Criticism of Inner Belt project angers Olivette
By Ken Leiser

A group in Olivette is complaining that an influential regional planner - who
also lives in that city - has inappropriately raised objections to state
highway officials about a new Interstate 170 interchange.

Larry Gerstein, chairman of the Olivette Community Connection, is upset that
Les Sterman, executive director of the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council,
asked the state to reconsider the need for the new $24 million interchange at
Olive Boulevard in light of new traffic counts.

"Show me a community that doesn't want $24 million in federal funding and I
will show you Olivette, because that is the only one," said Gerstein.

While Gerstein acknowledges Sterman has no financial stake in whether the
interchange is built, he insists Sterman should not be using his position to
evaluate the merits of the interchange, which is a topic of local debate.

In a letter to the Missouri Department of Transportation's district
engineer, Sterman cited community opposition and the cost of the project
compared to its benefits in asking whether the project is justified.

His letter was accompanied by a draft traffic study prepared by an East-West
Gateway engineer that found traffic was lighter than first predicted and
concluded the interchange improvements could be "excessive for the
circumstances." The report found that lower-cost improvements could stem
congestion more quickly.

Sterman, who has been on Olivette's Planning and Community Design Commission
for nearly a year, said he has not participated in discussions about the
interchange nor any votes on the matter at the city level. Beyond the Oct. 21
letter, he intends to let two staff members at East-West Gateway deal with the
interchange discussions with the state.

Olivette Councilwoman Missy Waldman said she was surprised to see the letter,
which she read as a new recommendation on a project that has been on the books
for several years.

"To me, it was saying that Olivette doesn't need this big project and yet, in
the past, that is exactly what MoDOT and East-West Gateway said," Waldman said.
"I was shocked by it."

Olivette Mayor Craig Cohen said the council had hired an independent consultant
to take a look at how the interchange would affect the city. One question
focuses on the public benefit of acquiring right of way for an additional lane.

The interchange would have provided access to a proposed shopping center that
was defeated by voters in February 2000.

Sterman said he was not trying to erase the project from the local priority
list. There have been other opportunities for the East-West Gateway board to do
that, he said. "The real issue is, is the level of benefit worth the cost?" he
said. "It is not different from any other project."

While acknowledging that it is unusual for East-West Gateway to get involved in
the design of state highway projects, it regularly reviews their
cost-effectiveness. "We do that every day," Sterman said.

St. Clair County Board Chairman John Baricevic, who is chairman of the
East-West Gateway board, said he reviewed Gerstein's complaint and found that
Sterman had done nothing inappropriate.

East-West Gateway officials met Monday with the state Department of
Transportation to hold preliminary talks about the interchange project, but no
decision has been made on whether to scale it back.

For now, that means the interchange remains on the local priority list, said
Department of Transportation spokeswoman Linda Wilson. It is the first
interchange along I-170 that is slated for reconstruction.

Reporter Ken Leiser
E-mail: kleiser@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8119