Positive direction on major St. Louis corridors as Trailnet explores the impact of traffic-calming measures on crashes

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Trailnet is sharing data showing crashes are down on seven St. Louis corridors, including areas where traffic-calming measures have been added, with declines of more than a third on some corridors.

Trailnet recently reviewed preliminary crash data for seven of them.

Data from MoDOT dated Oct. 20, 2026 shows 127 fewer crashes on Grand so far this year. The road has had 329 crashes this year, compared with 456 at the same time last year.

Other corridors in the data:

• Kingshighway: 162 fewer crashes, 410 compared with 572.
• Gravois: 114 fewer crashes, 266 compared with 380. Quick infrastructure work was done at select locations on Gravois this year.
• Manchester and Route 100: 55 fewer crashes, 105 compared with 160.
• Broadway: 125 fewer crashes, 250 compared with 375.
• Page and Dr. Martin Luther King: 20 fewer crashes, 121 compared with 141.
• Hampton Avenue: 77 fewer crashes, 223 compared with 300.

Trailnet CEO Cindy Mense said the organization wanted to revisit crashes on the main streets. She said five of the streets were selected because of a high incidence of fatalities and injuries for people walking and biking.

“What we found is they were all trending downward. We were really interested in taking a deeper look at that,” Mense said.

Grand and Kingshighway are among the city streets included in $46 million in ARPA funding approved in 2024 for repaving. The money went going toward improving 30 miles of road to address speeding, crashes and pedestrian safety. It also made improvements at 10 intersections.

Mense said the traffic calming infrastructure includes bump-outs and median islands.

“People are starting to get used to what bump-outs are and what they need to do at a traffic circle or how the medians are keeping pedestrians safe and making them more visible,” Mense said.

On Gravois, some quick construction projects were also completed recently.

“I think people are just becoming more aware of, hey, we can design it more safely, make room for everybody, and make this corridor something that supports, you know, people getting to and from their jobs, getting to buy resources, groceries, whatever,” Mense said.

Mense said Trailnet has followed a number of St. Louis roads for years because of safety concerns, including in the State of the Streets report. She said most of the work is wrapping up and the group sees a downward trend.

“I’m not going to say it’s any one street, but if we’re able to slow people down on the most dangerous streets and those corridors and getting them slowing down, then it’s helping the whole system be a little bit safer,” Mense said.

She added, “Slowing cars down doesn’t mean that you’re less efficient getting from A to B. So for instance, look at Kingshighway. While it was under construction and before we had the signal timing in, it may have taken longer for people to get from A to B. But now, once the signal timing is in, you might be driving more slowly. When the traffic signals are coordinated and synchronized, then you get efficient movement of traffic.”

Author Richard Shine Rainey has spent most of his life around Grand Boulevard. He walks and takes the bus along the road and has noticed the ongoing work and changes.

“Out of the 40 years being here, I come here from Chicago. That’s the first time I ever seen Grand look that good. It took a while,” Rainey said.

“When they’ve painted the street, it helps get your attention more for, you know, for the pedestrian,” he said.

“It’s so far so good. It’s a good facelift,” Rainey said.

Mense said next year will provide a fuller picture of how well the traffic calming measures are working.

“This year is sort of a year of transition where some of that infrastructure is in the middle of being put into place. It’ll take another year where we’re not building it and assessing it at the same time,” Mense said.

Mense said she hopes the public’s takeaway is that traffic calming works.

“Give it a chance. Learn how to navigate around it so that we’re making pedestrians and vulnerable road users more safe,” Mense said. “You can be part of that solution. So car drivers, people walking, people biking. This infrastructure is designed to accommodate everybody and make you all safer and more visible, your movements. I hope folks give it, you know, give it a chance and slow down when they see it. Take their foot off of the gas pedal and look around before they proceed in, you know, taking right turns or left turns and making sure they look for folks.”

Mense called the ARPA funding a historic investment.

The corridors are commonly featured in Trailnet’s State of the Streets report each year. An analysis of final data from 2026 is not expected until the first part of next year.