A team of Spire volunteers constructed an all new walking and biking path on the property of Bayless Elementary School this summer!
The project was the result of a collaboration between Trailnet, Spire and Bayless Schools, funded by Spire Serves and carried out by volunteers through Spire’s Day for Good program.
The trail will connect the surrounding neighborhood with the school and provide awesome opportunities for bike education and recreation for Bayless students.
“We love opportunities like this,” said George Godat, Vice President and General Manager MoEast at Spire. “We provide opportunities for our employees to do a day of good in the community each year, and we also have dollars that we put into the community. Trailnet was able to apply for some funds from our Spire Serves program. We gave them $10,000 to provide the materials and labor, then our team came out and got to work. It was the perfect partnership for us and something we’re really excited about.”
Thanks to the Spire Team for cranking out a beautiful path that will result in years of recreation and bike education for our young neighbors!
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.
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.
Trailnet is holding a public webinar to discuss findings from the 2022 Crash Report. The webinar will cover crash trends for St. Louis City and County during 2022 and include a Q&A section with Trailnet staff on the Report.
Trailnet’s 2022 Crash Report reviews a year rife with traffic violence and proposes solutions for the St. Louis region.
Last year, 173 people were killed and 14,930 people injured in traffic crashes in St. Louis City and County.
In the City of St. Louis, 78 total people died as a result of traffic violence—the second-most fatalities in any year on record, and more than double the number of traffic fatalities in the City a decade ago.
In St. Louis County, the number of pedestrian fatalities over a three-year span from 2020-2022 was up 228% from 2010-2012.
These and other key findings are part of Trailnet’s “2022 St. Louis City and County Crash Report.” This report is a snapshot and analysis of traffic violence in the region and lays out recommendations for local leaders to better address these tragedies.
“This data reinforces the already-clear link between poorly-designed roads, high speeds and deadly conditions for people outside of cars,” said Sam McCrory, Trailnet’s Community Planner and the primary author of the report. “Last year, City leaders finally committed to long-term solutions, but we also need immediate responses across the region. We cannot continue waiting around for change while people die on our streets.”
“We’re focused first and foremost on the needs and safety of people walking, biking, and using transit, but these crashes can affect everyone and ripple through our community,” said Cindy Mense, Trailnet’s CEO. “The human toll of these crashes is immeasurable.”
The report is based on data from the Missouri Statewide Traffic Accident Records System, which catalogs crash information from law enforcement agencies across the state.
In addition to reporting crash data, this year’s report features a new section for fatal crash reviews. These reviews analyze the context and roadway conditions of specific crash sites from five crashes in 2022. Each analysis is followed by a series of recommendations to prevent future deaths, including: reducing dangerous driver behavior through street design, improving safety near bus stops and reimagining our most car-centric corridors.
Other key takeaways include:
In 2022, in the City of St. Louis, seven roads were responsible for 35% of crashes. Of those seven, Grand, Chippewa, Kingshighway, Broadway, and Gravois were responsible for 44% of pedestrian deaths. These high-crash corridors make up only 1% of the city’s road network.
In 2022, in St. Louis County, seven roads accounted for 23% of pedestrian crashes. Of those seven, St. Charles Rock Road, Page Ave, and W. Florissant were responsible for 42% of pedestrian deaths.
95% of pedestrian fatalities in St. Louis County occurred on roads marked 35 MPH or higher
84% of pedestrian fatalities in St. Louis City & County occurred at mid-block locations
32% of fatal car crashes in St. Louis City & County occur due to Speeding Related circumstances
Former Director of The City of St. Louis Civil Rights Enforcement Agency joins our growing team!
As Policy Catalyst, Charles will lead Trailnet’s strategic policy and advocacy agenda through coalition-building, community outreach and government relations.
Charles began his career in non-profits, working in services for the unhoused in Baltimore, Maryland. After two years with Catholic Charities in Baltimore, he moved to work with the Illinois Department of Public Aid, where he oversaw federal and state grants for services for the unhoused. Eventually, he moved back to his home state of Missouri, where he worked for the Missouri Housing Development Commission as a proponent for low-income housing tax credit development for six years.
When Mayor Francis Slay was elected in 2001, he called on Charles to work as an advisor in his administration, where he was responsible for developing and implementing the overall neighborhood, ethnic and religious outreach plan for the City. During his time in City Hall, Charles worked with three mayors—as special advisor, Director of Public Safety, and for the last eight years, as the Director of the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency (CREA), enforcing federal, state and local fair housing, equal employment opportunity and public accommodation laws, rules and regulations, “a job I truly loved,” said Charles.
Charles will start with Trailnet in late June. As our new Policy Catalyst, he has one overarching goal:
“Listen. Listen to what the community is saying. Look at how our policies, procedures and practices can impact the needs of those various communities. Whether it’s black folks feeling underserved by public transit; Whether it’s the LGBTQIA+ community feeling afraid to walk in certain areas at night; Whether signage in our region adequately serves folks who speak English as a second language. The one thing I want to be able to accomplish is to listen to folks and address their needs.”
Charles currently lives downtown, a short walk from the Trailnet offices.
“I live downtown, in part, because I wanted access to public transit. Public transportation is a big deal for me, so I’m excited to see how my passion for transit can factor into this work.”
He also enjoys hiking, and he says he’s getting into biking.
“I’m in walking shape—I walk about 6.7 miles every couple of days through Forest Park—but that doesn’t mean I’m in biking shape. So I’m working on that,” he said with a smile.
We’re excited to have someone with Charles’s passion and experience join our team. Welcome!
How does St. Louis rank in comparison to other metropolitan areas in terms of pedestrian safety? Where is the most dangerous place for pedestrians in the country? Answers to these questions can be found in the most recent Dangerous by Design report, released in January by Smart Growth America.
The report has been produced for several years and identifies metropolitan areas and states that are most dangerous for people walking. The January report uses pedestrian fatality data from 2005-2014 to rank cities and states by
pedestrian deaths per 100,000 in population
a “pedestrian danger index,” calculated as the share of commuters who walk to work and the most recent data on pedestrian deaths.
Of the 104 metro areas ranked in the report, the two largest cities in Missouri, Kansas City and St. Louis, rank 45th and 52nd respectively. Florida has been the most dangerous state for pedestrians for the past four years, and it now has 8 of the top 10 most dangerous cities for pedestrians. In the past decade, over 46,000 people have been killed by motor vehicles while walking. The poor, the elderly, and people of color – those who are less likely to own cars or drive – make up a disproportionate share of the victims.
The report emphasizes that better street design will play a critical role in improving safety for people walking. Arterial roads, such as Manchester or Kingshighway in St. Louis, are particularly dangerous for pedestrians. These roads were designed for fast moving vehicles, often have sections that lack sidewalks, and have limited safe crossing opportunities for people who are walking. Arterial roads consign people traveling on foot to second-class status.
Trailnet has worked tirelessly for passage and implementation of Complete Streets policies in our region. A Complete Street is one that is designed with all users in mind: motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, the elderly, and the disabled. Making streets welcoming and safe for all users promotes active lifestyles, and helps to build communities that are vibrant, economically strong, and appealing to residents and employers.
