“Today is a proud day in the history of our great city,” Mayor Slay said. “After much negotiation and planning, the Multimodal Center will now become a reality. Whether you’re traveling within the city or between cities, this new facility will make it very easy for travelers to transfer between the various modes of transportation available to them.”

Other participants in the ceremony included: Tom Shrout, President, Citizens For Modern Transit; Harvey Harris, Metro Board of Commissioners; Les Sterman, Executive Director, East-West Gateway Council of Governments; Mark Fallis, Senior Director of Real Estate, Greyhound; Ed Hassinger, St. Louis Regional Director, Missouri Department of Transportation; Mokhtee Ahmad, Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration; the Honorable James F. Shrewsbury, President, St. Louis Board of Aldermen; and the Honorable Phyllis Young, the alderwoman representing the area.

The planning for this transportation terminal began in 1978 when the last train pulled out of Union Station and a temporary Amtrak station was erected nearby.

Phase I is complete and operational, and consists of the MetroBus station at 14th and Spruce. This station links MetroLink riders to the downtown bus system.

Phase II includes the construction of the $13.1 million Multimodal Center, which will house Amtrak and Greyhound bus operations, a food court and concourse linkage between Greyhound, Amtrak and bus/rail transit. The design and consulting team includes: Jacobs Engineering, KAI Design and Build, K&S Associates, Inc., and Development Programming Associates. Phase III includes access improvements to the site, with plans to upgrade Spruce Street. This phase will be constructed by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Phase IV includes station platforms, track improvements, public parking and service roads that will accommodate the AMTRAK use.

The project is funded by federal, state, and local governmental agencies, with participation from Amtrak, Greyhound, and Metro. The terminal building and additional track work projects are scheduled to be completed in the summer of July 2007.

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