I love outdoor seating, see Lunch Al Fresco from last month, but I also think public sidewalks should remain passable. Achieving both requires effort to create an ideal balance. When the downtown grocery store Culinaria first opened in August 2009 there was a good balance, but over time the walkability was sacrificed in favor of twice as many tables & chairs. Take a look:
When Culinaria opened in August 2009 bikes were the biggest obstacle on the sidewalkThere was even a nice planter.Over the years the number of tables & chairs doubled! The remaining sidewalk was so narrow people had to walk single file the entire city block. Photo from June 2013In November 2013 the tables & chairs were pushed aside for winter, not done in prior winters. The sidewalk was again clear. except for the occasional bike perpendicular to the curb.On the afternoon of March 18, 2014 I spotted the chairs pulled back out like they’d been in prior years. Thirty minutes later I emailed this plc to the new store manager, starting a dialog.On April 4th the many tables were still being pulled out too farApril 10th, our dialog continuedBy April 16th nearly half the tables & chairs were removed and placed on pallets along the Locust Street sideApril 24th there were fewer tables & chairs but they were still using the same amount of sidewalkThis May 2nd photo shows the tables & chairs still taking up nearly as much space as a bikeMay 6th no improvement in the sidewalk, but the manager says they’ve received compliments for reducing the number of tables & chairs
I was glad to see fewer tables, but I knew they could be arranged better. Also, the remaining tables were the larger round tables that seat four, the smaller rectangle tables for two were gone. I think I’ve convinced them to remove a couple more round tables and bring back four of the rectangular tables. This will give another option for customers while maintaining the same seat count. The seating area, and sidewalk, are now more generous and comfortable for everyone.
Yesterday the round tables were positioned as we discussed. The 4 rectangular tables weren’t yet added back as of yesterday.
It was a year ago that CPI Corp shuttered all of its US portrait studios, leaving most of the downtown workforce without a job. I’ve kept an eye on the company since moving downtown, as I look up from my screen as I type this post I can see the former CPI HQ building outside my window.
In December 2008 the lot was generally full, as seen from our balconyThe view from a neighbors balcony at 4:30pm in November 2009In 2012 their surface parking east of CPI’s building, shown in the background, was still pretty full each dayTuesday April 14, 2013 @1:45pm is was nearly vacant
The lot was vacant for a while but over the last year more and more area residents began parking there, a nearby restaurant valet used the lot on weekends, etc. It got used, but nobody collected any revenue. CPI Corp had sold their building & lot prior to shutting down so I knew it had to be just a matter of time until the owner decided to collect from everyone using the parking lot.
A a couple of weeks ago St. Louis Parking began putting this flyer on cars, effective Monday April 28th they’d be charging $5/day.
An honor box was installed on the NW corner near 17th & Washington AveA sign placed in one spot along St. Charles St., few paying customers so farAnd naturally, a sign blocking the narrow sidewalk I use along the west side of 16th St.
It would’ve been easy to go around the sign, but not if someone parked in the adjacent space. Using my power wheelchair I pushed the sign into the adjacent space then I sent this pic to a few officials, and posted on Twitter & Facebook. Hopefully St. Louis Parking won’t place this sign on the sidewalk again. One response brought up a very good question:
Off topic, but isn’t there now a rule requiring pay lots to supply an attendant or have a locked fence to prevent car break-ins? Does that not invalidate honor boxes? http://www.stltoday.com/…/article_a546ebc4-a261-11e0…
To reduce car break ins, the City of St. Louis has implemented common-sense regulations for parking lots. These rules are designed to make parking lots safer and more secure.
“Our City –especially Downtown –is the hub of our region’s activity,” said Mayor Francis G. Slay. “Hundreds of thousands of people come to our City for festivals, sporting events, concerts, and other events. They should know that their car will be secure while they are having fun.”
The City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD), worked together to create new public parking lot rules. The highlights are: • Parking lots shall be attended by an employee when in operation; and • Parking lot attendants shall be educated by the SLMPD; and • Parking lots shall be secured when not in operation.
The City of St. Louis Building Division will grant waivers to parking lots that have demonstrated they are safe and secure. These waivers will be reviewed periodically.
“Waivers will only be given to specific lots that historically have been safe places to leave a vehicle,” said Frank Oswald, Building Commissioner. “My staff will work with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to ensure that we are giving waivers to only those lots without problems.”
The SLMPD will coach parking lot attendants on how to spot suspicious activity, and has vowed to be available to quickly respond to parking lot calls for service.
“These attendants will act as an extra pair of eyes for the SLMPD,” said Mayor Slay. “And our hope is that their watchfulness will give the SLMPD a greater chance to catch car clouters in the act, and to make our City even safer.” The City of St. Louis has implemented new parking lot regulations to reduce break-ins per Building Commissioner’s Order #1001. The Building Division will grant waivers to parking lots that have proven to be safe and secure.
For more information or to apply for a waiver please call the Office of the Building Commissioner at (314) 622-3318.
Since this lot lacks an attendant or any fencing to restrict use to the daytime, I assume it was granted a waiver. Which is interesting because this lot, and the one at 16th & Locust, are well known spots for car break-ins and/or robberies/assaults. I’ve emailed the building commissioner asking about waivers, I haven’t heard back yet.
Rain gardens are an environmentally-friendly way to handle water runoff, rain water runs into an area where it gets absorbed into the soil. Well, assuming the water doesn’t get blocked.
Visual evidence of standing water at opening to this rain garden on Tucker
The newly rebuilt North Tucker Boulevard has numerous rain gardens, but unfortunately many are like the one shown above — not able to function as designed because too much mulch blocks the water.
Decades ago traffic engineers converted many downtown St. Louis streets from two-way traffic to one-way traffic, 9th & 10th going north & south, respectively. The 9th/10th couplet extended north to I-70, basically serving as very long on/off ramps, cutting through the Columbus Square neighborhood. Today the former Cochran Gardens high-rise public housing project is gone, replaced with mixed income apartments. The 1980s Columbus Square condos and townhouses are still nice, the neighborhood is generally pleasant and safe. Despite the fact that 9th & 10th are no longer connected to I-70, they remain very wide one-way streets, undermining the positive investment in the area.
Looking south at 9th from CassThe St. Louis Housing Authority owns this retail building on 9th at Cass, one-way streets as a freeway on ramp aren’t good for neighborhood retail businesses.Most streets perpendicular to 9th/10th have a nice neighborhood scale. This is New Haven Ct.Looking north on 9th from O’Fallon St, lanes aren’t marked but wide enough for at least 3Looking north on 10th St from O’Fallon St, just as wide and useless as 9thLooking north on 9th from Cole
Looking south at 9th from Cole St., the dividing line between downtown and the Columbus Square neighborhoodLooking north at Cole St & 10th St
I’d like to see 9th & 10th be two-way all the way through downtown, but that’s more complicated with garage entrances/exits. signals, etc. But from Cole St. to Cass Ave it would be very simple, just some changes to the signals at Cole & Cass, the rest is signs and paint.
We ran these long on/off ramps through this neighborhood for decades, now we need to do the right thing and make 9th & 10th neighborhood streets again!
In 2009 I was part of a Partnership for Downtown St. Louis committee looking at parking downtown, including areas where on-street would be beneficial for helping retail businesses and their customers. On November 12, 2009 @ 6:34am I emailed the following to Director of Streets Todd Waelterman, copied to 7th ward alderman Phyllis Young:
Todd, I was delighted to see the addition of on-street parking on 10th & Olive recently. I emailed Patrice but I haven’t heard back from her yet.
Another area where there is an immediate need for on-street parking is the North side of Washington Ave between 11th and Tucker. The curb lane is hardly used for traffic. In this block there are now more businesses than ever. Copia is expected to reopen so when they resume valet that will take away spaces used by the general public.
The East side of Tucker between St. Charles and Wash Ave is very wide. There is room for on street parking here as well.
On 11th at Wash Ave there are two polls from what used to be metered spaces. For some reason they are no parking now. I see no logistical reason for these not to have parking.
These three spots could add 12-15 more spots in this area. The parking would help all the businesses in the area and have no real impact on traffic flow.
Please ask your staff to look into allowing meters to be added to these areas.
Thanks, Steve
To my surprise he replied less than an hour later @ 7:18am:
Thanks for your ideas. These areas will be utilized for turn movements when tucker is complete.
Todd Waelterman City of St Louis Director of Streets 314-647-3111
Young never replied. I dropped the subject, waiting for the rebuild of Tucker to be completed and the new I-70 bridge to open. Since the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge opened to traffic on February 9th, 2014 I think it’s time to revisit these areas as candidates for on-street parking. Let’s take a look at these three separate areas, all located within a block of each other:
The three areas where on-street parking would help businesses and improve walkability by creating a fixed barrier between traffic and pedestrians. Original aerial from Apple Maps.
A) North Side of Washington Ave from 11th to Tucker (12th)
This block of westbound traffic is very odd. Both of the blocks before and after have one westbound travel lane and one parking lane. Yes, city staff seem to think the entire right lane for the full length of the block needs to be a right turn only lane.
This view is from Saturday, but the weekday rush hour is similar, the through lane has 5-6 vehicles each cycle but the right turn lane has few if any cars.Occasionally a car or two will park illegally in the block-long turn lane. This isn’t really a problem because not many going west on Washington Ave want to turn right to go north on Tucker
Sure, leave room before the crosswalk for a couple of cars to get into the right lane to turn northbound on Tucker, but park cars from the Flamingo Bowl to Empire Deli.
B) East Side of Tucker from St. Charles to Washington Ave
The short distance from St. Charles (a named alley) to Washington Ave is far more complicated, not easily resolved.
b
Looking south from the crosswalk crossing Tucker at Washington Ave we see space crossed out between the left turn land and two through lanes. The Meridian bldg (left) has a vacant storefront space facing Tucker, all facing Washington Ave are leased.Looking north from St. Charles we see the vast amount of asphalt, the bus stop should remainBriefly in May 2013 this was to be a valet stand instead of on Washington Ave. The experiment lasted a week or two but the signs are still up nearly a year later.
What’s complicated about this block is northbound Tucker traffic goes from three through lanes down to just two on the new section north of Washington Ave. As I’ve said last August, the new Tucker Blvd streetscape needs to be continued from Washington Avenue to Spruce Street. In the meantime Tucker could get a restripe road diet. But a left turn lane is needed onto Washington Ave., the current concrete median is getting in the way of aligning lanes better. The easy short-term solution is to remove the median from Locust to Washington Ave.
C) 11th Street at Washington Ave
This is the easiest of all three, just put meters back on the two poles where they once were.
Throughout downtown 11th Street is an annoying one-way street, at least parking is allowed on both sides much of the way, including between St. Charles and Washington Ave.But for some reason two meters were removed long ago, the polls remain.
As you can see the left lane is a left-turn lane. I can’t think of any reason why these two spots should not be returned to use as on-street parking.
I’ll be emailing this post to various official in the hope of getting some quick action on two out of three of these (A & C).
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