Newsgram

HEAL Partnership to hold final traffic-calming demonstration with Mayor Slay

The last of four fall traffic-calming demonstrations will take place in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood on Tuesday, November 10, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The HEAL Partnership will demonstrate innovative ways to create safer streets for people walking and biking. City of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay will help kickoff the demonstration at 8:30 a.m., which takes place on three streets surrounding one neighborhood block: Sheridan Avenue, Thomas Avenue, and Garrison Avenue. Slay will meet with residents and partners at the corner of Garrison Avenue and Sheridan Avenue and will take a brief tour of the site. This final demonstration will be the largest of the four—taking up three-quarters of a city block—and will be the only one to feature a neighborhood traffic circle, or neighborhood roundabout. 

The Missouri American Planning Association (MO APA) received a grant for community engagement activities through the American Planning Association and American Public Health Association's Plan4Health program. MO APA provided implementation funds to Trailnet, a member organization of the Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) Partnership. Trailnet is one of the many partners within the HEAL Partnership and is leading the demonstrations.Trailnet is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to lead in fostering healthy, active, and vibrant communities where walking, bicycling and the use of public transit are a way of life. 

The HEAL Partnership is a coalition of more than 40 St. Louis area organizations convened by the City of St. Louis Department of Health that are committed to addressing obesity and related chronic diseases in the City of St. Louis. Made up of five work groups and a Leadership Team, the HEAL Partnership works with Department of Health staff and builds strategic partnerships to identify and implement policies and programs that will improve the health of City residents for years to come.

The objective of the Plan4Health grant is to present a vision for connectivity and safer streets for people walking in the City of St. Louis. The grant provided funds to hire four local Community Champions to assist Trailnet and the HEAL Partnership with community engagement in each of the four pilot neighborhoods. These Community Champions worked with Trailnet and the HEAL Partnership to create pop-up traffic calming demonstrations to improve walkability, reduce speeding, and highlight ways to build better streets through traffic-calming strategies.

The partnership works to increase access to physical activity opportunities, healthy eating, and increase access to health care to reduce the rate of obese and overweight people in the City of St. Louis—a goal of the Mayor's Sustainability Action Agenda.

As part of the Plan4Health St. Louis project, the HEAL Partnership has worked with local experts to create a variety of tools that can be used for temporary demonstrations for traffic calming. These tools, which have already been used for pop-up demonstrations in Dutchtown, The Ville and Greater Ville, and Carondelet, will make up St. Louis' traffic calming library.

"We want our communities to have the best street design that can serve all residents," said Marielle Brown, Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Manager with Trailnet. "Grandparents, parents, and children should be able to walk to the park or local grocery store together and feel safe doing so because streets are designed with pedestrians in mind." 

Through pop-up demonstrations, the HEAL Partnership aims to facilitate a culture shift toward designing streets that encourage walking. The demonstrations will give residents, policymakers, and businesses the chance to experience traffic-calming measures that improve quality of life. In the City of St. Louis, more than one-quarter (27%) of residents report no leisure-time physical activity. While 80% of city residents live within a mile of a public park, poor pedestrian access in some areas may prevent regular park use.

The City of St. Louis recently bolstered its Complete Streets policy, and has been actively involved in planning the pop up demonstrations. The Plan4Health project will explore and present new street designs that could be used to implement the updated Complete Streets policy.

Deanna Venker, Commissioner of Traffic with the City of St. Louis said, "We are looking forward to having this library of tools that will allow communities to 'test out' certain traffic-calming options for their community and see the results before a more permanent installation is constructed."

"Planners throughout Missouri are working to make our communities healthier for all residents," said Shannon Jaax, president of the Missouri Chapter of the American Planning Association. "The Plan4Health grant is a tremendous opportunity to put best practices into action through demonstration projects that can then be replicated throughout the state."

The City of St. Louis continues to be designated as a Pedestrian Focus City by the Federal Highway Administration because of a high number of pedestrian fatalities. The traffic calming demonstrations and other efforts of the HEAL Partnership will help prioritize pedestrian safety and potentially lead to long-term regional projects in the future.

 "This is an exciting new opportunity to improve the health of our communities through diverse partnerships," said Anna Ricklin, manager of APA's Planning and Community Health Center. "Collaboration is key if we want to continue to create communities of lasting value that are equitable and healthy for all residents."

Forest ReLeaf of Missouri provided trees for the demonstrations, which lined many of the traffic calming features. Martin Pion of Conservion provided a speed cushion—a low, wide speed hump—for use in one of the demonstrations as well. The St. Louis Board of Public Service and the St. Louis Streets Department approved site plans for the demonstrations, offered advice on site plans for each focus area, and moved existing traffic calming features on Thomas Street to a location better suited for traffic-calming.

The Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Partnership members include: Trailnet, the City of St. Louis (Health and Streets Departments), Missouri Chapter of the American Planning Association, Missouri Public Health Association, Missouri Foundation for Health, Great Rivers Greenway, Gateway Greening, GirlTrek, The YMCA of Greater St. Louis, Washington University, Saint Louis University, Paraquad, and American Heart Association.

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