South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Forming new county may be the smart solution

Re: the Call’s Nov. 29 article,”No reason for south county voters to back Metro tax, Campisi says.” I also see no reason for south county residents to support a proposed half-cent sales-tax increase for MetroLink.

In the 1990s, we voted for the current MetroLink tax based on the Cross County MetroLink expansion plan that included a station at Butler Hill Road.

With the numerous open lots of commercial land at Interstate 55 and Butler Hill, it would make a great opportunity for transit-oriented developments and provide a large community of residents with access to MetroLink.

As a result of the new expansion plans not including alignments that reach to Butler Hill Road, all south county residents should vote “no” for the tax increase.

It is unreasonable to drive to Shrewsbury to take MetroLink to Westport or even Clayton.

By the time a resident of Mehlville or Oakville was to drive all the way to Shrewsbury, board the MetroLink and ride it to Westport or Clayton, they could have already driven to Westport or Clayton.

From I-55 and Butler Hill, it would take around 25 minutes to get to the Shrews-bury MetroLink station by car and 11 minutes on the MetroLink to get to Clayton.

You could drive all the way to Clayton in less than 35 minutes and Westport in less than 30 minutes.

Honestly, the best solution to south county’s transportation needs would have been extending I-170 to the I-255/I-270 and I-55 intersection.

Due to south county’s unincorporated status, we already have some of the lowest taxes in the county.

If south county voters were to form a new county, we could probably lower these taxes and avoid additional taxes.

We will also have the ability to avoid things like trash districts, trash-transfer stations and taxes for services that we don’t use or need here in south county.

With all the recent news, forming a new county may be the smart solution.

Joe M. Garavaglia

Oakville

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