Improving The Walk From Transit To Mall
Recently I went to the St. Louis Galleria, two days in a row. Both days I took MetroLink light rail to arrive, the mall is only a short distance from the station.
But the short distance seems long because of the physical design of the space along Galleria Parkway. The sidewalk needs to be 2-3 times as wide to handle the steady flow of people coming and going. I snapped the above in one of the moments between an arriving train full of shoppers.
The solution I propose is for the property owner on the right to create a 2-story structure with street-level storefronts facing a new tree-lined sidewalk.  Add on-street parking to serve the storefronts and to narrow the excessive width of the roadway. The new structure would create a better feel on the now-isolated sidewalk.
Later this month I will look specifically at access to the Galleria.
– Steve Patterson
Great concept, Steve. I also think the absurd lack of accessibility of the Brentwood/I-64 MetroLink station from the surrounding shopping centers should be the focus of a future post (or maybe it already has?)… Better yet, I think it's time we start an organized email and letter campaign to businesses in the shopping centers to demand better pedestrian access to the train station. We have accepted this ridiculousness for too long, and it's almost as infuriating as the empty Ballpark Village site in my opinion.
Agreed.
Access to the east at the Brentwood station is about as good as it can get, given that the station is below grade and the shopping center was built before light rail. One hint – you can get to Best Buy and Sports Authority by cutting through the lower-level parking garage, under both stores.
Access to the west sucks because that's what the adjacent property owner demanded – they were concerned that commuters would park in their surface parking lot, instead of using the Metrolink garage. Can it be changed/improved? Yes. Will it happen? Not anytime soon. Metro won't/can't pay for it, and Dierberg's will a) need to be convinced of the value, and b) find the dollars to do it.
My pet peeve is at the Clayton Station, where steps from the west end of the platform, down to Brentwood Boulevard, were value-engineerd out, adding 3 blocks of travel distance if you want to head west or south.
In all three cases, 20/20 hindsight does little good. To see better results requires being involved from day one, identifying potential issues and advocating for better solutions. Once a project is “done”, whether it's in the public or private sector, it takes a lot more to “fix” something than to do it right in the first place.
I took this route last month, from the train to the mall and walked around outside to meet someone at Macy's. I should have stayed on the sidewalk on Brentwood but instead took my life into my hands. There is NO pedestrian access through the parking lot…sidewalks from this street and Brentwood just come to an abrupt end. I wound up walking through the mulched medians to stay out of the road, but I realize that is far from an option for people with mobility issues and parents w/ kids in strollers.
There is ONE pedestrian connection to the mall if your willing to walk to the former Mark Shale store on the Galleria's north side, but who wants to do that from MetroLink?
I partially covered the issue on my blog last year:
http://www.gatewaystreets.org/2009/08/mall-inac…
I try to avoid doing business in the Brentwood Promenade shopping center because it is just so dangerous to get there from the Metrolink station. Were there good access, I would shop there frequently. The access is absolutely a joke. My last trip I needed to shop at Petsmart. Neither going the front way or the back way is safe. Either way, you are walking on the road with no shoulders and competing with heavy traffic.
I just wonder why Metro can't do something about this. Metro made a big investment to put the station there, with absolutely no positive response from the shopping center or the city of Brentwood. Metro should have got some kind of committment from Brentwood before investing in this stop.
Metro “can't do something about this” because it's not their job. Land use falls to the city and the adjacent property owners; Metro builds and operates a transit system, they're not in the development business, nor should they be.
Your photo is a bit deceptive, since the new Boulevard project hugs the other side of the street. (Is it great, no, but it is better.)
The University Club Building has been there for 25 years, and for the first 20+, the only reason to use Galleria Parkway was to access the Inner Belt; there really was no reason to walk along it. Opening the Metrolink Station changed things, drastically, for pedestrians. Those steps are a recent addition, and reflect the change in use, and are not meant to be permanent – from 2/2/07: “Now the University Club Tower and the Galleria shopping mall are about to get some company. Three companies are planning a $150 million hotel and retail project along Brentwood Boulevard right next to the Tower. The project calls for two hotels, 30,000 square feet of retail space, and parking for more than 600 cars.” One hotel is done, and, apparently, the economy has put a hold on the rest of the plans . . .
I think their is some confusion. JZ71, your talking about the Brentwood station that has access to Best Buy/Office complex & the new Metro parking garages where as Steve is talking about the Richmond Station that gives you access to the Galleria.
Steve, I believe Sansone is the developer of the property you have pictured. Their propose plan has stalled. Sadly, I think they had another strip mall/box store at this corner. Was hoping for a nice office and ground retail complex to compliment University Tower. I also pictured a green roof park on top of the parking garages as the plan included another hotel at Brentwood & Clayton corners as well as an additional parking garage. I think it would be great to see more county office/mixed use/TOD development on the cross county line before another free standing office building or a newer strip mall on greenfield property. But that is more wishful thinking than anything
Pedestrian friendly — NOT! Try it with snow & ice on the ground.
“Later this month I will look specifically at access to the Galleria.”
I haven't ready any and it's October 5th.
Good point. I was back again to confirm a few things and get some more pics. Soon.