ST. LOUIS–The Bi-State Development Corporation’s Board Thursday approved a design contract that in time, will lead to secure entrances to MetroLink stations across the St. Louis region.

The agency announced its “Secure Platform Plan” last November, a $52 million project to add fare collection gates, more fencing and real-time monitoring via security cameras. High-profile incidents involving criminal activity either on MetroLink property or in adjacent areas in recent years have contributed to lower ridership.

Bi-State’s Board of Commissioners agreed to a $6.9M design contract Thursday with HNTB, a St. Louis-based engineering consultant. It will be fall 2023 before any final designs are approved. 

“Our riders and the region can be reassured that their safety and security on the MetroLink system is top priority,” Taulby Roach, Bi-State Development President and CEO said in a news release. “This ambitious project is so important and at the same time is very complex. We are going to transition an open access light rail system into a closed access system. Every station is viewed as its own project because the platform entrances and exits are all different at each station.”

The construction process could take 2.5 years.

The design contract is paid for with grant and federal stimulus funding and is separate from the overall cost, which will be paid for with American Rescue Plan funding, Bi-State Capital expenditures and roughly $11 million in private sector funding.