The first of four pop-up traffic calming demonstrations will take place this Saturday, October 10, in Dutchtown on the 3100 block of Gasconade Street. Come out and see proven methods for making safer streets. Representatives from the Healthy Eating, Active Living Partnership, including Trailnet staff, will be at the corner of Compton Avenue and Gasconade Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to foster discussion with the community.
Trailnet is currently seeking volunteers for all four events. Those interested can sign up for a time slot below.
Trailnet has been working to compile a database of our projects aimed at demonstrating methods to slow traffic, increase pedestrian and bike activity, and decrease accidents in the area. The collection of projects make up what we are calling our Traffic Calming Library.
Below is a sneak peek at how the Traffic Calming Library is coming together. The painted tires will be used in our pop-up demonstrations.
For more information on the demonstrations, check out our press release and the following fliers:
Trailnet brings 25 regional leaders to innovative walking and biking conference
Justin Carney
The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals Professional Development Seminar took place in St. Louis September 28 – October 1. Trailnet applied to host the conference in St. Louis as a way of building the capacity of our leaders to further improve walking and biking. As the presenting sponsor and host committee coordinator of the conference, Trailnet provided free registrations to 25 regional leaders. These leaders realize the important impact Trailnet is having on our community by providing access to education about cutting-edge infrastructure and strategies. Here’s what a few of them have to say:
Justin Carney, Senior Planner, Strategy + Innovation, Office of County Executive, St. Louis County
“A scholarship is important for me as someone in the County where budgets are slim and training opportunities are slim, but it’s still very important for us to be part of the conversation. As we’re developing and implementing our Complete Streets policy, which brings our health, planning, and transportation departments together, it’s necessary to have all of those departments represented. The scholarships allowed us to have an interdisciplinary presence at the conference and it’s been really beneficial for us.”
Jim Wild
Jim Wild, Interim Executive Director, East-West Gateway Council of Governments
“It’s important that Trailnet and other groups provide access to conferences like these so we can learn effective strategies to create a well-rounded transportation system to create a better quality of life for our region.”
Larry Welty (pictured right) with John Hicks, St. Louis County Transportation Development Analyst
Larry Welty, Improvement Programs Manager, Transportation and Public Works, St. Louis County
“The detailed information from the conference is inspiring and reenergizing. Everyone was impressed with the mobile tours of the Arch and the riverfront. It was great for us to tell the story of what’s so great about St. Louis.”
Nichalos Gardner
Nichalos Gardner, Director, Transportation and Public Works, St. Louis County
“I think the conference definitely created more of a synergy and energy around improving the transportation network—to get more pedestrians and bicycles on the road. I also hope it’s going to help with our education of the public—getting them involved and helping them understand exactly what needs to be done. Good conference!”
Trailnet teaches youth about active living during bike weeks
For students at several schools in Webster Groves and Kirkwood, PE class now includes bicycling! In September, Trailnet worked with the Webster Groves Computer School and Keysor Elementary in Kirkwood to teach kids bike handling skills, rules of riding safely, and some basic bike mechanics.
Trailnet staff presented the “ABC Quick Check,” an easy way for kids and parents to make sure that a bike is safe to ride before taking a spin. Students learned how to measure tire pressures, how to change a flat, and how to check their brakes and chain.
Keysor students were also introduced to Trailnet’s advocacy efforts aimed at making the St. Louis region a better place to ride a bicycle. Asked whether they thought a kid could be an advocate to improve bike safety, students were eager to give examples of how they might make a difference in their community. Their ideas included: “if I saw a pothole in the street I would call city hall and tell them to fix it”…“we need a crosswalk on my street – I am going to write to the president”…”when I see trash on the sidewalk I stop and pick it up.”
Robinson Elementary, another Kirkwood school, is holding its first Bike Week this week. Trailnet looks forward to helping make the week a big success and to sharing the thrill of bicycling with a new group of kids.
Thanks to Great Rivers Greenway for providing funding for these bike education programs.
Walk audits identify need to calm traffic
The Federal Highway Administration recently flagged St. Louis as a focus city for its high rate of traffic-related deaths. Of all pedestrian-related traffic crashes in the state of Missouri, 24 percent occur in the city of St. Louis. This year, 18 pedestrians have been fatally struck in the city. This is more than those killed in the previous two years combined.
While the data is alarming, Trailnet has been working to unite St. Louis neighborhoods to improve safety for people who walk and ride bikes by organizing walk audits.
Walk audits are guided walking tours meant to bring together local stakeholders and evaluate how the built environment affects their communities. The walk audits target the neighborhoods of JeffVanderLou, The Ville/Greater Ville, Dutchtown, and Carondelet.
The primary concern voiced by participants throughout the audits was the speed of motor vehicles moving through their neighborhoods. Residents shared that people driving would often blow through stop signs and drive around curb corners at a high rate of speed.
The audits also revealed that many crosswalks did not meet requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act as they were missing curb ramps and/or markings. In addition, many existing crosswalks were fading and needed to be re-striped.
The objectives for the walk audits include:
Ensure participants know what’s working and what’s not for safe walking in their neighborhood.
Endure participants can talk confidently about what needs to be fixed and know how to report it.
Ensure participants have identified potential long and short-term projects to improve walkability.
Trailnet was recently awarded a Plan4Health grant in collaboration with the HEAL Partnership, providing resources for the organization to conduct the walk audits.
The walk audits were essential to the progress of Trailnet’s work with Plan4Health in identifying four pop-up traffic calming demonstration locations, which will take place this October and November. The demonstrations are meant to educate communities on what neighborhoods would look like with features meant to reduce traffic speeds and encourage safety.
The audits also helped Trailnet in its work with the city’s Board of Public Service and Streets Department to create site plans for the demonstrations.
Here’s a sneak peak at how the site plans are coming together:
Plan4Health Traffic Calming Library Update
Trailnet has been working to compile a database of our projects related to traffic calming. The collection of projects make up what we are calling our Traffic Calming Library. These projects aim to slow traffic, increase pedestrian and bike activity, and decrease accidents in the area. While the library has been coming together quite well, we are continually brainstorming creative ways to create more traffic calming demonstrations.
Additionally, in aiming for sustainability, Trailnet pursues traffic calming demonstrations that can be installed with reusable materials. One method involves using old tires to create narrow areas of the street—referred to as chicanes—in order to slow traffic.
To actively engage residents and enhance the appearance of these installments, participants spent a day spray-painting tires a variety of colors. It was even more fun rolling them out to the streets on which they once carried vehicles–then repurposed to make for safer, slower roads.
The photos below provide glimpse of how things went at the Jefferson Collaborative for the South City Health Festival in Fox Park on a sunny, warm August Saturday.
Trailnet staff preps tires for pop-up traffic calming demonstration.
Spray-painted tires meant to stand out when used for curb bump-outs.
Paint set our for a temporary crosswalk in the Fox Park neighborhood.
We installed a small parking space park during our event in Fox Park in August.
We demonstrated a number of different traffic calming methods during the Fox Park event. These included a temporary crosswalk and curbside bump-outs.
The Plan4Health grant has further helped spur new projects for Trailnet to promote pop-up traffic calming demonstrations. This purple crosswalk is one of the many changes we envision and hope to occur from our pop-up traffic calming demonstrations.
For more information about Plan4Health, contact us at trailnet@trailnet.org .
Letter to St. Charles County concerning O’Fallon’s Main Street
Trailnet’s advocacy is regional in scope (as are our rides, programs, membership, and community support). This week we urged St. Charles County leadership to reconsider their recent action limiting O’Fallon’s right to re-design their own Main Street. The very mention of “road diets” is apparently not a good idea in St. Charles County.
Public Hearing on Des Peres Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
Trailnet has been working with the City of Des Peres, Missouri, to develop a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. On September 14, Trailnet and the City of Des Peres will hold a public hearing on the contents of the Master Plan Draft. This event will begin at 7 p.m. at the Des Peres City Hall. For directions, click here. To view a copy of the draft Master Plan, click here.
Trailnet constituent survey results
The results of our 2015 constituent survey are in! Thank you to all who participated. Your feedback will help us build the region for better biking and walking.
The community arts space known as “The Pink House” really is pink and is a hive of activity welcoming Pagedale residents of all ages to participate in a variety of activities. On five recent Friday evenings, it became the site of a Trailnet Spokes for Folks class. On each of those nights, bike parts and tools, air pumps and tubes could be found sprinkled on the lawn of the little house as fourteen class members learned about the anatomy of a bike, how to make basic repairs, rules of the road for bicyclists, and strategies for safely navigating city streets.
By successfully completing the class, each student received a brand new bicycle from the Ferguson Bicycle Shop, individually-fitted and with life-time free tune-ups courtesy of owner Gerry Noll. Participants also received a properly-fitted helmet, a bike lock, tools and patch kit, and front and rear blinking lights.
The new bicycles arrived on Friday, August 7, and most of the students hopped on and took a spin on the St. Vincent Greenway with a Trailnet instructor. Two novice cyclists stayed back with a Trailnet staff member and veteran resident cyclist Curtis Lomax, who helped the newcomers get a feel for rolling on two wheels.
Curtis Lomax is “looking forward to more adventures with Trailnet!”
When asked what plans they had for using their new bikes, participants, who ranged in age from 13 to 64, gave a variety of responses: “I want to bike with my kids, and use it to go to the grocery store – it will be more fun than taking the bus.” “I don’t have a car and I don’t see myself getting one soon. I’ll be going to college next year and can use it to ride to class.” “I need it to motivate me to move my body.” All of the new bike owners clearly look forward to the benefits of bicycling as a means of transportation, as a way of increasing fitness, and a source of sharing fun with friends and family. Participant Leonard Dixon summed it all up with his comment “Ride to live; live to ride!”
Trailnet thanks all of the “Spokes” folks for their enthusiastic participation and wishes them many miles of safe and fun riding. Thanks also to Gerry Noll of the Ferguson Bicycle Shop for custom fitting the bikes and to Gina Martinez, Director of the Pink House, for her weekly warm welcome. Trailnet’s adult bike education programs are funded by Beyond Housing, the Trio Foundation, and Cardinals Care. For information about the September 19 Spokes for Folks class, contact Taylor March at taylor@trailnet.org. To learn more about Trailnet’s bicycle education programs, click here.
Hitting the Trail – St. Louis Torchbearers Camp Sun Splash
Camp Sun Splash kids arrived at Fairground Park on a sunny July morning to find racks filled with bicycles waiting for eager riders. Each of the 39 campers were fitted with a bike helmet, and received a primer on bike safety. The smooth, level bike trail that circles the park lake was a perfect place for the novice riders to try out their bike handling skills.
Two days later, Trailnet met the group at the Whistle Stop Depot in Ferguson for an introduction to Great Rivers Greenway’s extensive trail system. Donning their helmets and safety vests, the riders wound their way through Ferguson’s business district to the start of the Ted Jones Trail. As they pedaled along the quiet, shady trail, the kids pointed out the many feathered residents of the woods lining the path. The group continued onto the St. Vincent Greenway, making their way through the gentle hills of UMSL’s campus to St. Vincent County Park where they enjoyed cooling off at the water park.
Trailnet’s Camp Sun Splash participation was supported by Great Rivers Greenway. St. Louis Bicycle Works loaned bicycles for the two-day adventure, and bicycle patrol officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department helped to shepherd the campers through Fairground Park. The Whistle Stop Depot provided restroom services for a long line of campers. Trailnet is grateful to all of these folks for their generosity and for helping to make a bicycling experience possible for the Sun Splash campers.
The Federal Highway Administration recently flagged St. Louis as a focus city for its high rate of traffic-related deaths. Of all pedestrian-related traffic crashes in the state of Missouri, 24 percent occur in the city of St. Louis. This year, 18 pedestrians have been fatally struck in the city. This is more than those killed in the previous two years combined.
Trailnet was recently awarded a 
