Sidewalks on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive are for show, not actual pedestrians

Dr. Martin Luther King Drive stretches from just North of downtown St. Louis out to the city’s municipal limits. It passes through areas best described as rough and others that have seen new investment and are on the way upward.  In either case, where you have people you have pedestrians. Where you have low-income residents and public transportation you have more pedestrians than in higher income areas.  All the more reason to ensure the public rights-of-way are designed for everyone: motorist, cyclist and pedestrian.

This is my sixth year writing about St. Louis’ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

About 6-8 years ago part of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive (Jefferson to Grand) got a makeover – new curbs and sidewalks.  The width of the roadbed (curb to curb) was narrowed.  A good thing? Yes and no.  The entire stretch is poorly planned with respect to pedestrians.  For those traveling parallel with MLK it is fine.  But if you want to cross it can be a major challenge, only two proper crosswalks exist in the mile stretch.

So I want to show you this one mile stretch of roadway and the few places to cross. Above is our starting point at Jefferson Ave, (image at top, map).  You see the single ADA curb ramp and crosswalk markings are directed East across Jefferson.  For those seeking to cross MLK at Jefferson in a wheelchair the single ramp puts them dangerously close to passing cars.

A long block to the West of Jefferson is Beaumont St.  intersecting with MLK from the South. Currently Beaumont’s sidewalks are a complete mess so nobody in a wheelchair would attempt to use them.  One block away from this spot is where Lisi Bansen was struck by a car in 2005 as she wheeled in the street. Part of the idea behind new curbs, sidewalks and lighting is to make an infrastructure investment that results in increased development in the area.  So while the total resident count in the immediate area is pretty low now my expectation is rebuilt streets be more than bling for passing motorists.

Continuing West we see more streets intersecting with MLK without provisions to cross the street:

Finally at Webster Ave. (map), on the West side of the intersection, we have a crosswalk. We are over a half mile from Jefferson Ave. Between these points we should have had 8-10 places to cross MLK.

One block further West we get the point where Compton meets MLK (map).   This intersection is big and complicated by three streets and angles. Pedestrians cannot cross MLK on this side.

On the West side they can cross.  But note the places where a person going from one direction to the other is basically a sitting duck in the place where cars are turning.  The point of bringing the curbs in to the center is to slow traffic and reduce the width required to cross the street.  But for a pedestrian crossing in this crosswalk the width has not been reduced.

Continuing West:

At Francis St (above, map) we see Google Streetview managed to catch a person in the street in a wheelchair. My assumption is the person is waiting for a break in the traffic to cross MLK to the drive on the other side.

Grand is the street ahead.  Pedestrians on the sidewalk to the right are just dumped out into a large & dangerous sea of asphalt.

This beauty of a street was outsourced by St. Louis’ Board of Public Service to the civil engineering firm of Kowelman Engineering, Inc. I’d give you a link to their website but they don’t have one. Their domain kowelman.com just takes you to a default temporary page.  You can see their basic information on the city’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program website here.  Regular readers know Kowelman’s work, they are best known here for Loughborough Commons.

Engineers are great at determining water flows in the gutter, turning radii for curbs but unless their client is passionate about pedestrian issues the results will be largely superficial. In a mile stretch only two places were provided to cross MLK.  Two!  And they are one block apart from each other!  Ideally this street will continue to get new structures, residents and businesses.  That means more pedestrians – both able-bodied and disabled.    Shameful that good tax payer money was spent on such a poorly designed project.

– Steve Patterson

State Senator pushing legislation for open enrollment in Missouri’s public schools

A bill before the Missouri legislature could, if passed, change the composition of schools on the Missouri side of the St. Louis region:

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri lawmakers are to debate whether parents should be allowed to pick the public school their children attend.

Supporters contend open enrollment gets parents more involved and improves academic performance. But critics argue that open enrollment can create problems with school funding and makes planning harder. Teacher and school district groups also say the benefits of open enrollment are uncertain.  (Fox 2: Mo. lawmakers propose open enrollment system to let parents choose school kids will attend)

Opponents to this idea are fighting back:

“We think that the emphasis ought to be on improving public education in local school districts rather than encouraging students to be attending other school districts,” said Missouri School Board Association spokesman Brent Ghan.

Representative Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield) sponsored the bill to allow students the choice in which school they want to go to within 30 miles of their home. She said that there are problems in Missouri’s schools that need fixing.

“Right now, in Missouri, we are looking at some real crisis situations as far as the academics and the accreditation of some of our school districts,” she said. “So, I think from that stand point, those parents are going to be looking at opportunities for their children to attend an accredited school.” (KOMU,  Open Enrollment Stirs Debate)

Jane Cunningham is a State Senator (R-7), not a State Rep. She is the sponsor of SB537:

Current Bill Summary

SB 537 – This act creates procedures for open enrollment across school district boundary lines for children in foster care and for children of parents who are employed as a firefighter, emergency medical technician, or peace officer who must live within a designated school district as part of their employment. School districts must adopt a policy and designate appropriate class sizes for purposes of open enrollment, incorporating the minimum standard of teacher-pupil ratio promulgated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The policy may include spaces that could be filled by open enrollment. A student wishing to participate in open enrollment must declare intent by March first prior to the year in which the student would open enroll. If a receiving school has insufficient space for all students who want to enroll, it may institute an admissions process.

If a parent believes that a receiving district has unreasonably disapproved an application for admittance, he or she may request that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education review it. School districts must keep records and make them publicly available, as described in the act.

A student requiring special education services may only transfer if the receiving district verifies that it has an instructional program that is appropriate for the student and that the enrollment would not negatively affect the class size.

A student who enrolls in another district will be included in the receiving district for purposes of state school foundation aid.

The parent or guardian is responsible for transporting a child who enrolls in another school district. At the discretion of the receiving district, the parent or guardian may transport the child to a point on an existing school bus route.

The act also contains provisions for statewide assessment scores of students, intradistrict transfers, participation in school activities, and school district eligibility for small school grants.

This act is similar to HCS/HBs 807 & 690 (2007).  (Source: SB537)

I have no horse in this race other than wanting inner-city schools to remain competitive with suburban districts and for our region to do a good job of educating all our future adults. We certainly should use caution before doing anything that might undermine fragile districts.  Exploring and discussing ideas is certainly where we must begin.

The idea of open enrollment is the topic of the poll this week.  You can vote in the upper right corner.

– Steve Patterson

Projected 3D light as an attraction

Light can be an effective tool to draw a crowd.  Projection of 3D light would amaze a huge crowd.  Just such an idea from Vilnius, Lithuania (aerial map), would be perfect in St. Louis:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtuW1S0M7aY

Direct link to video on YouTube

We have many places downtown that would make ideal subjects for such a light show.

Old Court House:

Old Post Office:

Civil Courts:

Soldiers Memorial:

Hat tip to Michelle Swatek, Executive Director of AIA St. Louis, for bring this concept to my attention.

– Steve Patterson

Not in service

We’ve all seen “Not in Service” displayed on local transit buses.  Local PBS station KETC went to Metro’s garage on DeBaliviere at Delmar (aerial image) to show us what happens to the buses when they return to the garage:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG3eTDai-vU

Keeping transit on the street and rails is certainly a lot of work.  For voters in St. Louis County, please keep this in mind as you go to the polls on April 6, 2010.  Without funding the region’s mass transit will say “not in service” 24/7.

– Steve Patterson

Local traffic can avoid the depressed lanes of I-70

Tuesday’s post was about removing a mile section of interstate highway (currently marked as I-70) after the new Mississippi River Bridge opens in 2014.  The main objection many people have is the loss of a primary North-South route if the depressed lanes are removed.  For the benefit of own of town readers let me explain the depressing depressed lanes:

Just North of the above the highway comes up to create an above grade barrier.  We have the opportunity to connect what remains of the downtown street grid to the East until it hits either the Arch grounds or, North of Washington Ave, the grid of Laclede’s Landing.  East-West traffic following I-70 will cross the Mississippi River North of the Arch rather than the South currently. An example is driving from Louisville, KY to Kansas City, MO:

As you can see from the current map drivers do an extra little jog to the South to cross on the Poplar Street Bridge. The new span will correct this so their route is more direct.  Drivers going from Memphis, TN to Kansas City, MO can go via I-70 through downtown:

But the route through downtown is not the best route for through drivers.  The suggested route on Google Maps takes motorists around the edge of the metro area:

This route is shorter in both distance and time.  Through traffic will be handled via the new bridge and existing alternate routes. This leaves local traffic as primary users of the existing North-South route separating downtown from the Arch, Mississippi River and Laclede’s Landing.  More than those passing through, locals know alternate routes to take to avoid the depressed lanes downtown.

I looked at two scenarios: 1) driving from I-55 & Bates (map) to Lambert Airport and 2) from Lemay Ferry & Reavis Barracks Rd (map) to Lambert Airport.

Scenario #1: 55 & Bates to airport:

• I-70 through downtown: 20.2 miles,  21 minutes (30 in traffic)
• 44/Maplewood/I-170: 23.3 miles, 30 min (40 in traffic)
• 55/Truman/Market/Jefferson/70: 20.3 mi, about 31 mins
• River des Peres to I-170: 20.6 mi, about 34 mins

Scenerio #2: Lemay Ferry & Revis to airport:

• I-55 N and I-70 W: 25.3 mi, 26 mins (35 mins in traffic)
• I-55 S to 270 N to I-70: 27.1 mi, 32 mins (40 mins in traffic)

As we saw with two years of construction on I-64, motorists are resilient. Between a more friendly grade-level Memorial Drive, 4th, Broadway, Jefferson and a rebuilt Tucker (North of Washington) we will have numerous North-South routes to handle our local traffic.

– Steve Patterson