St. Louis, Mo., April 28, 2014… Residents of the region who have come to rely on the River des Peres Greenway for recreation and commuting can once again travel the full length of this popular trail. After several months of construction, the Great Rivers Greenway District will officially reopen the newly rebuilt, three-mile section of trail between Lansdowne and Gravois with a ribbon cutting May 8th at the trailhead on Lansdowne Ave.
The improved segment is now fully ADA-compliant and wider than the previous trail. It also provides safer access directly into the Shrewsbury/Lansdowne MetroLink station via an improved crosswalk at Lansdowne Avenue. The District also incorporated many green features into the trail’s redesign, including native plantings, bio swales for water management, and a “living wall,” located at the intersection of Chippewa and River des Peres Blvd. The living wall has been planted with native grasses that will soon make the wall “disappear” as it creates a habitat for a variety of wildlife. A bicycle education area was also created along the trail as a safe place for families to teach their children how to ride bicycles, properly signal, and share the trail with other pedestrians.
“The River des Peres Greenway trail provides area residents with a range of transportation options,” said Susan Trautman, Executive Director of Great Rivers Greenway District. “Not only does it offer a safe way for people to walk or cycle to area parks, neighborhoods and businesses—it also connects them to vital transit hubs such as the Shrewsbury/Lansdowne Metrolink Station.Now that these improvements are complete, the River des Peres Greenway will be safer and more accessible to everyone.”
The River des Peres Greenway currently stretches 5.5 miles from Lansdowne to Alabama Ave. near I-55. The greenway also links to a one-mile neighborhood connector, the Christy Greenway, which extends north from Germania to Holly Hills Blvd., where it meets up with the Bike St. Louis system. The one-mile Carondelet Connector, which will link the greenway with Carondelet Park, will officially open in June. Construction is slated to begin in early 2015 on another phase that will extend the River des Peres Greenway from Alabama Avenue to Lemay Park, and then further east to connect with the Mississippi River Greenway near River City Casino. Plans are also moving forward to connect the greenway to the popular Grant’s Trail on the Gravois Greenway.
The ribbon cutting celebration on May 8 is taking place in conjunction with Citizens for Modern Transit’s (CMT) third annual Great Race competition, which places Team TRANSIT, Team BIKE, Team CARSHARE and Team CARPOOL in a head-to-head competition to raise awareness about the viable transportation options available in our region. Representatives from Great Rivers Greenway are participating in the Great Race event as part of Team BIKE, and the event will start at Fortel’s Pizza Den in Clayton and culminate at the Shrewsbury/Lansdowne MetroLink Station around 5 p.m. Once the winners of the Great Race are announced, representatives from Great Rivers Greenway and project partners will officially open the new trail across Lansdowne. Nearby residents, employees and MetroLink commuters are invited to attend both events.
The CMT Great Race celebration will feature a Metro Market, designed to showcase what could be in terms of shopping, eateries and entertainment at this, and other MetroLink stations, if the community invested in transit-oriented development. The Metro Market will include food and retail trucks, a bike tune-up station, an upcycling station, commuting information, giveaways, live music and more. Free trail maps, courtesy of Great Rivers Greenway, and free bike helmet fittings, courtesy of SafeKidsSTL, will also be available.
“We encourage residents in St. Louis City and St. Louis County to join us on May 8th,” said Carey Bundy, project manager with Great Rivers Greenway. “They can cheer us on during the Great Race and also explore the newly improved trail.”
To learn more about the River des Peres Greenway or the event on May 8, visit www.greatriversgreenway.org or call 314.436.7009.
About Great Rivers Greenway
Great Rivers Greenway was created by a vote of the people in 2000 with the goal of making the St. Louis region a better place to live. The public organization is carrying out the desires of the public by connecting an interconnected system of trails and greenways, designed to connect communities, provide transportation alternatives, preserve nature, improve health and increase the economic vitality of the region. Great Rivers Greenway includes St. Louis City and County and St. Charles County. For more information, visit www.greatriversgreenway.org.
For More Information Contact:
Pamela Powell
The Hauser Group
314.436.9090