St. Louis Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed, also an East-West Gateway board member, said the Northside-Southside route would have benefits far beyond the city limits of St. Louis.

“I commend the county for stepping up and joining us,” he said after the meeting.

St. Louis County’s $3 million contribution will still pay for studies of three routes that are mostly in St. Louis County, but it now says the money can also help fund the north St. Louis County portion of the Northside-Southside route strongly backed by Slay.

In addition, the county money would fund a study of a new proposed connector through Ferguson between the Northside-Southside route and a proposed county route along Interstate 170 known as MetroNorth.

The Northside-Southside route would mostly run through the city of St. Louis and intersect with the existing MetroLink lines near downtown, although its two ends would extend into the county.

Stenger, an East-West Gateway board member, wasn’t at the meeting Wednesday to vote, but he described the county’s intentions Tuesday and said he was never against the Northside-Southside in concept.

“I was never arguing against Northside-Southside itself,” Stenger said Tuesday. “What I was arguing against was the process.”

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