What do Calm Streets look like?
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Salvation Army Earn-a-Bike Class
Last Thursday evening, seven graduates of Trailnet’s Earn-a-Bike class hopped on their brand new bikes and took to the streets around Benton Park. For several of the novice cyclists, this was their first opportunity to utilize their signaling, scanning, and lane positioning skills. All completed the ride with flying colors.
The Earn-a-Bike class met for four sessions at the Salvation Army on Arsenal and was taught by Trailnet’s 
Rachel Sleeman, assisted by Ginny McDonald. Participants in the class learned about bike parts and tools, how to remove wheels and fix a flat, and how to load a bicycle onto a Metro St. Louis bus rack. The course also covered Missouri traffic law that pertains to cyclists, clothing and accessories that make biking more comfortable, and techniques for carrying groceries and gear for commuting by bike. Students were individually fitted for their bicycles and helmets, and each received a lock to secure their new bicycle.
The participants, who ranged in age from sixteen to sixty, came to the 
class with varying levels of experience and with different expectations for how they would use their bicycle. Kieth Miles was a big help to the instructors, having used a bike for many years for transportation, and already handy with tools and techniques of basic maintenance. GiGi, who is also a veteran cyclist, plans on using her bicycle for grocery shopping and errands. Both commented that they could get to most of their normal destinations more quickly on a bicycle than by car and that it was also a healthier way to travel.
Trailnet thanks The Trio Foundation of St. Louis and Cardinal Cares for funding this class, the Salvation Army for hosting, and Urban Shark for building the bikes.
Improving the Pedestrian Experience Workshop
Trailnet brought speakers from across the Midwest to participate in Streets for Everyone: Improving the Pedestrian Experience. The workshop, funded by the Laclede Group Foundation, was attended by sixty-five local professionals, including transportation planners, elected officials, academics, and public works employees. Discussions focused on how to design and build walkable communities and attempt to integrate a pedestrian perspective to help create a more walkable St. Louis.
There is heightened concern for pedestrian safety in St. Louis because of recent statistics reflecting risks to pedestrians in the City: between 2006-2010, the City of St. Louis reported 1,800 pedestrian‐related motor vehicle crashes. These numbers have put St. Louis on the Federal Highway Adminstration’s list of Focus Cities, which identifies cities with the highest rates of pedestrian fatalities and severe crashes. The City of St. Louis, the Federal Highway Administration, the Missouri Department of Transportation, and other partners have drafted a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PSAP) to help guide the region on how to reduce pedestrian related crashes in the City.
Where do we go from here?
Trailnet is excited to begin this dialogue around making the City attractive and safe for pedestrians and we hope that you will join us in this campaign. Working with local and regional partners, Trailnet will host a Walk Summit in 2015. The Walk Summit will serve as a call to action for community members, activists and organizers, elected officials, engineers, and transportation professionals to integrate the pedestrian perspective into their work and call for safe solutions to roadways that rank most dangerous for walkers. Adopting the PSAP will be an important first step in creating more pedestrian friendly roads in St. Louis.
How you can help
Be part of the effort to create a more walkable St. Louis by collecting data on pedestrian activity. Stand up and count as a volunteer at the 3rd Annual Bicycle and Pedestrian Counts next week.
100 Miles of New & Upgraded Bike Routes in St. Louis City
Bike St. Louis Phase III implementation begins this week! Phase III includes 40 miles of new bike routes and upgrades to 60 miles of existing bike routes in St. Louis City. This project started with the Gateway Bike Plan in 2009, an intensive 16-month process to plan future bike routes throughout the three county metropolitan region in Missouri.
Trailnet was 1 of 15 stakeholder groups that participated on the Phase III Advisory Committee hosted by Great Rivers Greenway District. We surveyed our members in Fall 2013 to define problem areas and priority locations for bicycling, and received almost 900 responses. We then rode the problem areas with advocates and elected officials to seek out creative solutions, and used this feedback to advocate for high quality infrastructure.
Types of bike routes
Our goal is Streets for Everyone – safe and continuous routes that connect residents to jobs, schools, parks and other major destinations, regardless of age or ability. Trailnet advocated for high-quality, family-friendly routes throughout the planning process. Click here for a map and listing of new and upgraded routes.
Funding
Phase III is a $1.4 million project, primarily funded with federal transportation dollars. A local match was provided by Great Rivers Greenway District and St. Louis City with existing sales tax revenue. Any municipality is able to apply for federal funds for projects like Phase III. East West Gateway is currently taking comments for the 2015 funding cycle.
Stay tuned for more details! We’ll be following the street crews and posting pictures of the new routes on social media and look forward to hearing your feedback. Please post your pics to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – let’s celebrate this investment in bicycling!
Old Frenchtown Bicycle Tour
One of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, Soulard is known to many residents for its plentiful restaurants and bars, and Obtoberfest and Mardi Gras festivals. Weaving through the tree-lined streets and courtyards in the neighborhood, Harold Karabel lead a group of fifteen cyclists on a tour of Soulard and the adjacent LaSalle Park neighborhood on August 23. As always, Harold provided a fascinating commentary that highlighted some of the architectural gems of the area, explained the area’s long and colorful history, and showed photographs of how specific sites in the neighborhood had changed over the years.
Stops on the tour ranged from tiny stone houses, to brick row houses, to several of the massive churches that soar over the neighborhoods. These churches are a tangible reflection of the area’s cultural past, having been built by the early German, Czech, and Lebanese immigrant communities who settled in the area. The tour also made a stop at Soulard Farmer’s Market, the oldest farmer’s market west of the Mississippi, which has been in continuous operation since the late eighteenth century.
The final stop on the tour was LaBerta and Sons Cycles at 1007 Russell Boulevard. Matt LaBerta has provided eco-sag support for Trailnet’s Community Bicycle Tours for the past two seasons. Riders got a chance to admire the latest frame that Matt is constructing, have a guided tour of the shop by his sons, and received much appreciated ice water.
Trailnet is grateful to George Dennis of the Church of St. Vincent DePaul, who opened restrooms, provided ice, and a shaded pavilion for our ride’s starting point. Many thanks to Harold for his enthusiasm, knowledge, dedication to the city, and ability to locate shade as temperatures neared 100. Thanks to Matt, Mylo and Mason, who almost had a carefree morning, until a rider got a flat at our last stop. Finally, thanks to the cyclists and volunteers who braved the heat to join in on the tour. This tour was funded, in part, by Great Rivers Greenway District.
Recap of Bike Education classes in Pagedale
Trailnet offers a variety of bike education programs, ranging from half-day Bike Smart classes that familiarize participants with bike handling and safe riding practices, to multi-session Earn-2-Bikes classes. Earn-2-Bikes participants learn about bike maintenance, how to ride safely, and leave the class with a brand new bike of their own. The most recent Earn-2-Bikes class was held on Saturday mornings at the Pink House in Pagedale. The class began with eight participants, ranging in age from fifteen to fifty-four; over the course of the four sessions, many other community members stopped in, eager to see what was happening in the classes. Taught by Trailnet’s Rachel Sleeman, the class began with an introduction to the parts of a bicycle and the proper use of basic bike tools. Thanks to this session, students learned bike maintenance skills (like how to change a flat tire) and also how to communicate problems to a professional bike mechanic.
Trailnet’s bicycle education programs emphasize bike safety and encourage the use of a bike as a mode of transportation. The Pink House participants became familiar with Missouri traffic laws that apply to cyclists, and learned techniques and skills essential for riding safely on roads. The classes also covered information useful for bike commuters, and gear and clothing that help to make bike commuting easier and more comfortable. The course also covered ways to combine cycling and public transit to get around town more easily.
Students received their own multitools and patch kits and were all individually fitted 
with a new bicycle helmet. On the last session of the class, each participant received a new bicycle and bike lock, purchased from the Ferguson Bicycle Shop. Gerry Noll, the owner of the shop, stopped by to meet the participants, confirmed measurements to make sure that all of the bikes fit properly, and explained the free tune-ups that he provides for bikes purchased from the shop.
Mr. Curtis Lomax, one of the class participants, has been supportive of the Pink House since it opened in 2011. In talking with Pink House’s Regina Martinez, Mr. Lomax described the Earn-2-Bikes class as “Amazing…I thought we would get used bikes. But they were brand new, measured to fit.”
Trailnet t
hanks Beyond Housing and the Trio Foundation for support of our bike education programs, and Rebuild Foundation’s support of the Pink House. Special thanks to Rebuild Foundation’s Regina Martinez for photos.
For more information about Trailnet’s bicycle education programs and upcoming class offerings, click here.
North of Old North Bicycle Tour
Fifty cyclists congregated on Saturday at the Old North St.
Harold describing one of the carefully restored houses in Old North St. Louis
Louis Restoration Group
in Crown Square (formerly the 14th Street pedestrian mall) to take part in Trailnet’s North of Old North Bicycle Tour. The area was bustling with activity as local shops and cafes opened, a Girl Scout troop gathered for their meeting, and vendors set up for the North City Farmer’s Market.
The ten-mile bicycle tour was lead by local treasure Harold Karabell, who wound his way through the neighborhoods of Old North St. Louis, Hyde Park, and College Hill. At regular stops, Harold shared his wealth of knowledge about the rich historical heritage of the area and the many architectural gems that grace the neighborhoods. A number of the riders had grown up or had family connections in the area and added their own remembrances and stories.
One of Old North’s earliest homes
Some of the highlights of the tour included visits to the Bissell Mansion (St. Louis’ oldest house), Hyde Park, the interior of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and one of the iconic North Grand Water Towers. The tour also featured visits to some of St. Louis’ important commercial enterprises – the site of the Hyde Park Brewery and the old Krey meatpacking plant.
Matt LaBerta and sons to the rescue
Special thanks to Cornerstone Café and Sun Café and Market, who provided cold water to riders as the temperatures rose into the 90s, and to LaBerta and Sons Cycles for providing super sag support.
Harold will be leading Trailnet’s Old Frenchtown Bicycle Tour on August 23 that will ride through the Soulard and LaSalle Park neighborhoods – also sponsored by Great Rivers Greenway District. Don’t miss the chance to visit these lovely areas and learn about their fascinating histories and architecture.