Duncan Ave Sidewalk A Challenge Because Of Solae’s 2008 Construction

When Solae built their new headquarters at 4300 Duncan Ave at S. Boyle Ave. (map) in 2008 they created a pedestrian problem.

The contractor dug out the old sidewalk at the west edge of their properly to create an auto driveway. The driveway works great for autos but they left a gap in the sidewalk that’s hard to navigate in a wheelchair.  Solae and/or their contractor need to fix the situation. I’ve had to pass through here on numerous visits to Solae.

I’m emailing a link to this post to Solae’s facilities manager, hopefully they’ll see fit to fill in this gap. It won’t be perfect until the adjacent sidewalk is replaced but it can be made significantly better.

— Steve Patterson

That Last Mile To A Light Rail Station

Recently I posted about the lack of transit oriented development (TOD) around the Wellston & Rock Road MetroLink light rail stations (see Let’s Build Around Light Rail).  Both stations have been open for 19 years now.

For both I made my observations from each station and seeing a lack of connection in various directions. Last week I found myself 9/10ths of a mile from the Wellston station so I got to experience the problems area residents face in reaching that particular station. Before I get into the problems I want to explain why I was nearly a mile from that station.

Walkability expert Dan Burden was in St. Louis for a few days last week. Thursday morning a group met at the MET Center near the Wellston station and did a “walking audit” of problems we observed.

The next afternoon a group met at the University City Library on Delmar at Kingsland (map) to discuss safe routes to schools.  I’d arrived by MetroBus (#97).  After the presentation we walking north to the new Pershing school. Well, it was very hot so everyone else drove and I made my way the 8/10th of a mile to the school.

It was over 100 degrees and when we finished here the sessions were over, we were all on our own. A bus route was close but the sidewalk to reach it was blocked by construction at the school. I decided to “walk” to the Wellston Station in my power chair.  I’m not sure when I left University City and entered Wellston.

The housing stock in Wellston appears older and not as nice even when new as the housing in nearby University City. Though modest, I didn’t feel unsafe in what many would consider a “bad area.”  I encountered no one, probably because of the excessive heat.  The  sidewalks were all complete and passable until I got out of the residential area and into the industrial area near the station. Sixty-sixth street only had fragments of sidewalks, I ended up in the roadway.

The last part of my trip would take me through Robert L. Powell Park.

I’d seen the park on map before and got up to it back in April to see the sign facing Metro’s largely empty parking lot.

The park is appropriately named because it’s a disgrace.

Once I reached the station I didn’t catch the train, instead I got on the #94 (Page) MetroBus since that’d drop me off only a block from my loft. It’s clear to me that in the last two decades nobody has done anything to make it easier for Wellston residents to get to transit. What can/should be done?

1. Replace sidewalks along 66th Street.
2. Pave path through Powell Park, plant shade trees along path and have a few benches and a water fountain. Will require a ramp to navigate the grade change.
3. Rename the park something besides a disgraced former mayor.
4. Develop the parking lot, provide a nice sidewalk to reach the light rail platforms and bus stops.

– Steve Patterson

So Long Ruth Porter Mall

Tearing down a mall? What stores did it have? No, not that kind of mall. A pedestrian mall.

Ruth Porter Park (officially named Ruth Porter Mall), is a linear park spanning nine blocks north from Delmar Blvd. to Etzel Ave., and one block west from Debaliviere to Goodfellow Ave. (source)

Most pedestrian malls were created by closing off a roadway but Ruth Porter Mall was created by razing buildings along a linear path. A 1971 aerial on historicaerials.com shows the clearing of buildings present in a 1958 aerial. By the time I first walked it in the 1990s it was looking very tired. View in Google Maps here.

Who was Ruth Porter anyway? She was an African-American born in 1915 who died just 52 years later in 1967:

Ruth Porter was a founder and first executive secretary of the Greater St. Louis Committee for Freedom of Residence, a group organized in 1961 to break down housing restrictions and integrate housing in St. Louis. In 1958, she won an award from the National Conference for Christians and Jews for promoting racial understanding. She was named outstanding woman of the year in 1965 by the NAACP. Her tireless efforts to secure fair housing eventually led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Jones vs. Mayer case, which was won by residents she helped to support.

At one time Porter was also director of the Kinloch YMCA and a leader in the West End Community Conference. The Ruth Porter Mall at Delmar Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue is named in her honor. (Source) 

The Supreme Court decision came a year after her passing.

So what will become of the space? It’ll be incorporated into a larger trail network:

St. Vincent Greenway will extend for more than seven miles from NorthPark, near I-70 and Hanley Road, to Forest Park. The greenway route includes the completed sections through University of Missouri-St. Louis campus and the adjoining St. Vincent (County) Park.

The primary trail will continue to the Rock Road MetroLink station area, the MET Center in Wellston, and the West End and Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhoods. The greenway will follow Engelholm Creek as much as possible.

The remainder of the primary greenway trail from the North Hanley MetroLink station to Forest Park is being designed.

The next segment slated for construction lies within the City of St. Louis. Construction through Porter Park (Ruth Porter Mall), and along Etzel Avenue from the park west to Skinker, will begin in October. Finishing touches will be applied in the spring.

At Forest Park, St. Vincent Greenway eventually will connect to other greenways, such as Centennial, Chouteau, and River des Peres. In the NorthPark business development, the greenway will meet the Maline Creek Greenway now being planned. (Great Rivers Greenway)

That’s a nice connection.

More from Great Rivers Greenway’s website:

This extension of the St. Vincent Greenway will change the usage of public right-of-way along Etzel Avenue from Skinker Boulevard eastward to Porter Park, allowing a physical separation of the greenway route from vehicles. The existing sidewalk in Porter Park will be re-surfaced as a trail. Both segments will contain many delightful upgrades and surprises.

When the Loop Trolley is constructed, the greenway will continue within the eastern half of the right-of-way of DeBaliviere Avenue south to Forest Park. (source)

 

The Ruth Porter Mall wasn’t accesible at all. It was built pre-ADA and it was never retrofitted with wheelchair ramps. I’m glad to see it change and become part of something bigger but I hope Ruth Porter is somehow remembered.

— Steve Patterson

Redeveloping Natural Bridge & The UMSL South MetroLink Station

Considerable attention is being given to redeveloping Natural Bridge and the UMSL South MetroLink Station.

On Friday, [UMSL Chancellor] George announced that Normandy collaborators hit their $14 million goal last week to transform a portion of Natural Bridge Road between Lucas and Hunt Road and the inner belt of I-170 into a more pedestrian-friendly street.

The plan is part of the St. Louis Great Streets Initiative, a program through the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, designed to encourage community leaders to use their streets to enhance economic development and social activities in their communities. (St. Louis American)

The initial phase would be between Florissant and Hanley.  In the middle is the UMSL campus and the UMSL South MetroLink station just to the south of Natural Bridge.

CMT in partnership with Metro charged a group of local experts from the ULI St. Louis Chapter called a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) to look at the possibilities for development at the UMSL South Station. This is the second TAP that CMT and Metro have commissioned – the first at the Belleville MetroLink Station. Thanks to the AGC St. Louis for underwriting this event.

One idea presented was the possibility of rebranding the area around the station as a retail/commercial/event space as Plank Street Station. There would be a new access road that would run from Natural Bridge to the Station. The City of Normandy is willing to move their City Hall location to another area within this possible development or a different area all together. The panel suggested that Metro’s role could include building a pedestrian bridge as well as additional parking structure on the west side of the station to feed both the system and the development. (CMT-STL)

With all this interest I needed to see the area again to be able evaluate the proposals. The easiest way would’ve been to drive down Natural Bridge, but I no longer have a car. Besides, evaluating an area for a walkable district by driving is like evaluating a restaurant’s food based on internet pictures.

So on May 10th I caught the #4 (Natural Bridge) MetroBus on 18th at Clark and got off at Lucas and Hunt (aerial). I then “walked” in my power chair west along the north side of Natural Bridge to Hanley, crossed to the south side and returned. It was a 3.4 mile “walk” per Google Maps. I added a bit more distance by dropping down to the south UMSL MetroLink Station along the way.

During my four hour trip  (end to end, with lunch) I took 382 photos, I’ll share just some here.

Amazingly I was able to travel more than 3 miles with only a few barriers along the way. A lack of barriers for the disabled is a good start but this is a long way from being “pedestrian-friendly” corridor. One article I read said the goal was to be more like the Delmar Loop. My guess that was more about the writer’s ignorance on the subject than a stated goal. You can make a suburban corridor attractive to pedestrians but that’s not the same as a dense commercial district.

A detailed look at Natural Bridge was done as part of the East-West Gateway’s Great Streets Initiative, see the report here. It prescribes different treatments for different areas of the corridor. The Urban Land Institute, working with Citizens for Modern Transit, took a detailed look at the existing UMSL South MetroLink station and immediate surroundings, see that report here.

I’m not yet sure the proposed ideas are the best solutions but I do know the pedestrian experience can, and should, be improved.

– Steve Patterson

Chouteau Bridge Sidewalk Cracked, Pedestrians Detoured Slightly

The Chouteau bridge (aerial) between 39th and Vandeventer opened on January 19, 2007 (source). The project to replace the old bridge was estimated at $16 million and “the construction contract was awarded to KCI Construction Company for $11.7 million.”

Knowing the bridge wasn’t very old I was surprised recently when I saw barricades on the south edge, then I received a press release from MoDOT:

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation will close Chouteau Avenue (Route 100) between Vandeventer and Spring in both directions for periods of up to 10 minutes starting at 10 p.m. Tuesday, May 8. All lanes will be open by 6 a.m. Wednesday, May 9.

Crews are conducting load testing on the bridge to determine the best way to fix the sidewalk. The sidewalk has been closed since mid-2011. (MoDOT)

Fix a sidewalk on a five year-old bridge?

BIke/Walk Alert – Chouteau bridge between Vandeventer and 39th St.: During a recent inspection, MODOT found a crack in the sidewalk on the Chouteau Bridge and has closed the sidewalk while they investigate if the bridge is safe. MODOT plans to close one eastbound lane of Chouteau between Vandeventer and 39th and separate it from traffic with a concrete barrier. This lane will be a shared bike and pedestrian path until the sidewalk is repaired. Until the concrete barriers are in place, please use extreme caution when crossing the Chouteau Bridge or select an alternate route. Trailnet will post updates as we become aware of them. (Trailnet Facebook post on November 1, 2011)

With the barriers it’s possible to cross the bridge, although meeting someone in the middle would be a problem.

I’ve not seen anything since the recent testing to indicate a solution. MoDOT hasn’t responded to my inquiry. Did Missouri get a warranty on this bridge?

– Steve Patterson