Cardinals Traffic a Nightmare
Tonight I was biking home from downtown as thousands of people were leaving downtown en mass. Tons of cars all leaving parking garages heading for the interstate highway. I’m sure some spent money before the game and some spent money afterwards. But most of these were just clogging the street with their SUVs and polluting our air.
Funny, as they were gridlocked in their own mess I was able to bike past them. I’m sure I made it home sooner than many of them.
We are getting a new baseball stadium because hosting thousands of people for these games are supposed to be a good thing for the city. I’m not convinced. They should have built the stadium in Illinois or near Earth City. It would have given us a chance to repair our downtown.
– Steve
Downtown traffic would be a great topic for a thread of its own.
It’s easy to get out of downtown most anytime, if you head west or north on the surface streets.
The drivers that try to cram onto Memorial Drive or Hwy 40 at the earliest possible point are the ones causing the problems.
Thursday, with Memorial Drive already shut down in the north bound direction by the Arch in preparation for the VP Fair, traffic gridlocked with drivers not knowing what to do. It made me wonder if my “Close Memorial Drive” plan was doomed a certain death.
But then last nite, around 5:20 PM, with Memorial Drive now closed in *both* directions, and a Cardinal game starting in a short while, there were NO traffic problems around the Old Court House.
Commute traffic was probably a little less due to the 4th of July holiday, but Memorial Drive was closed in both directions, a Cardinal night game was getting ready to start, which is usually enough by itself to mess up traffic, and traffic at 5:20 pm was flowing smoothly. And, incidentally, there were noticeably more pedestrians than usual…
Free downtown! Close Memorial Drive!
RB
[REPLY – as is often the case I take the opposite view of Rick. To me the trouble downtown is not Memorial drive but I-70. Close I-70 and remake Memorial drive into a tree lined boulevard not unlike the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Funny story that I failed to mention in the post. Traffic on Washington heading East was at a standstill. Some guy literally ran a red light from Northbound 7th trying to turn Westbound on Washington. He was sitting in the Eastbound lanes because he couldn’t see if any traffic was coming from the East. That what he gets for running a red light! Anyway, as I biked behind his car (the right lane was clear) I slammed my left hand down on the back of his trunklid. I’m sure it gave him a shock. BTW, don’t do such things unless you are an experienced cyclist and you know the driver can’t easily turn around and run you down. – Steve]
Steve-
It doesn’t sound like you’re completely disagreeing with me…you’re noting a problem with downtown drivers converging eastbound, headed towards Memorial Drive, while westbound traffic moves with ease.
Comparing Memorial Drive with the Champs-Elysees is a stretch. Doesn’t the Champs-Elysees connect some landmark points in Paris? Memorial Drive connects highway entrances.
I never said I thought the depressed lanes weren’t a problem, noisy and unsightly as they are, but it’s the traffic on Memorial Drive that cuts pedestrians off from the Riverfront/Arch Grounds and the rest of downtown.
As an urbanist, I agree with you on maintaining an open street grid for maximum access through neighborhoods. However, the purpose of Memorial Drive is not to serve neighborhoods, it’s mainly to serve highway approaches to Illinois, points north, or south county.
At Memorial Drive between the Arch and the Old Court House, we subordinate the safety and convenience of pedestrians (at arguably one of the most interesting and popular areas for pedestrians in the entire metro area), to the interest of drivers maintaining easier highway access.
RB