ST. LOUIS – Safety improvements are coming to Page Boulevard in the City of St. Louis. On Tuesday, MoDOT showed drivers and residents what that might look like.
A spokesperson for MoDOT said they chose the stretch of Page Boulevard after doing a Route D road safety audit, which revealed 10 fatalities within five years on this particular portion of the road.
The safety demonstration took place in front of Better Family Life, between Belt and Arlington avenues, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. They’re giving away root beer floats, answering questions, and showing drivers and city and county residents what might be coming soon.
MoDOT has various methods to reduce pedestrian fatalities and control the speed of drivers. These include temporary center median, curb extensions, bump outs, pedestrian refuge islands, and reducing the number of vehicle travel lanes.
Route D is set to be resurfaced in 2025-26, so an audit is currently being conducted, and input is being requested during this time. The corridor covered by this safety audit spans six miles, starting from Skinker in the West and running along Page Boulevard, then proceeding along Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to Tucker Boulevard in the East.
“Speeding has been really high since COVID,” said Jen Wade, an engineer for MoDOT. “We’ve seen a rise in speeding in our region. Speeding is the biggest factor and severity in crashes. When you’re looking at trying to reduce crashes, you don’t have to reduce the number of crashes if you can reduce the severity, then you can reduce the fatalities from happening.”
According to MoDOT officials, the stretch of Page Boulevard has a crash rate six times higher than the statewide rate for similar roads. Over the last five years between 2017-2021, there have been a total of 1,696 crashes, involving 10 fatalities, four of which were pedestrians.
To leave feedback on MoDOT’s demonstration of the safety improvements on Page Boulevard, click here.