urbanSTL

Thanks.  By the way, I sent an email to a Great Rivers Greenway VP asking for an update.  She gave a nice reply saying,  "The bridge itself is under construction and the approaches (ramps) are being finalized now, should be bid out by MODOT later this year so it can be under construction soon as well. We’re on our way."  

Also, I acquired a photo on June 24th from a source who prefers to remain anonymous.  It may not be obvious from the photo, but this is too narrow to be a traffic lane.  It is the new bike/ped bridge under construction.

Looks like MODOT is making progress on the new pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the Meramec River at I-44/I-270.  The rails are going up now.  The approaches on either end to get up to the bridge will have to wait a while because that area is used for staging of the entire highway bridge.  Later, it would be nice if the folks who live high above the Meramec River would donate a narrow strip of land above the river on the East shore to link the Greentree Park trail to Emmenegger Park and the bridge.  (River was so low, it turned into white water just South of the bridge.)

This ped/bike lane is a really big deal for those of who bike and run. Huge!

The pedestrian / bicycle path over the Meramec River at I-44 / I-270 is finished except for the connections on each end.  Based on bicycle tracks and mesh breaches, it looks like a few few folks have tried it out without waiting for the nice connections.  

If I read the minutes of Sunset Hills and Fenton cities correctly, all funding is in place for the connections as of 1 April.  Apparently, the cost of the connections as designed nearly doubled since 2018, but MoDot deemed it not unreasonable.   Sunset Hills and Fenton were able to go out and get the increased dollars and have recently passed bills transferring the dollars to MoDot to finish the connections.  

MoDot web site shows the connections as "pending", so I'm not sure what the timeline is.  There appeared to be recent small flags and red spray painted lines on the dirt on each end of the bridge, so I hope that means MoDot is getting ready to complete the connections soon.

sc4mayor wrote: ↑

Dec 21, 2022

Bike/ped bridge and approaches are open!
If the Facebook link doesn’t work there are other images here:
https://greatriversgreenway.org/walking ... Z2ryHqyhV8

GRG photo links:





This is great news!  I was pushing for this starting back in 2017 when the first public meeting with MODOT showed no bike/ped bridge was planned, as the earliest posts in this topic show.  Hats off to MODOT and the project engineers and MODOT project management for finding the funding and getting this done.  Also, Jacobs Engineering I believe.  And Great Rivers Greenway who worked with MODOT.  Also the cities of Fenton, Kirkwood, and Sunset Hills.  Sunset has had this bridge in their master plan for many years.

Next we need a bike path from the East end of the Meramec River trail on the North side of the river to the East end of this bridge.  I have reason to believe the 2 owners of property across the river from Soccer Park may not be receptive to a trail carved into the steep slope above the river below their property.  So I think the next best path would be from along Marshall Road to I-270 underpass, then up the hill using I-270 right-of-way to the North end of little used Cragwold Road.  Cragwold could easily share the road with bikes to the new bike/ped bridge, or could be given a re-paint road diet to add bike lanes.

This would finally link the long Meramec trails from Valley Park, top of the levee, and Simpson Lake to the long system of trails on the other side of the Meramec from Unger Park and Fenton all the way to near George Winter Park.

Wouldn't Craigwold also be used to connect to Powder Valley? Ideally there would a way to have a routing towards Downtown Kirkwood and onto Grants Trail being linking the Meremec and River Des Peres networks. 

imperialmog wrote: ↑

Feb 03, 2023

Wouldn't Craigwold also be used to connect to Powder Valley? Ideally there would a way to have a routing towards Downtown Kirkwood and onto Grants Trail being linking the Meremec and River Des Peres networks. 

Yes.   It is technically possible to ride down S. Geyer Rd to Cragwold Rd to get to Powder Valley and on across 270 to  the new bike to Fenton, but S. Geyer there is not bike or pedestrian friendly at all.  No sidewalks and no bike lanes.  Just some old very faded away paint declaring share the road with bikes.  So folks are advocating making a link from the far North dead-end of Cragwold Rd on the West side of I-270 down to Marshall Road -- possibly using I-270 Right of way to make Marshall a path to downtown Kirkwood and to Grant's Trail.  And Marshall already connects to the Meramec trail west to Valley Park along the river.  

Last night I attended the Kirkwood Park Master Plan review.  Now that the bicycle / pedestrian bridge across the Meramec River at I-44 / I-270 at Emmenegger Park is complete, I was happy to see that the latest master plan includes a bike/pedestrian link between Emmenegger Park and Greentree park along the Meramec River.  This short link would finally complete the Great Rivers Greenway river ring trail from Valley Park all the way to George Winter Park, except for a tiny street portion in downtown Fenton along the river.   Great Rivers Greenway and Trailnet lately seem to move slowly and somewhat grudgingly on their original goal of connecting the river ring, compared to when GRG was first formed.

Here is the wording in the Kirkwood Parks Master Poan for Emmenegger Park:
1. Future Link to Greentree Park – The linking of Greentree Park
together with Emmenegger Park by multi use trail, represents a
major priority of this plan. This linkage will create a significant
riverfront trail resource for the City of Kirkwood.
2. Existing Open Field – The existing field in the northern portion
of the park...
3. New Riverfront Multi Use Trail – This plan recommends the
addition of a Riverfront Trail along a majority of the Meramec
River frontage, linking into the existing trail system and
amenities of the park. This trail is planned to be a paved multi
use facility approximately 12 feet in width.  

Seems like upgrading the bike infrastructure along Marshall road between Greentree Park and Big Bend should should be an priority. It's really the only possible good connection to between this system and Kirkwood.

Hopefully one day this system could even tie into the Grants Trail

GoHarvOrGoHome wrote: ↑

Nov 18, 2024

Seems like upgrading the bike infrastructure along Marshall road between Greentree Park and Big Bend should should be an priority. It's really the only possible good connection to between this system and Kirkwood.

Hopefully one day this system could even tie into the Grants Trail

That is what I was thinking. Another routing is work on improve bike infrastructure on Craigwold and Geyer. Would connect Powder Valley and Laumeier. Also this provides a less steep of a grade than on Marshall.

Some routing through Kirkwood is needed. Make it easier for residents along with access to shops and restuaurants. In addition, this will allow access to the bus system and Amtrak.