Gateway Bike Plan Includes Crestwood, Sunset Hills

Cyclists looking for a change of scenery will possibly get their chance. The Great Rivers Greenway and other regional partners recently completed a Gateway Bike Plan. Once completed, the more than 1,000 miles of connected on-road bicycle route system will create one of the largest bicycle networks in the United States over the next 20 years. 

The plan includes bike lanes, shared use lanes and more throughout St. City, County and St. Charles County. According to Great Rivers Greenway, the aim is to improve the use and safety of bicycles by commuters, students and recreational riders and contribute to the region’s economic and environmental health, making St. Louis a better place to live.  

Local officials from more than 100 municipalities and representatives from the Missouri Department of Transportation, St. Louis City, St. Louis and St. Charles counties, Metro, East-West Gateway Council of Governments and Trailnet helped devise the plan. The finished plan also reflects the input of citizens and technical advisors, who worked together through the public engagement phase of the project to develop the vision of the plan and define the core goals to be achieved through its implementation. These goals include:

• providing a prioritized system of contiguous bicycle routes that are connected to other on- and off-road facilities;
• improving safety of all modes of transportation through careful design and educational and enforcement programs;
• expanding the public’s view of bicycles as a viable form of transportation, and
• increasing the commitment of public officials to support or initiate public policy for bicycling at the state, local and regional levels of government.

“Connecting communities, promoting good health and providing transportation alternatives are just the beginning of creating a vibrant region. The Gateway Bike Plan helps to foster the development of safer cycling routes,” Susan Trautman, executive director of Great Rivers Greenway, said in a statement. “With input from citizens, community leaders and transportation experts, the Gateway Bike Plan has been favorably accepted and is ready for action.”

Locally, the Great Rivers Greenway project manager said that the roads in Sunset Hills that are in the plan include Lindbergh, Eddie and Park, Rott, Watson, S. Geyer, Robyn (between Rott and W. Watson), W. Watson, Gravois, Old Gravois, Kinnerly and Sappington. 

Individual communities are identifying current road improvement projects and bicycling facilities that can be worked on simultaneously.

The project recommends that city councils, regional planning commissions and others involved in planning road projects take the following actions:

• Adopt Complete Streets ordinances at local, regional and state levels;
• Design and install bicycle facilities as part of a transportation project;
• Integrate the Plan into appropriate state, county and local planning documents;
• Encourage local municipalities and counties to dedicate existing staff to coordinate bicycle facility planning and implementation;
• Work across jurisdictional boundaries on the planning, design and funding of bicycle infrastructure projects, and
• Create public and private partnerships to develop bike facilities such as on-road facilities, bicycle parking or other support facilities.

Any community wishing to learn more can coordinate a presentation by representatives of Great Rivers Greenway by contacting them at 314-436-7009, or by emailing info@grgstl.org. To review the completed plan or learn more online, visit www.stlbikeplan.com or www.grgstl.org.