Arch Visitors Walk Where Sidewalk Used To Be, Should Be Again

Currently there’s only one way in/out of the Arch grounds — via Walnut Street over I-44 (formerly I-70).  While the new lid at the center is being completed, everyone is routed via the new bridge over the interstate, on the North side of Walnut Street. However, at some point, St. Louis removed the sidewalk on the North side of Walnut St, between Memorial (3rd St) and 4th.

Looking at the 1997 National Register nomination of the American Zinc building, the sidewalk was in place. Most likely the sidewalk was removed when Drury Inn combined it with two other buildings, see Drury steps up plans for hotel at Fur Exchange site.

Looking at GEO St. Louis it appears this remains part of the public right-of-way (PROW), not vacated to private interests. The PROW was reallocated to give pedestrian space to automobiles. At the time the Cardinals played in Busch Stadium II and Walnut Street was a major point of vehicular egress after games.

I think we need to examine the Walnut PROW to see if the amount for vehicle travel can be reduced by one lane so that a sidewalk can be replaced. Remember, hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to connect the Arch ground to downtown. The lack of a sidewalk connecting to the South highway crossing point is a huge disconnect.

People know the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

— Steve Patterson

Lack of Curb Ramps in Just Two Spots Ruins Otherwise Accessible Tower Grove Ave

One of the most frustrating things about using a wheelchair in the public right-of-way (ROW) is how many routes are 99% accessible — the 1% inaccessible part can be a bigger obstacle than you might think. Today’s example shows the lack of thought put into making an entire corridor accessible — it’s done piecemeal.

Saturday morning my husband and I took the bus to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, we spent a few hours there. Afterwards we decided to have lunch at OLIO  — just a short walk (map). Turning North on the East side of Tower Grove Ave I encountered a problem after crossing De Tonty St.

The curb was lower to the right, but not enough that I could get up onto the sidewalk. Thankfully the bike lane exists, I used that on high speed to reach the next street as quickly as possible. At Lafayette Ave I looked back South and the same problem exists on this end!

Good thing I couldn’t get onto the sidewalk at the other end — I couldn’t have gotten off on this end!

I crossed Lafayette Ave and got back on the sidewalk without any issues. I had no other problems after lunch, catching our bus a couple of blocks further North. So why hasn’t this small section been updated in the 25 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law? Fragmentation is my best guess. This sidewalk runs under I-44, so MoDOT is likely responsible instead of the city.

Another possibility is gerrymandering, both ends of this sidewalk are in the 19th ward. Yes…seriously!

To be fair, most likely this was in a different ward(s) before 2011. Still, the 19th Ward is probably the worst in the city for curb ramps.

My experiences have shown over and over again that nobody is concerned about making corridors accessible from end to end. A person examining Tower Grove Ave would’ve caught this issue. Maybe someone has but they can’t get funding from the 19th ward budget to correct it? Maybe MoDOT is aware but it too busy avoiding tolling I-70 to worry about two ramps.

The West side of Tower Grove is better — only one end is missing a ramp, at Lafayette.

— Steve Patterson

The Public Sidewalk Is Not Your Private Driveway

Over the years St. Louis has vacated both streets & alleys, this means land previously part of the public right-of-way (PROW) is now private. Usually the phrase “vacate public surface rights for vehicle, equestrian and pedestrian travel” is used in the ordinance (from a block west), typically splitting the surface rights between the adjacent properties. The description of the vacated surface rights are very precise, also from the block to the West:

Beginning at the point of intersection of the western line of 11th Street, 60 feet wide, with the northern line of said alley; thence south 14 degrees 58 minutes 30 seconds west 15.00 feet along the western line of said 11th Street, to the southern line of said alley; thence north 75 degrees 05 minutes west 176.75 feet along the southern line of said alley; thence north 14 degrees 58 minutes 30 seconds east 15.00 feet to the northern line of said alley; thence south 75 degrees 05 minutes east 176.75 feet along the northern line of said alley, to the western line of said 11th street and the point of beginning, and containing 2651 square feet. are, upon the conditions hereinafter set out, vacated. 

The alley that is the subject today must have been vacated prior to the library putting ordinances online.

This section of alley was extra, the vacation still allowed access to all buildings and 10th & 11th Street — note that the number & configuration of buildings has changed since 1909.

Ok, so we’ve established the surface rights are now private — but this changes where? The building line — not the curb. From the 1909 Sunburn map we know the Locust PROW is 60 feet wide — from building face to the opposite building face. The roadway and sidewalks on both sides are within this 60 foot wide PROW. Unfortunately, one tenant/owner thinks the alley surface rights extend past the building line to the curb line.  Ever since the former Bride’s House building  at 1008-10 Locust was renovated people have  been partially parking in the PROW. I finally began photographing to document the ongoing problem.

Finally last month, on May 7th, I went into the adjacent business, asking if the SUV belonged to them. When they said yes I told them they can’t park blocking the public sidewalk. We had a big argument outside which continued via text after I left my business card.

I don’t know the total number of tickets the city has issued for vehicles here, likely in the hundreds. The business even got another patient involved — an elected official. I returned her phone call explaining where the line is between private property and the PROW, I also emailed her the pictures through May 7th. Hopefully she got back to more important business in Jefferson City.

In the future I’m not going to text the business, I’m just going to email Streets & Parking Enforcement and hope the vehicle’s owner must negotiate with a tow truck operator. I don’t know the total number of tickets the city has issued for vehicles here, likely in the hundreds.

Parking is allowed in the PROW — we have meters placed to know where it is ok to do so.

— Steve Patterson

‘Bridge Bash’ To Start Removal Of St. Louis Centre Bridge Was 5 Years Ago Today

Five years ago today work began on reversing a mistake that had been in place for 25 years. The “Bridge Bash” event started with comments from numerous white men, followed by Mayor Slay operation the wrecking ball, pyrotechnics made breaking glass a little more exciting.  Here’s the video I uploaded from the scene — the action starts at 8:45.

St. Louis Centre was part of the ‘bring the suburbs to the city’ movement. The inwardly focused mall was a killer to the sidewalks downtown — especially under the Washington & Locust wide bridges connecting to Dillard’s & Famous-Barr, respectively.

Removal of this oppressive bridge and facing the ground level retail of the MX (formerly St. Louis Centre) has done wonders for this part of downtown. If only we hadn’t wasted decades trying to be like the burbs.

— Steve Patterson

New Switchback Ramp Between Civic Center MetroLink & Gateway Transportation Center Should Reduce Accidents

To reduce pedestrians being hit by light rail trains they’ve been making changes to conflict points, this is about the access to the Civic Center MetroLink Station from the Gateway Transportation Center, which opened in late 2008.

This change may also be related to the coming smart card technology, a reader is shown above. The question I have is will I have a problem passing through the Civic Center MetroLink to reach the Gateway Transportation Center?

— Steve Patterson