A year ago the St. Louis Metropolitan Police moved from their old headquarters at Tucker & Clark to their new HQ on Olive, between 19th-20th. Back in April 2011 I wondered what would become of police-only parking on Clark between Tucker & 14th once the move happened. It seems nothing would happen.
Privately-owned vehicles now park where police vehicles used to park. July 23, 2015
The old police headquarters is, presumably, vacant. So who’s parking on Clark in spaces marked for “police vehicles only”? My guess is the police academy at Tucker & Spruce, just south of the old police HQ.
When the police left their old building the on-street parking on Clark should’ve become metered parking for the general public.
Yesterday’s post was about the bike lanes on Chouteau that aren’t there…yet. While I was photographing the absence of bike lanes late last month I noticed something else as I crossed Chouteau at Tucker. The annoying pedestrian crosswalk buttons aren’t next to the curb ramp where they should be.
I’m at the ramp to cross Chouteau going South, the pedestrian button is on the back side of the silver pole! The visible button the side of the pole to cross Tucker heading East.Looking back North you can see the pole and the ramp at the corner.
Pedestrian buttons should be reachable from the ramp, not 20 feet away! Personally I don’t think pedestrians should have to seek out and press button to get a walk signal — they should be automatic. Imagine driving and having to know just where to stop at a red light to give you a green light.
Pedestrian buttons are great for the sight-impaired. If done properly, once activated, it’ll verbally announce to the user when the walk sign is on and that it’s ok to cross. The rest of us shouldn’t have to press a button to get a walk signal.
Chouteau is maintained by MoDOT, I’ll alert them and the city about this.
July 30, 2015Downtown, Featured, ParkingComments Off on Both Styles of New Parking Payment on Same Block
New parking meters are pretty much installed throughout greater downtown St. Louis. These include multi-space pay stations and updated single-space meters. I’ve yet to determine how it was decided which type would go on which blocks. In the 7 blocks I travel to reach the store both types are used.
Last week, looking at the Chestnut bike lane, I noticed in the 1000 block of Locust each side of the street is different from the other.
1000 block of Chestnut: On the North side single space meters, other side multi-space pay stations (one circled in red)
I might map out block by block to see if a logical pattern emerges…or I’ll enquire. It just seems like downtown visitors might be confused by two different physical ways to pay for on-street parking. I still prefer the app.
Those of you who follow this blog on Twitter & Facebook know I post a few pics of the new protected bike lane last week. I’d read about it in an article on the 18th or 19th:
The city also announced the addition of its first parking-protected bike lane downtown on Chestnut Street between Fourth and 20th streets. It uses parked cars and flexible posts to separate the cycling lane from the driving lane. A striped buffer painted on the street also creates space between open car doors and the bike lane. (Post-Dispatch)
It was a few days before I could get over to Chestnut to see in person, passing by at 15th headed to transit.
On Wednesday July 22 @9;15am I was disappointed to see a long line of cars parked in the bike lane. Traffic Commissioner Deanna Venker told me work wasn’t finished yet.The following morning, Thursday July 23 @ 11am, I was again headed this direction. This time the poles were in place and it was being respected.
With the bike lane running for 16 blocks, 20th t0 4th, I knew I couldn’t just cross at a single point and expect to understand it. If I wasn’t disabled, biking the mile distance would be the best way to experience it. Friday morning I started at 20th and made my way East to 4th, mostly on the adjacent sidewalk or at crosswalks. Let’s start at 20th:
Looking West we see the I-64 off-ramp. A dashed line would help guide motorists to the leftFrom the NE corner, looking SW. toward Aloe Plaza & Union StationA Facebook commenter pointed out many like to load/unload in front of Anthem. If they do now traffic flow will be blockedIt appeared the city plans to paint a crosswalk mid-block, but no curb cuts existAt 18th Street the bike lane remains protected, though drivers & cyclists still need to worry about right-turning cars or left-turning bikes. The city vacated 19th Street decades ago.I saw two different cyclists using the new bike lane during the 45 minutes I was next to itIn this block auto parking is on both sides of a single traffic lane, which the city truck had blocked.At the former 16th Street we see the narrow public walkway, the dashed blue I added shoes that an ADA-conpliant crosswalk is needed here. Click image to see October 2013 post on this subject.Looking East from 15th toward 14th the day before, the angled parking is now back-in style. Auto traffic now has 2 EB lanes.View from the sidewalk, also from Thursday, Back-in parking is safer for cyclists than front-inFriday no cars were parked here, looking West from 14th back toward 15thStill looking West, now from the other side of 14th, we can see the big jog to the left for both cyclists & motorists .Looking West from 13th toward 14thI don’t recall angled parking in front of Soldiers Memorial before
So 20th to 15th is parking-protected, 15th to Tucker (12th) isn’t:
Protected: 5 blocks
Exposed: 3 blocks
As we continue East across Tucker things get more complicated. Also back to a single lane for vehicular traffic.
Diagonal back-in parking continues…brieflyThis is probably the single most controversial part of the route, the second half of this block has a conventional exposed bike lane. Hope drivers know to get over to the left.Looking East toward 11th, not sure why the bike lane isn’t on the right side of these parked cars. I see two possibilities: 1) not enough width, and 2) would create an angle crossing 11th.At 11th looking back WestIf more width was needed to protect the bike lane there’s extra on the north side of the streetLooking East across 11th, if the lane on the prior block were protected the angle here would be greater, but still better than the one a half a block backThe lane resumes being protected by parking East of 11th. Twain is on the right,Looking back West from 10thThe first block adjacent to Citygarden is protectedThe 2nd block, East of 9th, starts off protected — but I found a Ford Focus parked in the bike lane. It had two tickets.Looking West from 8th we see the bike lane goes around the delivery area. The white truck belongs to workers on the bike lane.Still looking West, now from the other side of 8th. I’m concerned about vehicles turning right from EB Chestnut onto SB 8th. Will they cut through the delivery area?The block from 8th to 7th is protected by parked cars. I do anticipate problems with people mot seeing disable;ed parking signs, especially back by Tucker. .Curb bulbs are great for pedestrians, bad for protected bike lanes. The last 3 blocks are exposed.Looking West from Broadway (5th), great potential for conflict with right-turning cars.Looking East from Broadway. Why wasn’t the single row of parking placed to protect the bike lane?And finally a taxi that sat in the bike lane through 2 cycles of traffic lights before turning left onto NB 4th
So Tucker to 4th the break down is:
Protected: 3.5 blocks
Exposed: 4.5 blocks
Which gives us totals of:
Protected: 8.5 blocks
Exposed: 7.5 blocks
Of the 16 blocks from 20th to 4th, just over half (53.125%) are protected.
The new white stripes look great against the dark black asphalt, but how will this look in a few years when both fade? I’d like to see the bike half block next to the Civil Courts be protected. When Kiener Plaza gets rebuilt hopefully those two blocks can become protected.
A year ago the police were called to a parking dispute at our condo association. The issue was a fight between residents and the tenant of one commercial space, see Parking Battle Close To Home.
View from my balcony on Friday July 25th, 2014.
A couple of months ago everything was resolved — much better than anyone could’ve predicted. It did require legal action. The original developer, the now-defunct Loftworks, was seriously delinquent on condo dues for the two commercial spaces and a few residential units. After years of negotiations and missed payment plans, our board had enough and for a foreclosure sale. They were mortgaged for more than their value, but our board then began negotiating with the bank(s).
The best part is the commercial tenant in my building, Stealth Creative, was able to purchase their space. Every parking spot on the lot between the two buildings has been assigned to a commercial space. So just like our residential spaces, both commercial spaces now have assigned parking. While the other commercial space is vacant and for sale, those parking spaces are leased to residents seeking a 2nd parking space.
As I mentioned a year ago, I think my neighbors and the employees are too auto dependent. Hopefully having a fixed number of parking spaces will help change that attitude. I also want to make the case to Enterprise that their CarShare service needs vehicles West of 11th Street. They’re waiting for more members, we’re waiting for the service before joining.
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