EWG Withheld Project Details During Public Comment Period | The Locally Times
The regional planning body’s public comment period for new projects closed March 13, but records do not detail the specific proposals, their costs, or their locations.
The East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWG), the region's metropolitan planning organization, accepted public feedback on proposed 2026 programs through a comment period that concluded on March 13, 2026. According to a notice on the council's website, the period was for submitted applications for 2026 local programs. However, the public records announcing the comment period did not include the applications themselves. The documents available on the EWG website do not specify which municipalities or organizations submitted proposals, what projects were being considered, their potential costs, or their geographic locations, leaving residents without the necessary information to provide specific feedback. ## Committees Meet Post-Deadline; Agendas Not Public In the days following the March 13 deadline, key council committees convened. The EWG Executive Advisory Committee met on March 17, according to a public notice. Seven days later, on March 24, the council’s Air Quality Advisory Committee held a 90-minute meeting. These were followed by a scheduled meeting of the full EWG Board of Directors on the morning of March 25. While the meetings were publicly noticed on the council’s website, the postings do not include agendas, supporting documents, or minutes. Consequently, public records do not indicate whether the 2026 Local Program Applications were discussed or acted upon. Records also do not document whether the citizen feedback gathered during the public comment period was presented to or reviewed by any of these committees or the full board. The process for how public input is integrated into the council’s final decisions is not outlined in the available records. ## New Local Leaders Elected While Regional Plans Remain Secret Less than a month after the EWG Board of Directors meeting, residents across the region went to the polls for General Municipal Elections on April 7, 2026. Public notices confirm elections were held in municipalities including Webster Groves, Town and Country, Des Peres, Crestwood, Sunset Hills, Overland, Arnold, and Brentwood. In the City of St. Louis, April 7 was also designated as election day, with all mail-in ballots due by 7 p.m. In Crestwood, for example, voters weighed in on four proposed City Charter amendments. In Webster Groves, residents selected a mayor and three council members. Records from Sunset Hills detailed a slate of candidates for mayor and aldermen in four wards. The results of these elections determine the local leadership that will work with regional bodies like East-West Gateway to implement projects, including any that may be approved from the undisclosed 2026 program applications.