ST. LOUIS – The Bi-State President and CEO is speaking out on the importance of what the new proposed Metrolink Green Line could bring to the city, despite criticism.

“This is about the infrastructure of our city, this is how people move, this is how they get to jobs, this is how they make that economic mobility,” Taulby Roach, president and CEO of Bi-State, said.

The proposed Metrolink Green Line would run from Chippewa in south St. Louis, down Jefferson Avenue, and across north St. Louis to Natural Bridge and Grand Avenue at Fairground Park.

The line would run 5.6 miles through 10 different stations, with a transfer station to connect to the existing system.


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It is estimated that it would carry around 5,000 people a day, costing $1.1 billion.

“We’re talking about bringing vibrancy back to St. Louis, thinking of the greater St. Louis area in a new way,” Roach said.

Not everyone is on board, though, including St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann.

“This project is the loop trolley on steroids,” he said. “Mass transit works if you have the necessary density. There may be the necessary density in south St. Louis City, but in north St. Louis City, there’s not enough people there to justify this.”

Although there may be some backlash in the proposal, Roach says they will always take critiques and talk to the areas on ways to change for the future.