St. Louis Police Car T-Bones Pontiac on Chippewa (Update w/Police Summary)

Earlier this afternoon a St. Louis police car t-boned a silver Pontiac Bonneville on Chippewa just east of Hampton. The Pontiac ended up in the parking lot of the corner Walgreen’s store after running through a planter area. I do not know any details of the accident at this time. I have contacted the Director of Public Relations for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Dept but at this time he has not responded (it is a lovely Sunday afternoon). When I hear back from the police I will post an update at the end of this post.

In the image above you can see the damage to the Pontiac and where it ended up, both front airbags went off.

Above is the view seen from across the street — at first I could not tell what the police car had hit.

Both cars are loaded on flat-bed wreckers while the fire department hoses off the fuels fluids and debris from the accident. A local TV station has a camerwoman filming while spectators look on. On a positive note I was glad to see that street trees finally got planted in front of the Dobbs location on Chippewa.

I hope everyone in both vehicles are OK. I don’t know enough about accidents to determine if this was a low-speed or high-speed accident. I’m very curious to know if the officer(s) in the patrol car was wearing a seat belt — I seldom see St. Louis Police doing so. In the county it is a mixed bag — some do and some do not. I know officers tend to get in and out of their car a lot but I would like to see them wearing their seatbelts for their own safety.

UPDATE 6/18/2007 @ Noon:

This just in…

INCIDENT:   DEPARTMENT ACCIDENT
LOCATION:  5845 Chippewa
DATE/TIMES:  06/17/2007  11:46
NEIGHBORHOOD: South Hampton
Department Vehicle PPO Phillip Cornell
W/F, 6/1/1918

SYNOPSIS:  Officer Cornell was driving west on Chippewa approaching Hampton when Vehicle #2, traveling east on Chippewa, attempted to make a left turn onto the Walgreens’ parking lot, turning into the path of the officer.  He was unable to stop and struck the vehicle.  Both drivers were conveyed to Barnes Hospital for treatment.  Officer Cornell was treated for injuries to his right arm, legs and chest.  He was listed in stable condition.  Driver #2 was admitted with multiple abrasions to her face and a pelvic fracture.  She was listed in stable condition.  The Department Vehicle sustained major front end damage; Vehicle #2 sustained major side damage.

Mayor Slay Opens EcoUrban’s LEED-Registered Modular Home (w/video)

For a few hours yesterday afternoon and evening the crowds of people toured EcoUrban’s first project, a modular construction green home located at 3140 Pennsylvania in the City of Saint Louis.

Mayor Slay and 9th Ward Alderman Ken Ortmann helped with the grand opening festivities.

… Continue Reading

Access Changes at Loughborough Commons

This is a quick update post from my favorite auto-centric sprawl shopping center in the city, Loughborough Commons. As regular readers know, I’ve been making a big deal about the poor pedestrian access to the center. This update shows you some good and some not so good things at this time.

Above was the view looking north from the front of the Schnuck’s store on November 28, 2006. I thought they were going to provide some sort of access at that time but they did not. Note the customer walking against traffic in the main auto drive.

So I was very glad to see that in the last few days a temporary pedestrian walkway has been created between the main auto entrance and where another building is being construted (I believe for an office supply chain store). Though likely not ADA compliant this is a very nice but long overdue gesture on the part of developer DESCO.

In the back ground near the white van they’ve also started to excavate for more of the sidewalk on the east side of the main auto drive. Eventually these walkways should connect although the stop sign at this internal intersection has been removed for months now. We’ll see how the crossing gets marked and signed. Again, I am very glad to see they are taking steps to provide this access.

Shifting now out to the public street, the sidewalk situation along Loughborough has had ups and downs turing this project.

Above is a view from August 30th, 2006 looking westbound from the bus stop. You can see the sidewalk, the old auto entrance, now blocked, and the new auto entrance. In the background is the big pile-o-dirt where the recessed new strip center is being constructed today. Not exactly great but at least passable for most.

Sadly, for roughly nine months the public sidewalk along Loughborough (just east of the new auto entry) has been left in this condition (above). Missing curb, stagnant water, broken concrete, piece of plywood, etc. The benches for those using the bus were removed last year as well.

Close up view of the conditions, above. Note the changing water marks on the warning barriers. The lights have long stopped flashing.

Pedestrians heading to & from Loughborough Commons have managed to avoid the above mess by taking a short cut which you can see clearly in the grass. This, of course, does not help those using mobility aids such as wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

I recently pointed out these conditions to officials via email. Today crews are working to finish the curb and sidewalk in this area. But just as I think I am making progress something else happens. Ald. Matt Villa, of late, has been receptive to discussions about access and has been very responsive to my requests to push for completion of some of these area. DESCO may have had these things on their schedule for now anyway so it is hard to say if my complaining was effective, I like to think it helped grease the wheel.

The above is along Loughborough east of the main entrance, let’s now switch to west of the main entrance.

Above was the scene on August 30th, 2006. The old store had just closed and the new store opened but pedestrians coming from the west were forced into the street. Yes, I know a construction zone not finished – just hold on before you scroll down and yell at me in the comments!

A month later, on September 30, 2006 a new sidewalk was poured and the big pile of dirt was removed (to where the old store was located, now razed).
Skipping ahead to April 24, 2007 and switching directions in the same area:

Above we can see the sidewalk from September 2006 is still in place and being used — we have a mom and her child heading to the store and another customer just leaving.

However, by June 3, 2007 much of the sidewalk from September 2006 and the remaining old sidewalk had been removed, including the corner ramp at Grand. Here you can see a customer who had just left the Schnuck’s walking in the street. I’m actually glad to see the old sidewalk and corner ramp go away as they were in poor condition and should have been replaced back in September 2006. I don’t know the plan here but hopefully the sidewalk will be back in place soon so that more customers are not forced into an un-friendly street.

Earlier this year the auto drive was also restriped to change some lanes, I’ll spare you the pictures (for now).

City Hospital-Georgian Square on Two Agendas on 6/6/07

TIF Meeting; 8am

AGENDA

CITY HOSPITAL-GEORGIAN SQUARE (RPA3) TAX INCREMENT FINANCING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS

REGULAR MEETING – REGULAR SESSION

12TH FLOOR – BOARD ROOM Wednesday, June 6, 2007 – 8:00 a.m.

1.    CALL TO ORDER

2.    PUBLIC HEARING – AMENDMENT TO THE CITY HOSPITAL REDEVELOPMENT PLAN AND APPROVAL OF THE GEORGIAN SQUARE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AREA (RPA3) (7th Ward/Alderwoman Young)

RESOLUTION NO. 07-TIFC-242 – RESOLUTION RATIFYING THE “NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING” AS AMENDED, AND THE “NOTICE OF CHANGES TO TIF REDEVELOPMENT PLAN,” AUTHORIZING AN AMENDMENT TO THE TIF REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE CITY HOSPITAL REDEVELOPMENT AREA, AS DESCRIBED THEREIN, APPROVING THE AMENDED REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AREA 3 (RPA3) -GEORGIAN SQUARE AND EXPRESSING ITS RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI WITH RESPECT TO SAID AREA, AMENDED PLAN AND REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT (Dale Ruthsatz)

NOTE:    PLEASE BRING WITH YOU THE APPLICATION DATED APRIL 3, 2007. ATTACHED IS AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY HOSPITAL TIF PLAN DATED APRIL 20, 2007, AS REVISED MAY 30, 2007 AND A COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS DATED APRIL 20, 2007.

All the plans and revisions are mentioned to members of the TIF commision but not available online for the general  public to review.

Planning Commission; 5:30pm 

8. PDA-103-07-REZ – Georgian Square Area – Rezone A & D to H – Peabody Darst Webbe Neighborhood – (CB 820, 820.04, 820.05, 414, 415)

These blocks are the ones that are currently vacant, not the ones with occupied homes that Ald. Young wants to take via eminent domain and then raze.

Prior Posts:

• February 28, 2008
• February 21, 2007

Click here for map of area.

Developer paves front yard for condo parking, hearing on the 6th

For years the large building at the corner of Halliday & Grand (map) was a trouble spot in the Tower Grove East neighborhood, the usual drug dealing and such. So it is no surprise that area residents are all glad a developer has converted the building into condos, but not all agree on the parking ‘solution.’ This story of parking has many issues and no obvious solution. St. Louis’ Board of Adjustment will try to make sense of it Wednesday (Meeting starts at 1:30pm, Room 208 City Hall).

The small front yard wasn’t exactly paradise but it got paved anyway. Some neighbors say the developer, on a weekend and without a proper permit, created a concrete parking lot for four cars. These neighbors want to see it removed. Other neighbors say they don’t care for the solution but they must accept it to get an entrance marker for their street, Halliday. More on the entry marker later.

… Continue Reading