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The Louisiana Avenue Calm Street Project

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A decade in the making, this North-South corridor in South St. Louis is undergoing transformations that could change the way St. Louis streets are designed and improved in the interests of vulnerable road users.


2013 – 2014: Project Background

In 2013, Trailnet and our partners in the City of St. Louis received an EPA grant to educate and engage the St. Louis Community about traffic calming.

Traffic Calming – Traffic calming consists of physical design and other measures put in place on existing roads to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. 1

From 2013 – 2014, Trailnet helped to educate more than 1,200 residents in Dutchtown, Forest Park Southeast, and North City through mapping, community meetings and neighborhood outreach.

The communities we worked with became excited about increasing pedestrian and cyclist safety by transforming neighborhood streets into what were then referred to as neighborhood greenways and bicycle boulevards, now known locally as Calm Streets.

Calm Streets – A Calm Street is a residential street transformed to reduce speeding and provide safety for everyone traveling there. Using traffic calming features such as speed humps and curb extensions, Calm Streets create an environment where people drive the speed limit and therefore preserve the safety of people walking and biking. They also incorporate green infrastructure to mitigate stormwater issues and address environmental concerns like the urban heat island effect.

2015: A Formative Trip to Portland

In 2015, Trailnet secured a second round of EPA grant funding, which was used to fly a group of project partners, city officials and residents to Portland, Oregon, where they took inspiration from the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Neighborhood Greenways Program.

Full of ideas and bolstered by concrete evidence of the plausibility and effectiveness of neighborhood-, and city-wide traffic calming projects, the team returned to St. Louis to choose a location for a pilot project.

At the time, Trailnet was working with Froebel Elementary School in the Dutchtown Neighborhood on creating safe routes to school for their students. Through that project, Trailnet had already established residents’ desires for safer streets in their neighborhoods and begun to build political willingness to act in the Dutchtown Community—which has the highest concentration of school-aged children in the City of St. Louis.

With that groundwork already done in the Dutchtown community, Louisiana Avenue was chosen as the pilot site for the City of St. Louis’ Calm Streets Concept. The rationale: Louisiana was an ideal North-South connection, parallel to the City’s highest crash corridor (Grand Blvd.) and adjacent to many parks, schools, small businesses and residential streets. Thus began the process of planning, designing and constructing what would become the Louisiana Avenue Calm Street.

2016 – 2023: Pop-ups, Planning and Construction

In November 2016, Trailnet hosted a traffic calming demonstration (check out the video and flyer!) on Louisiana Avenue next to Marquette Park to demonstrate what a Calm Street could look like on the corridor. During the demonstration, people driving slowed down by over 10 miles per hour. Ten miles per hour is the difference between someone struck by a car having a 5% chance of dying (with the concept installed) or having a 45% chance of dying (prior street layout).

Residents who witnessed the demonstration expressed their overwhelming support for the project, saying “we definitely need something to slow traffic” and “if you have to put a speed hump every six feet, I’m all for it!”

In 2017, the City of St. Louis submitted an application for federal funding, and the Louisiana Avenue Calm Street Project was chosen as the number one funding priority that year by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.

Over the next five years, the City of St. Louis, its project partners and contractors jumped many hurdles on the way to creating a more streamlined process for building future Calm Streets in the City. The plan went for design in 2018, with construction beginning in 2021.

In spring 2023, construction was finished on Phase 1 of the Louisiana Calm Street Project. The first phase features 1.1-miles of assorted traffic calming measures (speed humps, mini traffic circles, high visibility crosswalks, bump-outs, rain gardens, etc.), from Gravois to Meramec.


Looking Ahead:

Phase 2 will extend the current Louisiana Avenue Calm Street South to Carondelet Park. Phase 2 is currently in design.

A third and final phase will extend North to Tower Grove Park and complete the North-South connection between two of our City’s largest and most-visited parks.

The goals of the Louisiana Avenue Calm Street Project are many:

  1. To reduce speeds and increase safety for all road users,
  2. To foster a sense of safety in the neighborhoods, schools and parks adjacent to the corridor,
  3. To provide an alternative North-South connection in South City parallel to one of our most dangerous streets,
  4. To encourage healthy, active living,
  5. To test various, modern best practices for transportation engineering and traffic calming,
  6. To develop a streamlined process for calming a network of streets across the City of St. Louis…

The finished vision for Louisiana is a safe > 3-mile corridor that connects thousands of people to the places that they live, work and play.

Phase 1 is completed, but this project still needs public support to be fully realized!

If you live in the neighborhoods that have been or will be touched by the Louisiana Avenue Calm Street, express your support to the City for safer streets. If you have feedback based on your experience of the corridor, reach out to your alderperson.

This pilot project will ultimately be a success if it paves the way for effective improvements to our built environment that save and better the lives of our neighbors! As one project partner from the City said at a recent presentation: “Maybe every street should be a Calm Street.”

More Resources:

  1. For example, vertical deflections (speed humps, speed tables, and raised intersections), horizontal shifts, and roadway narrowing are intended to reduce speed and enhance the street environment for non-motorists. Closures that obstruct traffic movements in one or more directions, such as median barriers, are intended to reduce cut-through traffic. Traffic calming measures can be implemented at an intersection, street, neighborhood, or area-wide level,” according to the US Dept. of Transportation. ↩︎

Moonlight Ramble Update

We were sad to hear that the rescheduled Moonlight Ramble was canceled due to safety concerns along the route, but we are glad that safety remained the top priority for the ride organizers.

Trailnet is the charity partner for the Moonlight Ramble, but does not organize or manage the ride or collect registration fees. A portion of the registration fees and proceeds from the event are donated to Trailnet to support our mission. As the charity partner, Trailnet helps promote the event, encouraging people to ride and volunteer.

Registered Ramblers should check their email for more information.

May is National Bike Month

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Trailnet is partnering with organizations across the region—including Metro Transit, Greater St. Louis Inc. and Washington University in St. Louis—to celebrate National Bike Month in 2023. Together we are putting on events, classes and giveaways throughout the month to highlight the many benefits of bicycling.

Join us on two wheels in May, as we come together with our neighbors in support of a region that is better for bicycling.

Read the full release below, and find all the information you need at trailnet.org/bike-month.

Trailnet’s Work With The Ville Community

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Trailnet and 4TheVille teams gathered around the monument at MLK and Sarah in North St. Louis. A stone sign in the foreground reads "Welcome to The VilleNeighborhood"
From our earliest collaborations, to the annual Juneteenth Community Ride, to transportation planning in 2022: What we’re working on in these historic neighborhoods, and why the work matters.

Since 2014, Trailnet has worked with community partners like 4TheVille and Northside Community Housing, Inc. within the Ville and Greater Ville neighborhoods to help plan for safer, slower, and greener residential streets.

Chart of The Ville transportation survey results

Regular Trailnet riders will recognize the name 4TheVillethe community-based tourism and arts organization created by multi-generational Ville residents and volunteers to restore pride in the legacy of The Ville—as our perennial partner on the Juneteenth Community Ride. But our partnership has grown well beyond one ride.

EPA-Funded Traffic Calming

In 2019, Trailnet received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving program. This funding was aimed at (1) making it easier for people in The Ville/Greater Ville to get around and (2) exploring opportunities for green infrastructure to address negative environmental and health impacts in the neighborhoods.

In September of 2021, Trailnet partnered with 4TheVille to host a pop-up park and traffic calming demonstration at MLK Drive and North Sarah Street. The event celebrated the Ville’s heritage, highlighted talented Black artists, and imagined the Ville’s potential.

The 2021 traffic calming pop-up event also allowed us to survey community residents on their current transportation patterns and priority areas for improvement:

Chart of The Ville transportation survey results

The Cultural Boulevard

In 2022, we began consulting on 4TheVille’s Cultural Boulevard Project, which aims to transform a stretch of Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. into a walkable, bikeable hub of culture, history and economic development in North St. Louis.

“One of the things that impacts the residents of this community directly is unsafe streets… So we’re considering how this project can create safer streets in the community,” said 4TheVille Co-Founder Aaron Williams of the Cultural Boulevard Project.

Full Sidewalk Assessment

Also in May 2022, one Trailnet planner began an in-depth sidewalk assessment of The Ville & Greater Ville neighborhoods. Over the course of five months, she surveyed 61 miles of sidewalks! The completed map (right) is littered with colored marks, which represent sections of sidewalk that are inaccessible or in disrepair. This map is the first of its kind—a full sidewalk assessment for a single St. Louis neighborhood.

Mobility Infrastructure Report

In March 2023, Trailnet and our partners completed the Mobility Infrastructure Report.

This Mobility Report was created to support a neighborhood transportation plan for The Ville Community (The Ville, Greater Ville, and Kingsway East neighborhoods). This report provides several strategies towards achieving the neighborhood’s vision to become an active transportation-friendly space where walking, bicycling, and transit provide safe, accessible, and healthy mobility options for everyone in the community.

This document features a combination of community-informed qualitative data about transportation trends and desires and quantitative environmental, transportation and road data. The document will be used to support policy change, future advocacy and planning efforts and to bolster future applications for funding improvements in the area.

A summary of these findings was presented at 4TheVille’s Neighborhood Redevelopment Town Hall on March 4, 2023. Read the full report here.

This project was completed with funding from the EPA’s Environmental Justice Small Grants Program and the Building Resilient Inclusive Communities (BRIC) program.


A man uses a mobility device on a street in The Ville. The nearby sidewalk is impassable.

The Ville & Greater Ville neighborhoods comprise 1.4-square-miles of one of the most historically significant pockets of Black history, art and culture in the entire country. Yet, 100% of the census tracts in this once-thriving community have now been identified by the Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All discretionary program as environmentally, economically, and health disadvantaged.

These are also communities with disproportionately low rates of personal vehicle ownership and high rates of public transit use. Yet, years of disinvestment have left their sidewalks and streets inaccessible and unsafe for people outside of cars.

As Trailnet aims to direct our local advocacy efforts toward the areas of greatest need, we will continue to implore local leaders to invest in neighborhoods like The Ville & Greater Ville, with the hope that someday soon our streets will be safe and accessible for everyone, everywhere.

St. Louis Safer Streets Bill Signed

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Trailnet was invited to be a part of the signing of the St. Louis Safer Streets Bill on March 1. Here’s what that means, why we’re excited, and what more needs to be done.

On Wednesday morning, March 1, 2023, City of St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones signed the St. Louis Safer Streets Bill (also referred to as Board Bill 120) into law.

This is a huge win. It marks the City’s largest-ever investment into street safety and infrastructure, and Trailnet was invited to be a part of the ceremony.

We couldn’t have done this without support from our members and community. 

Together, we have fought for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users over the last three decades. We laid the groundwork for change by shifting the conversation, focusing on systems, and gradually building public support. We sounded the alarm about traffic violence with the Crash Report. We built relationships with decision makers and met with elected officials.

The work isn’t over, though. Now, the funding must be carefully applied, on a comprehensive scale, to the problems it hopes to solve.

As Trailnet CEO Cindy Mense said in her remarks to the press, “While improving infrastructure is crucial, it will not, on its own, deter reckless drivers or put an end to the plague of traffic violence…. Trailnet and our partners stand ready to work with the administration in pursuing a vision of zero traffic injuries and fatalities on our streets.”

Together, we will continue to fight for Streets for All.

Happy Trails, Taylor March!

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From intern to Programs Director, Taylor March left a lasting impact on Trailnet and the St. Louis region. Now, he is taking his talents to the state level, advocating for better walking and biking across Missouri as the new Executive Director of Missourians for Responsible Transportation.

For eight years, Taylor was the smiling face of Trailnet. It’s only right that we reflect on the legacy he leaves behind—a legacy of kindness, knowledge, professionalism and passion.


Taylor’s Journey

Taylor March leads a youth fix-a-flat course for Trailnet

Taylor first joined Trailnet as an intern in the winter of 2010, while he was studying environmental engineering at Murray State University. He had worked as a bike mechanic since high school and was an avid environmentalist.

Though he didn’t know it then, Taylor’s passion for Trailnet’s mission (and his handiness with an Allen wrench) would serve the organization for years down the line.

Five years after his internship, having worked for several years as a solar engineer in between, Taylor returned to Trailnet on February 24, 2015 as our Youth Programs Specialist.

In his first full-time role, he led Trailnet’s bike education programs and designed our curriculum for smart cycling. He also worked on a number of Safe Routes to School projects, including one with Froebel Literacy Academy in south city. Taylor worked with Froebel through eight years and a handful of title changes at Trailnet.

“Working with Froebel and seeing that relationship develop and change throughout the years was so satisfying,” said Taylor. “From the walking school bus, to the installation of speed humps on Nebraska Ave., to the Calm Street now under construction on nearby Louisiana Ave… It was really cool to see the community buy in.”


Advocating for Change

Midway through his tenure with Trailnet, Taylor shifted his focus to the advocacy and policy spaces. As a long-time bike commuter, he was a natural advocate for safe, alternative transportation. As a leading expert in bike/ped best practices, he influenced change-makers across the state. And as an exemplary colleague, he fostered relationships that would blossom into our strongest partnerships today. To name a few…

  • Taylor co-created the annual Juneteenth Community Ride with our partners at 4theVille and grew the ride into a collaboration between the Missouri History Museum, Northside Community Housing and other aligned partners. The event draws over 200 riders each June and celebrates Black music, art, culture and history.
  • Taylor was part of the team that developed Trailnet’s Connecting St. Louis Plan in 2019, which is now 50% funded for construction by partners like GRG and the City of St. Louis.
  • Taylor spearheaded our state-wide advocacy efforts. In collaboration with BikeWalkKC, Local Motion in Columbia, and Ozark Greenways, he helped create Missourians for Responsible Transportation and Hands-Free Missouri.

The Work Continues

Now, Taylor is off to lead the statewide partnership that he once helped to create. Trailnet looks forward to many more years of collaboration with Taylor and his team at MRT.

“Trailnet will miss him and his careful and precise explanations of the transportation system we are trying to change, his help changing a flat, and his ability to always find time to listen,” said Trailnet CEO Cindy Mense.

For your years of dedication—Thank you, Taylor! Let’s continue to work together to make Missouri better for people outside of cars.

Trailnet says: Funding Process for Infrastructure Improvements in St. Louis City Needs to Change

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Originally published by NextSTL.com

Image of St. Louis City Hall from the corner of Tucker and Market.
St. Louis City Hall

The next time you buy something in the City of St. Louis, take note of the sales tax at the bottom of the receipt. A portion of that tax has been the city’s primary means of funding infrastructure improvements since 1993. Thirty years later, the process for allocating that tax funding, called “Ward Capital,” is being reconsidered. Here’s why that number on your receipt matters, how the funding is currently being used and why the funding process needs to change.

The City of St. Louis currently has a ½-cent sales tax in place. This tax collects, on average, $8 million per year for capital improvements in the city. That sum is currently the City’s primary means of funding infrastructure improvements in all 28 wards.

At the beginning of each fiscal year, the $8 million total is split into 28 equal parts and distributed evenly to each ward. That’s about $300,000 per year, per ward, to be spent on capital improvement projects—filling potholes, replacing streetlights, street trees, improving sidewalks, etc.

If an alderperson chooses to spend their Ward Capital, they must first submit a project proposal. Once the project is approved, the alderperson takes the necessary funding from their pot of accrued Ward Capital and gives it right back to a city department. Ninety-eight percent of the Ward Capital from all 28 wards ends up in the hands of the Streets Department.

The current system is convoluted. It also further divides our city.

Our streets do not stop and start at ward boundaries, nor do each of these wards have the same needs. This system allocates funding equally, not equitably, and results in fractured, short-term solutions applied at the whims of 28 politicians.

A convoluted system

Roundabout at Nebraska Avenue and Sidney Street

Let’s revisit the $300,000 per ward. That sounds like a lot of money, but according to St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green, recent traffic calming projects around Tower Grove Park cost over $1 million. Her ward received a grant for that work, but had Green relied solely on ward capital, she would have had to sit on her yearly allocation for at least four years to save enough money for those few improvements, and no other projects in her ward, such as street lighting or dumpster replacement, would have been funded in that timeframe.

In a recent interview with KSDK, Alderpersons Joe Vaccaro (Ward 23) and Sharon Tyus (Ward 1) also decried the system. Vaccaro, who consistently spends nearly all of his Ward Capital, is suspicious of his colleagues who sit on their funding. “’You can tell when you leave my ward,’ he said, pointing across the bridge into the 24th Ward. ‘This side’s paved. That side’s not.’”

Meanwhile, Tyus, who chairs the City’s Streets, Traffic, and Refuse Committee, has saved up nearly $2 million in Ward Capital over the years. Tyus has previously claimed obstacles to spending the money on her desired projects.

“‘They won’t spend it,’ she said at a board meeting in December. ‘They haven’t. I’ve been requesting. I can show you the letter.’”

Currently, alderpersons have $8 million in accumulated ward capital money that could be in use to repair our infrastructure.

Divisive and fractured

Whether they’re saving money for one big project or spending it on immediate needs, it’s clear that the current system leaves alders with no choice but to apply a patchwork of fixes to a city-wide network.

“Piecemeal solutions to a crisis that touches our entire city sets us up to fail time and time again,” said Mayor Tishuara Jones in October.

In her Riverfront Times Op-Ed, Mayor Jones hinted at a bigger-picture need, for which Trailnet has been desperately advocating—the need for a comprehensive plan in the City of St. Louis.

Ward-by-ward “piecemeal solutions” prevent the city from effectively planning for a safer, more accessible transportation network. If the Streets Department doesn’t know what projects lie ahead—if city departments are paralyzed by the inaction of individual leaders—they are not afforded the time or resources to plan for long-term fixes, staffing needs, or equipment purchases.

If the city continues to react only to the small-scale symptoms (potholes, crumbling curbs, etc.) of a large-scale, decades-old problem, our streets will never be safe for people outside of cars.

Inequitably distributed

Map of the City of St. Louis, including the complete sidewalk assessment of The Ville neighborhood.
Zoomed out map of Trailnet’s Complete Sidewalk Assessment of The Ville/Greater Ville

Whatever the new comprehensive system is, it needs to take into account the areas of greatest need.

Trailnet recently completed a full sidewalk assessment of The Ville and Greater Ville neighborhoods—the first complete study of its kind in the St. Louis area. Trailnet’s Community Planner walked over 30 miles of sidewalk, marking sections that were ADA-non-compliant, inaccessible or nonexistent. Forty-seven percent of the 61 miles of sidewalk assessed in The Ville and Greater Ville were in need of significant repair.

This study is emblematic of the largest issue with the current system—different wards have different needs. Trailnet’s annual Crash Reports identify the highest crash corridors across the city. Our analysis of crash data consistently reveals a glaring truth: Black and minority communities suffer from a disproportionate amount of traffic violence. The state of the streets, sidewalks and intersections on the Northside is one of the reasons why that disparity exists.

As a result of decades of disinvestment, Northside streets and sidewalks need far more attention and funding. It is unacceptable that all of these areas currently receive proportionate funding to address disproportionate realities.

The northside wards are the areas of highest need—the areas where it’s unsafe to walk, bike or catch a bus. These are the areas that must be identified as the highest priorities in the city’s comprehensive plan. These are the areas that must receive the largest investment from the ½-cent sales tax.

Our recommendations

A number of systems might work more effectively than the current one. What matters most is that the current system be replaced by something better, something equitable, something that makes sense.

Trailnet’s recommendation is that the city do away with the ward-based capital improvement system. Instead, centralize the funding structure under one city department, and ensure that the money is being invested based on the infrastructure needs identified by a future comprehensive street study, as well as demographics such as poverty levels and car ownership. Treat the whole body, not its disparate parts, in pursuit of a safe system for everyone.

If you agree, contact the President of the Board’s office and your alderperson to voice your opinion. As the city moves from 28 to 14 wards this year, there will be many changes. A new and improved system for funding infrastructure improvements must be one of those changes, so that when you pay that sales tax, you know your money is being used to make our whole city better.

Trailnet will continue to advocate for a new system that better serves the people moving around our city. To stay informed on our advocacy work in the City, subscribe to our newsletters here.

Board Bill 120: What is it, and why should you care?

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The infrastructure bill that could reshape our most dangerous streets

A bill was recently sent to committee by the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen that could finally address some of the issues plaguing our streets. Here’s what you need to know about Board Bill 120:

  • In 2021, The City of St. Louis received nearly $500 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding, to be spent by 2026.
  • In response to a particularly dangerous summer for people who walk, bike and use mobility devices, Mayor Jones pledged to invest at least $40 million of ARPA funding in safer streets.
  • Thus, BB#120 was born. The initial version of the bill, sponsored by Ward 3 Alderman Brandon Bosley, allocates $74 million of ARPA funding to invest in infrastructure. 
  • $40 million will go to the Board of Public Service for traffic calming, roadway and ADA improvements on corridors with the highest need.
  • $9.58 million will go to the Streets Department for sidewalk improvements and a mobility and transportation master plan.

Trailnet hopes, as this bill makes its way through the legislative process, the city considers adding a few details:

  • A provision for drivers education, which is not currently required in the state of Missouri,
  • A provision for a media campaign to encourage responsible driving,
  • A provision for equitably implemented enforcement, such as automated enforcement, which would reduce traffic violence and dangerous driving behaviors without adding to current racially biased enforcement strategies,
  • A line item that explicitly names the city’s commitment to Vision Zero, and the creation of a position to oversee and follow-through on said commitment to a Vision Zero plan.

This amount of money, if used correctly, could be seriously transformative—the first draft of the bill proposes over 4x the average yearly annual budget that goes toward street maintenance in the city.

This is a massive step in the right direction. Trailnet is proud of the part we have played in advocating for these changes. Now we look forward to helping the City make these improvements as quickly and effectively as possible, so that sometime in the near future, our Streets can truly be for All.

Read more about Board Bill 120.

City residents: talk to your alderperson about what you think is missing from this bill.

Trailnet CEO: St. Louis Mayor Proposes Additional Funding for Safe Streets

Trailnet is excited that Mayor Tishaura O. Jones will propose that the Board of Aldermen approve the investment of an additional $40 million in ARPA funding for Safe Streets. This is a bold move by the Jones Administration to begin to address one of the most critical issues our City faces—the epidemic of traffic violence.

Mayor's Chief of Staff Jared Boyd speaks at a City of St. Louis Traffic Safety Meeting on Monday 10/3

In her press release, Mayor Jones acknowledged that ward-by-ward street planning is not working: “Piecemeal solutions to a crisis that touches our entire city sets us up to fail time and time again,” said Mayor Jones.

Chief of Staff Jared Boyd also announced at a traffic safety town hall meeting Monday that there would be immediate work on “crash corridors” where vehicle crashes and fatalities are the highest.

While these are positive steps, Trailnet acknowledges that implementation may be the hardest part. There must be rigorous and sustained public input into road changes. How will this system take into consideration the drastically underfunded and underserved areas of our city? Will new street designs prioritize people who walk, bike and use transit? Will automated enforcement be incorporated into the new street system? Will all of this be enough to help us achieve our vision of zero traffic fatalities in the City in the near future?

Trailnet stands ready to assist the City moving forward with community engagement, planning and other critical support areas. It is our hope that the additional funding outlined in Mayor Jones’s announcement will help create safer Streets For All.

— Cindy Mense, Trailnet CEO

Trailnet Optimistic About Citywide Street Study

City of St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones told reporters in an interview session on Thursday, September 22, 2022 that the City intends to explore more comprehensive planning and budgeting in pursuit of Safe Streets for All in St. Louis.

Trailnet is excited about this announcement and encouraged that the Jones administration is looking to address the epidemic of traffic violence in our region. Read more in the press release below: