Coupler, calls for the construction of a new four lane bridge north of the Martin Luther King Bridge. The project is estimated to cost $410-450 million, using the $239 million in federal money secured as part of last year’s highway bill, $161 million from the State of Illinois, and $50 million from the State of Missouri spread out over a period of seven years.
The effort to build a new bridge over the Mississippi River has been years in the making. The project took a major step forward last year when we were successful in securing $239 million as part of the federal highway bill. Since then, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) has insisted that a public/private partnership requiring tolling the bridge was the only way it could afford to proceed. I have repeatedly stated my opposition to tolling the new bridge. A few weeks ago, Jay Hoffman and I asked MODOT to either make a financial commitment to the project or provide a detailed plan about how a tolling plan would work by the end of May.
I would like to express my appreciation to Governor Rod Blagojevich, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and the business community in the bi-state region for their continued leadership and support for a new Mississippi River Bridge.
The time has come to make some decisions. The Martin Luther King Coupler is an affordable alternative that will ease congestion, connect I-70 for less than half the cost of the proposed bridge and will not stick taxpayers with a toll for the next 75 years. We need to move forward and it is time for transportation officials from Illinois and Missouri to come together and agree on a plan.
You are invited to sign up for future electronic newsletters. Please feel free to forward this message to friends and neighbors you think might be interested in this issue.
Sincerely,
Jerry F. Costello
12th District of Illinois