$237 million for mall, but no money for sidewalk

KTVI Channel 2 in St. Louis recently covered the issue of sidewalks at the West County Mall in Des Peres. When the mall was renovated, planners "forgot" sidewalks. According to the KTVI story:

Public sidewalks come to an abrubt end at the mall's entrance. Area residents noticed. "All of a sudden, you're stepping out in front of traffic--and if you're a cyclist you're going to be looking to see people merging in front and behind you and it creates a dangerous situation." [said Bob Foster of the Missouri Bicycle Federation].

"Opening weekend, we noticed a lot of people walking to the mall particularly - people from neighborhoods to the south. That sort of brought it to our attention.. We need to add pedestrian access to this facility."

Mall owners do not seem particularly worried about the problem, but Des Peres city leaders are planning to require the installation of the sidewalks as part of construction of a new restaurant at the mall. Sidewalks will be in place by next spring if all goes as planned.

The mall still does not have bicycle parking racks; St. Louis-area cyclists are petitioning the mall to add bicycle parking. Mall management can be reached at 314/288-2020 or by visiting the feedback form of the the mall web site.

A simple bicycle rack holding 6-10 bicycles can be purchased for under $100.