Everyday Connections: Neighborhood-focused improvements
Beginning in the Spring of 2020, Trailnet began working with three St. Louis communities to improve walking and biking infrastructure and policies. Trailnet partnered with the Jeff-Vander-Lou and Ville/Greater Ville neighborhoods in the City of St. Louis and the City of Clayton to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety through improved infrastructure and policy.
Trailnet has been working with residents and community partners to plan and improve upon existing conditions within each community/neighborhood. This work was funded with assistance from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). Read more about what Trailnet is doing to improve connections to everyday destinations in each community.
Jeff-Vander-Lou Neighborhood
Expanding upon the work done in 2015 as a part of a Plan4Health traffic calming grant, Trailnet has been working in the Jeff-Vander-Lou (JVL) neighborhood by planning for traffic calming improvements to curb dangerous driving habits which affect safety for people walking and biking. Trailnet staff has been working with JVL community organizations and residents to 1) identify areas that are in need of traffic calming improvements and 2) brainstorm solutions that will help slow down traffic and enhance pedestrian safety. Trailnet staff met with numerous JVL residents, the neighborhood association, and a JVL alderperson to discuss solutions, timeline, and funding opportunities to make significant improvements within the neighborhood.
In preparation to work with JVL residents and organizations, Trailnet staff also created a traffic calming guide that mentions characteristics, implementation costs, and 3-D renderings of numerous traffic calming solutions that have been used across the City of St. Louis. While the guide was created to help JVL residents visualize and understand the different types of traffic calming used throughout the City, the guide will also be available to residents and organizations in other St. Louis City neighborhoods who are interested in traffic calming solutions in their neighborhood.
Ville/Greater Ville Neighborhood
In the Ville/Greater Ville neighborhood, Trailnet is working with 4theVille to help develop the engagement around a neighborhood plan for walking, biking, and transit improvements. In addition to the strategy to get residents involved in the future neighborhood plan, including a phone survey of people’s current challenges with getting to their everyday destinations.
Trailnet is also providing the neighborhood with existing conditions maps and analysis. Trailnet is looking at several factors that impact walking and biking safety, these include: speed limit, street width, average annual daily traffic, bicycle and pedestrian crashes (and their characteristics), crime that would impact how safe someone feels walking, MetroBus service and associated stops, and vacancy. Trailnet is mapping these factors to help analyze if there are any trends that impact walking and biking safety in the neighborhood that could be addressed by infrastructure or policy recommendations.
City of Clayton
The City of Clayton has committed their DHSS funding to improving pedestrian signage around Shaw Park in Downtown Clayton. The addition of the pedestrian signage will enhance pedestrian crossing safety in and out of Shaw Park.
Trailnet has also been working with the City of Clayton to improve their Complete Street Ordinance. Adopted in 2012, the Complete Streets Ordinance encourages walking, biking, and other non-motorized forms of transit, in addition to typical motorized transit for all users regardless of age or ability.
The Ordinance sets out an ultimate goal to create streets that balance the needs of all users in order to achieve maximum functionality and use.
Now Trailnet and the City of Clayton are looking to improve several facets of the Complete Streets Ordinance including standards on equity, design standards, performance measures, project exceptions, and project selection criteria.