22nd Street Interchange Should Be Completely Eliminated

Over the last year or so the ramps on & off I-64 (Hwy 40) at 22nd have been closed as MoDOT makes repairs to infrastructure. Paul McKee’s plans for this area called for a nice boulevard and new on/off ramps at the highway. I don’t think the ramps are needed at all.  See aerial.

I use 22nd to get on and off the highway but taking Jefferson Ave is no big deal, I’ve had to do so often over the last 12-18 months when the ramps have been closed.

The Jefferson Ave overpass and exits should be rebuilt. Right now on/off ramps only serve the interstate west of Jefferson. I’d add ramps to serve the interstate east of Jefferson and create a single point intersection.  Rather than maintaining this little used, little needed infrastructure the land could be developed.

Such a development could make Union Station part of a new neighborhood of offices and apartments.

– Steve Patterson

Inviting Storefront Design Critical to Revitalizing Old Commercial Districts

Storefront design has a big impact on how we perceive an area. So often formerly inviting storefronts became closed over time as commercial districts went downhill. Lately, in many of these commercial districts, we’ve seen a welcomed return to inviting glass storefronts as the areas become filled with new establishments.

For many years the space behind my favorite bike shop, A&M Bicycles, was used for storage. Down the street Local Harvest Grocery needed to expand beyond their original space, a perfect match. Except for that awful storefront! No business was going to use the space with that front.

All up and down Morgan Ford Rd old closed storefronts like this one have been replaced by mostly glass storefronts. The visual impact on the commercial district is amazing, no longer does the street feel rundown.

Permeable Concrete Reduces Water Runoff

Permeable, or pervious, concrete is becoming more and more common around the region but what is it?

Pervious concrete is a special type of concrete with a high porosity used for concrete flatwork applications that allows water from precipitation and other sources to pass directly through, thereby reducing the runoff from a site and allowing groundwater recharge. The high porosity is attained by a highly interconnected void content. Typically pervious concrete has little or no fine aggregate and has just enough cementitious paste to coat the coarse aggregate particles while preserving the interconnectivity of the voids. Pervious concrete is traditionally used in parking areas, areas with light traffic, residential streets, pedestrian walkways, and greenhouses. It is an important application for sustainable construction and is one of many low impact development techniques used by builders to protect water quality. (Wikipedia)

Sounds good but what does it look like?

The rough texture takes some getting used to although in a context like South Grand it’s a nice contrast with the smooth concrete of the sidewalk area.What’s your thought on this type of concrete?

– Steve Patterson

Urbanizing A 1980s Suburban Municipality Is A Lengthy Process

In April 2007 the St. Charles County municipality of Dardenne Prairie held a design charrette led by new urbanist firm DPZ, the goal was to plan a walkable town center.  Dardenne Prairie was incorporated in 1983 and they wanted a town center? Were they crazy? I attended several of the charrette events to observe the process.

Many of the residents attended came ready to oppose anything different than the standard suburbia typical of St. Charles County.

Over the few days I witnessed the local residents buy into the urban/walkable vision. Not urban as in high rise buildings but buildings defining the streets and connected via sidewalks. Urban as in not suburban. In 2009 the city hall was finished but I didn’t get out there until earlier this month.

When I arrived I briefly chatted with Mayor Pam Fogarty, but I’d arranged to meet my friend Alderman Scott Kolbe for a tour.  Dardenne Prairie has three wards with two aldermen per ward for a total of six. These municipal offices are non-partisan. Buildings near the road and on-street parking are all part of Dardenne Prairie’s new urbanist City Plan.

While city hall opened in 2009 the park opened in September 2011.

Kolbe tells me residents of the subdivision directly behind the park welcome the activity and encourage people to trespass through their yards to reach the park. I can imagine a paved path in the future. As I left city hall people were walking to city hall. If you connect the dots people will, at least on nice days, walk rather than drive.The sidewalk has to replace the roadside drainage ditch for that to happen. Down the street a senior housing development conforms to the new city plan, built up to the sidewalk with a pedestrian entrance facing the street.

It will be years before Dardenne Prairie has a complete walkable downtown but they are putting the right pieces in place to make sure each new private development contributes toward the long-term vision. – Steve Patterson

LED Street Lighting Is Impressive

Thursday evening I was waiting for the #4 MetroBus at Natural Bridge and Newstead (map) when I looked up and noticed the streetlights were LEDs.

I don’t know anything about the fixtures themselves or when they were installed but I like the coloring of the light — not yellow like the one old fixture still in front of the Julia Davis Library. Apparently these are part of a test program.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqm9wfX1wjc

Per the above story a “fixture and bulb for LED lighting can cost more than $600 or five times as much as the city spend on a street light right now” but potentially cut our electric bill in half.

– Steve Patterson