Park(ing) Day is a global, public, participatory project where people across the world temporarily repurpose curbside parking spaces and convert them into public parks and social spaces to advocate for safer, greener, and more equitable streets for people.
To celebrate Park(ing) Day 2023 in St. Louis, Trailnet will be hosting a pop-up parklet + bike lane demonstration along Compton Ave from Shenandoah to Longfellow.
Come visit Trailnet’s Park(ing) Day pop-up + bike lane demonstration at 2292 Compton Ave. on Friday, September 15!
Two Lifetime Advocates Making St. Louis Better for People Who Bike, Walk and Roll
Q&A with Bill and Carla Sauerwein, owners of Pedego St. Louis
Conducted by Trailnet Marketing & Communications Coordinator Justin Seaton
Justin: Hi Bill! I understand you and Carla have long histories as bike/walk advocates. Tell me about how you got involved in this world.
Bill: Both Carla and I have been cyclists all of our lives. Carla is a pediatric RN and for years ran the St. Louis SAFE KIDS Coalition. She led education and advocacy to prevent childhood injury, including supplying and promoting bike helmets and car seats. I served as Mayor of the City of Oakland form 1997 – 2001 and with the idea of providing safe streets and walkways for residents, constructed almost all of the sidewalks you see in the city of Oakland and redesigned many of the streets. As Mayor, our city-wide capitol improvements plan was nominated for a state-wide landscape architect design award.
J: How did you first become involved with Trailnet? Tell me about your partnership with us over the years.
B: I suppose my first connection to Trailnet came when I attempted to acquire a small strip of abandoned railroad property within the City of Oakland in order to construct a park. In that process, I met Ted Curtis, then the Director of Trailnet, who introduced me to Trailnet and its mission. Trailnet ended up completing the northern leg of the Grant’s Trail with the property and the City constructed a park around the trail. Our store is adjacent to the park. Thereafter, Carla and I became supporters of Trailnet, participating in Trailnet rides and learning about the many projects undertaken by Trailnet.
More recently, as we met the dedicated staff of Trailnet—Cindy, Corrine, Kevin and others—and witnessed firsthand their hard work and dedication, we knew that Trailnet was an important organization to support. We share its mission…. and over the years we have helped raise funds so that they can continue to make streets and trails safer and available to all.
J: When/How did you open Pedego St. Louis, and how has your business connected you to the St. Louis cycling community?
B: We opened Pedego St. Louis in June, 2019 by rehabilitating an old, run-down building adjacent to Grant’s Trail in Oakland. From our location, we meet and talk to cyclists and trail users every day. We have greatly expanded the cycling community by putting people back on bikes that had for one reason or another gotten away from cycling. We have gently introduced the St Louis cycling community to electric bikes which are now widely used for commuting, leisure riding, trail riding and for the all around enjoyment of bicycling.
J: Speak briefly about the E-Bike that you are contributing to Trailnet’s upcoming raffle (winner to be announced at the 2023 Paving the Way Soiree)
B: The bike we have donated to Trailnet this year is a Pedego Avenue. Since this model was introduced a year ago, it has become the number one selling Pedego Electric bike. The Avenue utilizes a “hybrid style” frame that is familiar to everyone and is a great bike for riding and commuting on streets and paved trails. It is quality-designed, lightweight and balanced. Like all Pedego Electric Bikes, it comes with a 5 year warranty that includes the electrical components. Everyone loves this bike.
For the third year, Trailnet is releasing a first quarter Crash Report, which compares the number of bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicular crashes from January 2023 to March 2023 to the same time period in 2022 within the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County.
There are a few trends worth noting:
12 people were injured while walking or biking on Grand Blvd in the City of St. Louis in Q1.
Gravois Ave was the next highest crash corridor in the City. 8 people walking were injured. There were zero fatalities on Gravois in Q1.
A new high crash corridor emerged in St. Louis County. Clayton Rd, which was not a top crash corridor in either of our last two annual reports, has already been the site of three crashes in the County.
The Governors Highway Safety Association recently reported that, in 2022, the nation notched its highest number of pedestrian deaths since 1981. In St. Louis those numbers have continued to rise in 2023, with crashes in most categories increasing or holding steady in Q1.
The City of St. Louis’ BB120 funding has focused some of its attention on Trailnet’s previously-named high-crash corridors, which is a good start. We want to acknowledge the City for dedicating resources to this epidemic. Trailnet looks forward to learning more about how we can support the design and review of these infrastructure plans to help expedite the process towards construction.
In addition, we encourage both City and County officials to supplement infrastructure improvements with more urgent measures, including quick-build solutions, equitably implemented traffic enforcement and improved drivers education.
Trailnet will continue tracking this crash data—and regional leaders’ response to traffic violence— throughout 2023.
BB#86 would have unfairly targeted pedestrians, residents with disabilities, unhoused people and other vulnerable road users.
On Tuesday evening, the St. Louis County Council sustained County Executive Dr. Sam Page’s veto of County Council BB#86. This bill, introduced by Councilmember Trakas, would have made it “unlawful for any person to walk or otherwise move along and upon, stand upon, or sit in an adjacent roadway,” where sidewalks are provided.
Trailnet wishes to thank the members of the County Council who voted down this bill, and in doing so, protected the interests of people walking, people with disabilities, people using mobility devices, runners and all others who are forced to make strategic decisions with every step they take along our unsafe streets and sidewalks.
We also acknowledge and thank the many advocates—both individuals and organizations—who collaborated with us in writing to councilmembers and the County Executives’ office, strongly objecting to BB#86. While we did not know many of you before this effort, we have bonded over our joint commitment to the idea that people ought to be able to move as necessary to get to their destinations safely.
Trailnet recommends the County Executive and Council reopen the County’s 2019 Action Plan for Walking and Biking to address some of the issues Councilmember Trakas discussed. In addition, although it is outdated, the County passed a Complete Streets Ordinance in 2014 which sets out the general principles for accommodating all users when streets are designed, maintained or repaired. Together both of these documents provide a good starting point for discussions on pedestrian, sidewalk and road safety.
Again, our thanks to the many partners and we look forward to future collaborations.
Bike to Work Day is back this year! Metro Transit, Trailnet and our partners are hosting hospitality stations across the region where bike commuters can stop and refuel on their way to the office! Click here to see the current location of commuter stations. We will add more so check back for updates!
Imagine being able to move around our city without needing a car. What if you could bike, walk and take public transit to all the places you need to go?
Join us for a free, family-friendly celebration and show of support for a car-free or car-light lifestyle.
This joyful bike parade will demonstrate the demand for multi-modal transportation options while showcasing the infrastructure and amenities we have in place currently. Stay after the ride for a resource fair where you can learn about how to get around St. Louis without a car and how you can stay involved in the movement for Streets for All!
In the heart of National Bike Month, Trailnet is hosting our second FREE public screening of The Street Project—an inspiring documentary about the global, citizen-led fight to make our streets safer.
This event will take place at the SLPL Central Library Downtown from 6-8 pm on Wednesday, May 10.
We will air the full 52-minute documentary followed by a panel on the state of our streets in the St. Louis region. More details to come. Pre-register today: https://runsignup.com/TicketEvent/TheStreetProject
Trailnet and our partners strongly recommend that St. Louis County officials avoid taking steps in the wrong direction in 2023. Instead, we encourage the County to work with us to develop strategies that keep the safety and interests of vulnerable road users at the forefront.
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.
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.
Regular Trailnet riders will recognize the name 4TheVille—the 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:
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.
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.
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.
