All aboard for WashU
Alumnus Willie Noble’s involvement in the mid-2000s MetroLink expansion helped usher in a new era of connectivity for the university
Twenty-five years ago, Willie A. Noble, BS ’79, gave back to WashU in an unconventional but nevertheless profound way.
Noble and his family moved from Atlanta to St. Louis so the civil engineer could become deputy project director for the MetroLink light rail system’s expansion from Forest Park to Shrewsbury. The project would take the MetroLink right by WashU’s Danforth Campus, and as an alumnus, Noble became the agency’s liaison to the university.
“I’ll never forget the first meeting with representatives from WashU,” Noble says. “When I introduced myself, I said I was a graduate of Washington University, and the staff representative said, ‘Oh, you’re one of us, then.’ They were proud of the fact that one of their graduates was leading the project.”
His involvement helped ensure the main campus received not one but two MetroLink stops along Forest Park Parkway: one at Skinker Boulevard and the other at Big Bend Boulevard. Combined with an additional stop on Forsyth Boulevard near the university’s West Campus, the MetroLink expansion marked the beginning of a new era of convenience and connectivity for the WashU community.
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