Metro’s Disconnect With Riders, Pedestrians

On Monday August 20, 2012 the Grand MetroBus stop and Grand MetroLink stations reopened. On the overhead speakers in all stations Metro, speaking in transit jargon, announced the Grand station was open for “revenue service.” Really Metro, revenue service?

From dictionary.com:

jar·gon [jahr-guhn, -gon] noun

1. the language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group: medical jargon.

2. unintelligible or meaningless talk or writing; gibberish.

3. any talk or writing that one does not understand.

4. pidgin.

5. language that is characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning.

What’s the big deal, so they used transit agency speak? The use of technical jargon by any business shows it doesn’t know how to communicate with its customers. If they announcement had been that Grand was “open for service” nobody would’ve  thought they didn’t have to pay since they didn’t say “revenue” before service. Metro has problems relating to those of us that use transit, largely because Metro employes drive instead of use transit.

From the joint City/Metro press release:

On Saturday the ribbon cutting was held for the Grand viaduct (bridge). 

WHERE: South end (Chouteau side) of Grand Bridge.

(VIP and media parking will be available off Papin Street.)

The public is encouraged to take the #70 Grand MetroBus or MetroLink to the Grand Station. Parking at the new Grand MetroLink Station Park-Ride lot is also an option. The lot is located at Scott Avenue and Theresa Avenue at the northeast end of the bridge.

At least they mentioned transit after parking. I took transit to the event, but not the #70 MetroBus or MetroLink. I caught the #32 just two blocks east of my loft downtown and it dropped my off right at Grand & Chouteau, much closer than the MetroLink or rerouted #70.

But the real problem is how Metro didn’t connect their new work to the city. I’ve already shared this concern with folks from Metro, some who were in agreement with me and others with the attitude that created the disconnect. Let me show you what I’m talking about.

What is there to connect to east of here? Lots actually, including a Metro facility. I doubt those who designed the station, parking lot and sidewalk ever bothered to walk around the area before starting the design. Designers must literally put themselves in the shoes of those that’ll use what they design.

I continued on Spruce to Compton. This would be a good route for people going to the Chaifetz Arena, Harris-Stowe and Sigma-Aldrich.

I took lots of pictures and some video at the Grand viaduct/bridge ribbon cutting but I’m not going to show you those. The speakers  all talked about how great it’ll be for pedestrians. True, it’s a massive improvement as I acknowledged here. I’m just furious the most basic/obvious pedestrian connection wasn’t planned for yet again.

To Metro engineers/planners/designers: Transit users are pedestrians when arriving & leaving transit stations. We come from and go in all directions. Able bodied pedestrians take the shortest route — a straight line. This isn’t complicated stuff.

— Steve Patterson

A Look At South Broadway Through The Marine Villa Neighborhood

Every city probably has a Broadway; I grew up on Broadway Ave in Oklahoma City, I’ve been to Broadway in NYC and I’ve seen traveled all of Broadway in St. Louis. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Broadway is the only road in the City of St. Louis that crosses the city limits in opposite ends, north and south.

Broadway in St. Louis varies in feel as it curves along following bends in the Mississippi River. To my eye one the mile stretch through the Marine Villa neighborhood is the most interesting. I’d driven, scootered and bicycled this mile stretch of Broadway from Keokuk St. on the south to Cherokee St on the north numerous times in my 22 years in St. Louis but recently I “walked” both sides using my power wheelchair.

Naturally my mind started thinking of ways to revitalize this corridor so this post is a look at the good, the bad, and some of what’s needed. I’ll share some of the 250+ pictures I took on Sunday August 19, 2012.

So what’s my take away? Lots of potential, lots of obstacles. Here are my recommendations, in no particular order:

1. Undertake a corridor study to take an in-depth look to inform future policy decisions (aka zoning, infill, etc).
2. Issue an RFP to replace the Schmid fountain and vacant Blockbuster Hollywood Video with a 2-3 story mixed-use structure with urban form, unless #1 above says a park at the intersection of three major streets is a good idea. I can’t imagine that being the case.
3. In the meantime remove overgrown plantings around the fountain and islands in the area. Replant with low maintenance plants that don’t get so massive.
4. Create a marketing campaign (brand identity)  for the commercial area where Broadway, Jefferson & Chippewa meet.   Get the name for this area circulated so it becomes recognizable.
5. Look at curb bulb outs or other treatments to visually narrow the roadway. Alternatively, this might be a good area to place the bike lane between the on-street parking and curb. Perhaps literally narrowing the road is a good idea, it was likely widened in the early 20th century.
6. Develop a form-based code to guide infill in vacant areas, in particular Lemp & Broadway. A free-standing McDonald’s with double drive-thru wouldn’t be desirable at that corner. But a CVS in a new multi-strory mixed-use urban building would be a nice addition in my view.
7. Look at the sidewalks, fix areas where broken or missing. Clean off other areas where grass has grown over the sidewalk in other areas. Organize monthly walks up and down the street.
8. Find a more positive use for the firehouse. Work with the Brewers & Maltster’s Union hall to the south on developing their vacant land between their hall and the firehouse.

I’m sure I’ll have many more thoughts the more I think about it. What are your thoughts? Generally negative (“location, location, location”) don’t offer any value to the dialog, constructive ways to improve the location do.

— Steve Patterson

Five Guys Adds ADA Accessible Route To Reach Former Blockbuster

Back in March I photographed the lack of an ADA accessible route from the public sidewalk to the Lindell Marketplace building that once contained a Blockbuster video rental store. For years pedestrians have had to walk in the auto driveway, risking getting hit.

I was pleasantly surprised months later when Five Guys Burgers and Fries opened in the west end of the former Blockbuster — they’d added an ADA accessible route before opening!

They had to modify the fence, pour concrete in two places and stripe the route. It was the right thing to do, it’s just refreshing to see it done without having to ask.

And yes, I stopped and had lunch there recently.

— Steve Patterson

Filling In Three Blocks Along North Tucker Boulevard

North Tucker Boulevard has been more urban than it is today. Over the years buildings came down left and right to provide surface parking, mostly for workers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Much of the surface parking is owned by the paper but with hundreds fewer employees the same level of parking is no longer needed. It’s time to rethink north Tucker Blvd!

Below I’ve placed blue rectangles on the spots where new buildings could be constructed. The red are harder spots due to small size (Carr St) or a new useless plaza (south end).

The Carr St on the north to Convention Plaza (Delmar) on the south there are many opportunities to construct infill buildings. At the center is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

I can hear the naysayers now, “there’s no demand for new construction here” or “location, location, location.” The new Mississippi River Bridge opens in 2014 and then suddenly this will become a major entry into downtown St. Louis. Now’s the time to start planning so at least one building can be open by 2014. It may very well take 10-20 years to fill in as I’ve shown but this is the first step to getting to that goal.

Remember, 15 years ago naysayers said there was no demand for housing downtown — and they were right — sorta. Those who wanted a hip loft in a walkable downtown had no way as individuals to get what they wanted. A few were marketed but not enough were willing to take the risk — and it was a risk. Then Washington Ave went on a road diet going from 4 travel lanes to two, widening the sidewalks in the process. Through these efforts the area was reinvented and things began to take off.

Storefronts are still vacant but housing occupancy is on par with other areas.  The area of North Tucker Blvd I’m talking about is just a few blocks north of Washington Ave. The new Tucker streetscape is being finished now. It includes provisions for on-street parking in this area so ground-level retail is an option.

Lee Enterprises, owner of the Post-Dispatch, should be talking with developers now. They might get a new parking garage behind new buildings facing Tucker — I’d want the city to prohibit/strongly discourage a parking garage facing Tucker but facing 13th would be ok.

In the block opposite the Post-Dispatch new buildings on each side of 911 N. Tucker should be respectful without copying. Modern would be fine with me, just not a six-story mirrored box.

The opportunity for a “signature” building is on the NW corner of Tucker Blvd. & Cole St.

Cole Street has a very wide right-of-way east of Tucker, giving the opportunity for high visibility for pedestrians and motorists heading west on Cole. This is also an opportunity to look at Cole and how to encourage more pedestrians to use Cole to connect parts of downtown and the housing to the north.

Perhaps a CVS or Walgreen’s would locate in the ground floor of one of these buildings on Tucker?  New construction in this area could be exciting, much more so than Ballpark Village.

— Steve Patterson

On-Street Parking On Washington Ave

Regular readers know I’m a fan of on-street parking. It forms a nice barrier between moving traffic and pedestrians. It also helps up road width. Linear parking is so much better than surface or structured sparking.  A few years back there were efforts by officials to keep the full curb-to-curb width of Washington Ave for moving vehicles. After some battles, parking is permitted on both sides between 10th-11th and the south side from 11th-Tucker (12th). In true St. Louis fashion, this is being addressed block by block rather than a well-planned coordinated effort.

The other evening I was pleased to see cars parked on Washington Ave. east of 7th. There are no signs prohibiting parking so it seemed to just happen organically. There’s also no parking meters.

If retail is going to open and survive on-street parking is a must-have.

— Steve Patterson