St. Louis is taking sustainability to the streets – literally. In a test program, the city redesigned the streetscape of six blocks on South Grand Boulevard. The redevelopment of the street is to create a more sustainable community – results benefitting the social, economy, and environmental character. The updates include: fewer lanes and shorter crosswalk distances (social), slower traffic which may then stop to shop rather than just drive through (economy), and at least half of the surfaces are porous (environmental). The 30-day testing was successful and will now be followed by the upgrading of four more city streets. The intention is to eventually use this model in other communities.
South Grand, the test site, is a busy street lined with restaurants and shops. But traffic, signage, and aging infrastructure are a problem. Drivers routinely speed, and the street saw 80 accidents and one pedestrian death in the first eight months of 2009. Alderman Jennifer Florida, whose ward includes the west side of the street, points out that one major intersection has no cues at all for pedestrians to cross.
Tags: economy, environment, society, st. louis, streetscape