As a grassroots advocacy organization, Trailnet has a 30-year history of pushing the envelope to make it safe and easy to bike and walk for transportation. We embrace the role of helping St. Louis realize our untapped potential for strategically using our streets for more than moving cars. The time is now. Trailnet’s vision to connect St. Louis with a safe network for walking and biking has inspired unified political will. Mayor Lyda Krewson in her letter of support states, “Trailnet’s use of our on-street right of way as an asset makes re-envisioning our transportation system achievable in the near future with lasting impact.”

Trailnet is excited to announce our bicycle and pedestrian study corridors. Through a multi-year, robust, collaborative process that engages people from all walks of life, we have determined the optimum streets for a cohesive network. Our goal is to make cycling and walking a practical means of moving about the city while encouraging creative placemaking to build community.

Where will it go? Trailnet’s study corridors extend north to O’Fallon Park and Fairground Park, and south to the Missouri Botanical Garden and Cherokee Street. These corridors fill mobility gaps to seamlessly connect existing and planned multimodal transportation projects, including the Downtown Multimodal Study, the Chouteau Greenway Design Competition, and the Northside/Southside Light Rail Study.

Steve Smith, Founding Principal and CEO of Lawrence Group, the firm behind City Foundry STL, said, “Trailnet’s work is creating the connective tissue for a circulation system that links individual development projects to one another.” Biking and walking often represent the first and last mile connections that enable people to access jobs, services, and cultural destinations.

Trailnet created this StoryMap as a tool to share our work and our progress moving forward. The StoryMap begins by highlighting Trailnet’s concerns about safety, our collaborative planning efforts, and proposed solutions for a cohesive network. The StoryMap shows a map of our suggested study corridors and how they connect to other projects. These corridors are being studied to gain a deeper understanding of how these connections will best serve individual neighborhoods and meet the transportation needs of their residents. In March and April, this StoryMap will expand as we incorporate community feedback to fine-tune our recommendations for building a cohesive network for safe walking and biking.

“Trailnet is embracing all transportation modes as important in a comprehensive reevaluation of our common right-of-way.” Bob Lewis, retired Principal, Development Strategies. Trailnet’s work focuses on people and connecting neighborhoods.

On-street protected bikeways are mainstream infrastructure in other cities and are a cost-effective means of providing access to multi-modal transportation. Trailnet seeks to enhance the quality of life for all of us in St. Louis, regardless of our age, ability, or zip code, by providing convenient access to transportation options that connect us to the places we need and want to go.

Trailnet wants to hear more from the community and has planned a series of public meetings. Join us on Thursday, March 22, 6-8 pm at the Thomas Dunn Learning Center, 3113 Gasconade, 63118 to provide feedback and learn more. For additional dates and locations click here. If you’re unable to attend the events, please feel free to leave your comments and concerns by clicking here. Contact Grace Kyung at [email protected] if you’d like a Trailnet representative to attend your next neighborhood meeting to learn more about our work in connecting St. Louis.

If you find this work compelling, you can be a part of making it happen. Please consider becoming a member or donating to Trailnet to help us continue to make it safe and easy for everyone to bike and walk for transportation in St. Louis.

Follow us on Trailnet’s Twitter and Facebook, for the most up-to-date information on this effort and others.