Voice Your Support | Cortex to Tower Grove Connector

Act now for safer biking on Tower Grove Ave. Add your voice to those supporting a protected bike lane connecting Tower Grove Park to the Grove and Cortex.

You can help this project by submitting your comments for protected biking and walking infrastructure with the sample email below. The public comment section is open until this Thursday, March 26.

Last month, together with community partners, Trailnet worked with the City of St. Louis to apply for a $6.5 million federal construction grant to build a two-way protected bike lane (two-way cycle track) along Tower Grove Ave. and Vandeventer Ave. with additional bike and crosswalk improvements along Tower Grove Ave. and Sarah Ave., as well as signal optimization to decrease congestion.

This project which grew out of our Connecting St. Louis recommendations: the Cortex to Tower Grove Connector, would upgrade one of the busiest bike routes in the city to a protected bike lane, connect more people to Metro Link and make riding and walking along this route safer for people of all ages and abilities.

This grant is part of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program from the US Department of Transportation and managed by the East West Gateway Council of Governments (EWGCOG).

This is a competitive grant aimed at reducing car traffic congestion and improving environmental air quality, and you can help!

Help make this project a reality, add your voice today!

How To Comment:

We’ve included some draft language you can personalize to voice your support.

Follow this link (this doesn’t work in all web browsers). If directed to the EWGCOG site, select [St. Louis City] and [CORTEX-TOWER GROVE CONNECTOR] to submit a comment.

Or

Send an Email to: TIP@ewgateway.org
SUBJECT LINE: Comment on TIP 8218-23, CORTEX-TOWER GROVE CONNECTOR

-Copy and paste this subject line
-Copy, paste, and personalize the draft comments below:

Do you live or work in the community where the project is proposed?

I (live/work/travel through) near the Tower Grove Connector project.

Do you support, have concerns about or oppose this project?

I strongly support the Cortex-Tower Grove Connector Project (project number 8218-23)

What are the key reasons for your position?

This project will increase safety for people biking along Tower Grove and Vandeventer by providing physical separation between people biking and people driving. Tower Grove is currently one of the busiest corridors for biking in the City, and could really benefit from increased separation and more defined space for people who bike on this corridor.

The high visibility crosswalks along the corridor and new pedestrian crosswalk signal at Sarah will make it easier and safer for people walking to get across the street.

The traffic signal optimization will help alleviate congestion along the corridor and provide benefits to people who drive along this route, making this a winning project for all users.

This project will help address the poor air quality concerns we have in St. Louis by decreasing congestion through better-coordinated traffic signals (through people idling in cars) and providing people with safe transportation options other than driving a car in accordance with the City of St. Louis’ Sustainability Plan.

Anything else you’d like us to consider or comments you’d like to share about this project?

Name or organization:

Your first and last name