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Issue: 1137 Date: 6/7/2012
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Loop Trolley project may include a high-speed Internet system
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UNIVERSITY CITY - Vintage streetcars will be used for the Loop Trolley, but a proposed accompanying project on the trolley right-of-way would feature some of the latest high-speed wireless technology.
The Loop Media Hub under study would provide a high-speed Internet system for each building along the trolley route. It would mean computer connections hundreds of times faster than standard service, its backer says. The fiber optic system for the connection would run along both sides of the trolley tracks.
Backers say the media hub could be a model for future development of other neighborhoods across the St. Louis area.
An informational meeting about the proposal and a feasibility study will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. June 14 at the Center of Creative Arts' Black Box Theatre, 524 Trinity Avenue, University City.
Among the institutions and governments looking into the project are Washington University, the Center of Creative Arts, the Regional Arts Commission, University City, the U. City Chamber of Commerce and St. Louis Development Corp.
U. City Mayor Shelley Welsch said the project would have a big impact.
If it proceeds, she said, "I expect it to be a huge boon to economic development not only on the path of the trolley, but branching off to Skinker and Olive and all other areas branching off the trolley route."
Welsch predicted that "people will want to get involved. Businesses will want to locate along the route and want to be investors."
The Loop Trolley - actually several streetcars - will run from the Lion Gates on Delmar to the Missouri History Museum, along Delmar Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue.
The participating groups have commissioned David Sandel of Sandel Associates of University City to prepare a technology master plan for the Loop. The company is being paid $60,000 by several of the institutions considering the project.
Under Sandel's business model, a separate public-private partnership would be set up to share costs of construction and electronic equipment; details are still being formulated.
The sponsors hope the enhanced technology could attract and retain young people with skills, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to live, work and collaborate in the Loop-DeBaliviere area. Washington University also plans to build housing on the route and the students would have access to the technology.
Sandel Associates has worked on similar projects in other cities. Here along the trolley route, Sandel said, "I foresee that this will become the Harvard Square of St. Louis."
University City is contributing $15,000 toward the study from its economic development sales tax that was approved by voters.
Because the system would be installed at the same time as the trolley, costs would be reduced, as would end costs to users who will pay a monthly charge. If installed separately, the system could cost $3 million - but instead it will be 'substantially less," Sandel said.
He said construction costs would be cut by 70 percent by doing the job while the streets were dug up for the trolley tracks.
All the engineering for the trolley and this project is expected to be completed in August. Trolley route construction is expected to start late this year or early next year.
As part of the Loop Media Hub project, data would be transmitted to each building along the route through two fiber optic ducts at a gigabit per second compared to a typical home speed of between 3-5 or 10 megabits per second. (A gigabit is a thousand megabits.)
(St. Louis Post Dispatch) |
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