“Do you have any change?” Most of us have been approached by a homeless person asking for money.
The poll this week asks how you respond when asked for money. Next week when I present the poll results I’ll have some expert views on the subject. In the meantime please vote and share your thoughts below.
– Steve Patterson
The City of St. Louis had already cleared 40 city blocks of the riverfront before the competition was held that resulted in Eero Saarinen’s Arch. The city’s oldest buildings and street grid were lost in the process. All that remains are old photos, maps, drawings and the Old Cathedral. Tomorrow the National Park Service opens a new exhibit focusing on what was lost:
“(St. Louis, MO)- Jefferson National Expansion Memorial will host a special exhibit from St. Louis artist Sheila Harris at the Old Courthouse from Feb. 14 through Aug. 22, 2010. Created especially for the memorial, the exhibit consists of nearly 40 watercolor paintings of buildings that once stood on the Arch grounds. The exhibit will launch with an artisit’s reception on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m.
While the exhibit is on display at the Old Courthouse, Harris will discuss and demonstrate her technique during several scheduleded appearances. A schedule of the appearances can be found online at www.nps.gov/jeff.
Photos and maps will also be on display. Anyone who loves St. Louis’ history should see this exhibit.
– Steve Patterson
For a while now myself and like minded individuals have been pushing the concept of removing a mile stretch of what is currently marked as I-70. This stretch runs from the Poplar Street Bridge and Cass Avenue, creating a barrier between the city and the Mississippi River to the East.
Once the new Mississippi River Bridge opens in 2014 this stretch of road will only serve local traffic. A tree-lined roadway would better serve the needs of the city. In a few days we will get the chance to see what life without this stretch of highway might be like:
ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and its contractor Fred Weber, Inc., are scheduling two weekend closures of Interstate 70 in St. Louis City in February to knock down two bridges over the interstate.
The department will close the interstate, and all ramps, between the Poplar Street Bridge and St. Louis Avenue.
MoDOT currently plans to close the interstate the weekend of February 5-8 to knock down the Cass Avenue Bridge and close the interstate the weekend of February 19-22 to remove the Madison Street bridge, weather permitting. The interstate will close at 8 p.m. on each Friday and will be reopened no later than 5 a.m. on the following Monday for each weekend closure. The work is being done in conjuction with constructing the New Mississippi River Bridge to relocate I-70 across the Mississippi River.
Additionally, the department will close I-70 reversible lanes on February 3 and keep them closed until late April to allow crews to construct the middle portion of the Madison Street Bridge over the interstate.
To get around the interstate closure, drivers must use a combination of Broadway Street, Washington Avenue and Memorial Drive. The detour around the work will be marked. However, since much of the detour is on roads with signals, drivers should make every effort to avoid the area, if possible.
“If people don’t use alternate routes to travel to downtown, the detour for the I-70 work will take a long time,” said Gregory Horn, P.E., project director for the Mississippi River Bridge project. “We are encouraging people to avoid the area by using other routes. For example, people can use the Chain of Rocks Bridge on I-270 or the Jefferson Barracks Bridge on I-255 to get between Missouri and Illinois, use I-270 to get around St. Louis County, or use I-64 to get into downtown St. Louis.”
An estimated 70,000 vehicles travel on I-70 through downtown St. Louis each weekend.
Here is the official map of the detour:
Furthermore:
MoDOT to close reversible lanes to build Madison Street bridge
(Department plans to close reversible lanes for two months)
ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and its contractor Fred Weber, Inc., will close the Interstate 70 reversible lanes February 3 for two months as part of constructing the Madison Street bridge over the interstate.
Closing the reversible lanes will help crews construct the middle support structures needed for the
bridge.
The work is being done in conjunction with constructing the new Mississippi River Bridge to relocate I-70 across the Mississippi River.
After the lanes reopen in late April, they will remain open until about mid-June before MoDOT crews need to close them for another six weeks to construct the St. Louis Avenue bridge.
Interestingly the reversible lanes haven’t reversed in more than a year. These two center lanes of I-70 were originally Eastbound the morning and Westbound in the afternoon. But for a while they have been Eastbound 24/7.
So we will soon see the impact on traffic as it is detoured on weekends.
– Steve Patterson
Like so many new buildings in the city/region, the new Crown Food Mart at Jefferson & Clark was being constructed without any connection to the public sidewalk network. This was the construction site in late September 2009:
The lack of an ADA route is no different than most of their other recent stations. But rather than wait until complete to complain, I decided to see if I could make a difference to change the construction. I contacted the city’s ADA commissioner and 6th ward Alderman Kacie Starr Triplett. Ald. Triplett was the first to respond and it wasn’t long before she forwarded me a revised drawing the owner had sent her.
As I had suggested, the solution was to include a ramp at the end of the sidewalk at the front of the station and a bit of concrete between the parking lot and sidewalk. None of the concrete work had been started so the change was minor.
Is this ideal? Hardly. Ideally the building would be at the corner of the property so pedestrians could easily enter. The gas islands would be located behind the building, rather than out front.
As you can the building has zero relationship to the street it faces, Jefferson. The ADA route is to the left of the building connecting pedestrians along Clark. But anyone approaching the building on foot from Jefferson will face this vast expanse of pavement between them and the business. Those of foot might be employees at UPS or guests at the hotel across Jefferson & I-64.
I had suggested a sidewalk be run down this side of the parking area and then have it connected to the building’s front walk as done on the other side. Clearly that didn’t happen. I got the minimum — by asking beforehand. I do think if the city asked developers to include a minimum ADA access route so those in wheelchairs have a way to access a business from the public sidewalk they’d do it. Before the concrete is poured it is no big deal.
I want to have our city codes embrace walkability. They should require such a route from each street the property borders. In this case, they would be required to have a sidewalk connecting to Jefferson. Eventually they will realize if the building is closer to both streets the sidewalk is either much shorter or completely unnecessary because the building entrance is directly on the public sidewalk.
– Steve Patterson
Light can be an effective tool to draw a crowd. Projection of 3D light would amaze a huge crowd. Just such an idea from Vilnius, Lithuania (aerial map), would be perfect in St. Louis:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtuW1S0M7aY
Direct link to video on YouTube
We have many places downtown that would make ideal subjects for such a light show.
Old Court House:
Old Post Office:
Civil Courts:
Soldiers Memorial:
Hat tip to Michelle Swatek, Executive Director of AIA St. Louis, for bring this concept to my attention.
– Steve Patterson