× Expand Courtesy of Stoss Landscape Urbanism A rendering of the Chouteau Greenway

Great Rivers Greenway held an open house about the Chouteau Greenway project earlier in the month on February 5 at the Grand Hall on Chouteau. The event was intended to give residents a chance to learn about the project, which will create foot and bike trails linking landmarks and communities across the city, from downtown St. Louis to Forest Park and Fairground Park to Tower Grove Park.

Representatives from more than 30 institutions with a stake in the Chouteau Greenway attended the open house, with exhibitors from neighborhood associations, nonprofits and institutions like Gateway Arch Park Foundation, Explore St. Louis, St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis Zoo, and St. Louis Community College.

At the event, Great Rivers Greenway CEO Susan Trautman gave a presentation outlining the project’s development to date. Trautman said that planners had looked at dozens of case studies for ideas and inspiration. She cited projects like Manhattan’s High Line, Atlanta’s BeltLine, and Indianapolis’ Cultural Trail as examples of transformative projects that have yielded billions of dollars of return on the initial investment.

Trautman said that one key goal for the project is “equity,” but that planners are working with communities and residents to define what that would mean in the context of the Chouteau Greenway. “What does that mean for you? What does that mean for St. Louis?” Trautman said. “We’ve been studying projects all over the country, and there are not very many parks and open-space plans that address equity.” Trautman pointed to the 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, D.C. as a rare example of a project prioritizing equity as an outcome. “We’re not here to solve all the ills of St. Louis,” Trautman said. “But we are here to make sure that this project thinks about all of these things.”

To work toward that equitable outcome, Trautman said Great Rivers Greenway has spent six months identifying people from every neighborhood within the scope of the Chouteau Greenway project to participate on a steering committee and four working groups. Trautman said the initial meetings of those groups were encouraging. “It was so exciting to see the energy in the room,” she said. “People actually said, ‘There aren’t enough meetings, we want more.’ That was news to us, and we’re going to figure that out.”

Here are a few more details about the Chouteau Greenway project, and information on how you can get involved in the project.

× Expand Courtesy of Stoss Landscape Urbanism

What’s the Chouteau Greenway?

A project that aims to establish greenway trails connecting St. Louis landmarks, neighborhoods and communities. The Greenway will run from the Arch to Forest Park, east to west, and north to south from Fairgrounds Park to Tower Grove Park.

Why is the Chouteau Greenway happening?

The idea is that the Greenway will create better foot and cycle links between communities and places of interest in St. Louis, establishing attractive new public spaces and opening up new economic opportunities in the process. Planners have said they are committed to ensuring the Greenway will be accessible to all residents, and that both residents and visitors alike will enjoy the benefits of the project.

“The vision is really about transforming and connecting our great places,” said Trautman. “Think about our beautiful museums and the Zoo in Forest Park, the great cultural institutions in Grand Center, the educational institutions and colleges: Washington University and SLU and Harris-Stowe. We began thinking, ‘What if all these things were connected?’”

Who’s behind it?

The driving force behind the project is Great Rivers Greenway, a locally based government agency and also one of the six partners in the remodeling of the Arch park. The Chouteau Greenway is just one part of the greater network of greenways Great Rivers Greenway is building, with a goal of creating a 600-mile “River Ring” of greenways across St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County. To date, the agency has built over 100 miles of greenway, with another 200 miles currently in planning.

In May 2018, a team from Stoss Landscape Urbanism beat out four finalists to win an international design competition. “They presented many ideas, but in their ideas they really thought deeply about issues of equity and economic development,” Trautman said. Stoss will work with Great Rivers Greenway on developing the design for the Chouteau Greenway.

Great Rivers Greenway is also partnering with the Artists of Color Council, a group of eight St. Louis–based artists representing a range of communities and working across a variety of mediums. The AOCC is “tasked with providing guidance to design, promote and implement art and engagement opportunities along the Chouteau Greenway.”

What specific route(s) will the Chouteau Greenway follow?

Courtesy of Stoss Landscape Urbanism

The general principle is that there will be an east-west corridor running from the Arch to Forest Park, and a north-south corridor from Fairground Park to Tower Grove Park. The exact route is still a work in progress, and will not be finalized until 2020. However, the 19 neighborhoods currently falling within the scope of the project are as follows: Carr Square, Central West End, Covenant Blu-Grand Center, Compton Heights, DeBaliviere Place, Downtown, Downtown West, Forest Park Southeast, The Gate District, Greater Ville, JeffVanderLou, Midtown, Shaw, Skinker DeBaliviere, St. Louis Place, Tiffany, Tower Grove East, Vandeventer, and Wydown Skinker.

How will the route(s) be decided?

As part of the design competition, a number of potential routes were identified, passing through a variety of neighborhoods. A map can be found here, outlining the routes that have been considered so far. Great Rivers Greenway has also invited contributions from members of the public, asking where you, as a St. Louis resident, “play, gather, create community and make history.” Add your own ideas to the online mapping project here.

What’s happening now?

In addition to the steering committee formed recently to oversee the project’s overall progress, four working groups have been set up, each tackling a specific goal:

* Design, development and construction: How the Greenway will look and feel

* Governance: Developing strategies for maintaining and sustaining the Greenway

* Equity: Defining what “equity” means for the Chouteau Greenway and developing strategies to build equity into the plan

* Economic development: Identifying opportunities to generate wealth around the Greenway, from opportunities for buskers to mom-and-pop retail and other businesses

These groups will work with the steering committee to develop a framework plan for the Greenway, expected by mid-summer 2019.

Who is on the working groups?

Each working group includes around 20–25 members drawn from the 19 city neighborhoods and communities that fall within the project’s geographical parameters. Great Rivers Greenway said it was committed to ensuring the working groups were geographically and demographically representative, including making sure that 50 percent of each group’s membership are people of color. A full list of the members of each working group, and the steering committee, can be found here.

What happens after the framework plan is finalized?

After the framework plan is created, a number of “labs” will be created to test the plan and study different geographical areas and develop designs for specific sections of the Greenway. The final shape of the Greenway’s various corridors and design is not expected until well into 2020, based on Great Rivers Greenway’s current forecast.

When will the Chouteau Greenway be finished?

“We don’t have a definitive timeline yet for the entire project,” said Emma Klues, vice president of communications and outreach at Great Rivers Greenway. “Currently, the project is in conceptual design and planning through this summer and a project of this size and scale will require public and private funding. We anticipate that as we move into the next stage of design, we’ll have a better idea of which segments can move toward construction." She noted that with a small segment of Chouteau Greenway opening last year as part of the new Metrolink Station at Cortex, “extending east toward St. Louis University and Grand Center as well as west to Forest Park is seen as a good opportunity to build the greenway in the next couple of years.”

How can I get involved?

Great Rivers Greenway will be organizing more information sessions to keep residents in the loop on developments. Keep an eye on the Great Rivers Greenway website and sign up for the Chouteau Greenway newsletter for updates.

Complete the feedback form here to recommend a person, organization or initiative that Great Rivers Greenway should be in touch with as the plan takes shape, or to share your suggestions for places that should be incorporated into the Greenway’s route. As mentioned above, you can also do this by contributing to the mapping project here.

Keep up with the latest developments at Great Rivers Greenway’s website, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.