This local news article has me pondering. They are almost halfway through revamping the main interstate through town. They closed it for 2 years. While it is closed and accessible, they are not putting a light rail route along the busiest corridor in the area. That’s my main overall peeve. And it is being closed by halves. This year had the section halfway through the county entirely closed, and next year a section through half of the city will be completely closed.
But the news is: They are switching sections two weeks early (out of a year, and earning a 0.4% bonus incentive). But those two weeks are the busy shopping time. They are opening the artery from affluent far county to the shopping hub of the region in time for excess-mas. The cynic in me thinks that shopkeepers may have sweetened the pot. But that isn’t the point, either.
My title is about one piece of their celebration. A Fun Bike Ride on December 14 along a section of the new highway. Saint Louis may be on the borderline of The South. But mid December is not generally family biking fun weather. Usually cloudy, windy, and 34°±20 (official mid-December average temperature). But it could be sunny and mid 50’s. Not the way to bet.
Truly, what can you say about a community that doesn't prepare for the future? Highway 40 cuts straight through the St. Louis area and they are rebuilding most of that highway. Yet the powers that be refuse to incorporate a light rail line as part of that re-build, even though it is an obvious place to add a light rail line. At a minimum, they should have at least build the project so that it easily allows for light rail expansion at some later date).
They lucked out, kind of: The forecast is mid 50's, 25 mph gusty winds, and only 40% chance of rain. I've been riding around in the 30's this past week.