Petition: City of St Louis set to make key cycling thoroughfare worse for cycling--and driving

Bike St. Louis Phase 3 is rolling out across St. Louis this fall--except for on one road that may be used more by St Louis cyclists than any other in the city.

Tower Grove Avenue is a key connecting bicycle route in the Bike St. Louis system.  The road provides one of the few bicycle friendly connections across I-44 and is a key bicycle connection between the Central West End and the Tower Grove area--two cycling hotspots in St Louis. 

Tower Grove Avenue in St Louis - a cycling superhighway

So it was no surprise that Tower Grove Ave was slated for improved bicycle facilities in Phase 3 of the Bike St. Louis plan.  Work is currently underway to implement Phase 3 on dozens of streets across St. Louis.

But traffic engineers have proposed delaying implementation of the planned buffered bike lanes on Tower Grove Avenue, and instead installing a convoluted system that will be worse for bicyclists and for motorists, too.

Why?  Because of a planned road closure on a nearby road that could possibly send a little more traffic onto Tower Grove Avenue.

Local advocates and neighbors, including Matt  Wyczalkowski of SafeTGA.org--a blog devoted to improving Tower Grove Avenue for cyclists--have been working hard to educate neighbors, cyclists, and city officials about the problem.  I was fortunate to be able to attend a recent neighborhood meeting organized by SafeTGA, where cyclists in attendance agreed unanimously to oppose the city's convoluted and dangerous plan to reconfigure Tower Grove Avenue, and to support installation of the planned Bike St Louis facility for Tower Grove Ave immediately.

• Especially if you are from the St Louis area, please sign the petition in support of safe cycling on Tower Grove Avenue.
• Visit Matt's web site for more details about the proposal and alternatives, and a report on the neighborhood meeting SafeTGA organized about the issue.
• Read KMOV's coverage of this issue.

A portion of nearby Kingshighway (shown in red) will be closed; the proposal will make all traffic more confused and dangerous on Tower Grove Avenue (blue)--even though it isn't a viable alternative route