FERGUSON 鈥 It鈥檚 been almost a decade since civil unrest caused frequent shutdowns of West Florissant Avenue, the north St. 亚洲无码 County road that was the epicenter of protests and looting in the months following the August 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown.
As the attention of the region, and the world, turned to the wide, asphalt-heavy thoroughfare lined with chop suey restaurants, midcentury strip malls and parking lots, local leaders at the time rallied behind a plan to transform it into a safer, greener, more inviting street.
Regional transportation planners elevated a plan to add the corridor to its 鈥淕reat Streets Initiative,鈥 with designs for slowing traffic and beautifying the busy stretch of road with medians, narrower lanes, a pedestrian path, landscaping and sidewalks. The mayors of Ferguson and Dellwood, two cities that bore the brunt of the unrest, argued back in 2015 the project would instill confidence and encourage economic development for residents and businesses hammered by civil strife. The St. 亚洲无码 County executive at the time called it 鈥渆xtremely important.鈥
People are also reading…
But today, as the 10th anniversary of the Ferguson unrest approaches, the long-awaited revamp to the road has yet to begin. Vacant lots remain from where rioters burned buildings in 2014. The mostly four-lane road stretches as wide as seven lanes near its intersection with Chambers Road, the site of hundreds of crashes and injuries over the past 20 years. There are no medians for pedestrians, and it鈥檚 been described as a 鈥渂ig asphalt mess鈥 by local leaders.
鈥淚 have been on city council since 2016, and this has been talked about until I鈥檓 blue in the face,鈥 said Ferguson City Councilwoman Linda Lipka, who revived the Ferguson Traffic Commission in recent years and has advocated for traffic safety improvements in the city. 鈥淲est Florissant has always been a concern for anybody who鈥檚 lived here for 40 years.鈥
Finally, after years searching for funding, a global pandemic and political change at all levels of government, the $30 million revamp of the 1.5-mile corridor between the Dellwood Recreation Center and the former Emerson corporate campus is poised to begin.
Dellwood Mayor Reggie Jones has been mayor long enough to remember when regional planners first began studying the project, which actually began in the months before Brown鈥檚 August 2014 death. It鈥檚 a bit 鈥渨eird鈥 that it鈥檚 finally coming together around the 10-year anniversary, he said.
鈥淚t was right on time because of the damage that was done to West Florissant,鈥 Jones said of planners鈥 decision to add the corridor to the Great Streets Initiative. 鈥淎nd now it鈥檚 fitting that鈥檚 it鈥檚 being rebuilt.鈥
After several rejected applications, St. 亚洲无码 County, which is managing the project, in 2021 finally won an $18.2 million federal grant that enabled the project to move from the drawing board to reality. It cobbled together other sources of matching funding, including $5.2 million in county road funds, $500,000 from regional trail developer Great Rivers Greenway and $1.5 million from nonprofit Health and Homes STL that helped build a Mercy health clinic on West Florissant Avenue.
The roughly $26 million West Florissant project is slated to be bid out this fall and begin construction next year, said David Wrone, a spokesman for St. 亚洲无码 County Public Works. Another $3 million project, with $2 million coming from a federal grant, will revamp the road鈥檚 intersection with Chambers Road as the larger West Florissant project is underway.
The East-West Gateway Council鈥檚 Great Streets Initiative has been credited with drawing investment and people to other stretches of roadway, such as South Grand Boulevard near St. 亚洲无码鈥 Tower Grove Park. Officials in Ferguson and Dellwood hope the project, which will run into 2027, helps calm traffic and draws redevelopers to the area, too.
Lipka, the Ferguson councilwoman, noted many motorists use West Florissant to get between Interstate 70 and Interstate 270. The project calls for narrowing lanes and adding medians to discourage speeding.
鈥淚 think this project is truly going to save lives,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hen you provide a safer roadway and a roadway that鈥檚 going to benefit two communities, you鈥檙e going to attract businesses, you鈥檙e going to attract tax dollars, and you鈥檙e going to be able to give your citizens more services.鈥
Maintaining the improvements, once they鈥檙e built, could be handled by a new special taxing district along the road that covers territory in both Ferguson and Dellwood.
The St. 亚洲无码 Economic Development Partnership, St. 亚洲无码 County鈥檚 economic development arm, is putting together the paperwork to create the Transportation Development District, which could levy a 1% sales tax along West Florissant Avenue. The tax would pay for maintenance of the landscaping and road improvements to ensure they don鈥檛 fall into disrepair.
The Economic Partnership board last month approved a $60,000 contract with St. 亚洲无码 planning firm PGAV to develop revenue estimates and a maintenance plan for the West Florissant Avenue TDD. Ferguson and Dellwood each paid $10,000, and the nonprofit that owns the Mercy clinic, Health and Homes, is donating $40,000 for the effort. The nonprofit has also pledged $500,000 to cover maintenance until the TDD has generated enough money to cover those costs, according to St. 亚洲无码 County鈥檚 transportation department.
The corridor has already seen some investment, though most of it is from nonprofits. The Urban League鈥檚 Ferguson Community Empowerment Center was developed on the site of a QuikTrip that burned in 2014. A new senior living low-income housing tax credit from the Urban League is opening this month, and the nonprofit has long had plans for a shopping center on two vacant lots across the street, where businesses burned down during the unrest.
To the north, in Dellwood, a former Schnucks shopping center, mostly vacant since the grocer left in 2006, recently reopened as the nonprofit R&R Marketplace, which houses social service providers, a pharmacy and a bank branch.
Jones, the Dellwood mayor, hopes the investment in West Florissant can also help lure some taxable businesses, especially some sit-down restaurants, to the mix.
鈥淲est Florissant is one of the most heavily traveled streets in the county,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd I think it鈥檚 important for Dellwood and Ferguson to have a street that represents the community in the right way.鈥