Roadwork Ahead: 2013 likely to be crucial year for Manchester’s Great Streets Initiative

Ballwin’s Board of Aldermen and key members of the city’s staff received an update on the Great Streets Initiative, the first such session in a new series of meetings being held with communities that thus far have shown support for the concept.

During the Ballwin Board’s annual retreat and work session Jan. 12, Matt Pirrello, former mayor of Ellisville and now a member of the Ellisville City Council, reviewed the program, its findings, conclusions and what’s ahead.

The East-West Gateway Council of Governments – the metropolitan area’s planning organization that includes representatives from government entities in eight counties in Missouri and Illinois – launched the St. Louis Great Streets Initiative in early 2006 to expand the way communities think of their streets. One of the thoroughfares designated in the effort is Manchester Road from Route 141 to Wildwood, a stretch that includes Manchester, Winchester, Ballwin, Ellisville and Wildwood.

Great Streets’ mission is to create a better future by giving participating communities the tools to create interesting and memorable places and to provide for economic sustainability and an environment for business success.

Problems associated with the Manchester Road corridor are many and varied, including vacant, underutilized and deteriorating properties, a lack of access for pedestrians and bicyclists, domination by vehicular traffic that largely excludes other modes of transportation, a lack of aesthetic upgrades and no unifying elements around which an identity can be established and promoted.

Great Streets is designed to tackle these and related problems with a consistent design theme within each community, enhanced landscaping and street lighting, traffic medians, way-finding signage, and creation of “people places” and road improvements that will better accommodate traffic and improve safety.

This likely will be a crucial year for the program. In addition to discussions with the municipalities involved, open houses to receive public comment are planned this summer. Also, Phase 1 design work, which began last fall, should be complete by fall in preparation for seeking construction bids in the spring of 2014.

At the meeting, Pirrello showed a breakdown of Phase 1 projects whose estimated price tag is $5 million.

What the initiative’s ultimate outcome will be remains uncertain. Manchester and Winchester have yet to sign on to the planning effort, although Manchester’s website maintains the city “is working with its neighbors to plan for the future of the Manchester Road corridor and to create a Great Street for West County.”

Manchester officials earlier have been quoted as having concerns about the need for additional tax revenues to pay for the effort and the formation of a master redevelopment district whose authority in the corridor’s boundaries would supersede that of the cities.

Pirrello said sales and property tax levies are likely alternatives for raising money needed to pay for the initial and any later improvements. Funding from the Missouri Department of Transportation and other sources, including Metro Transit, also is possible. With various improvements in place, ongoing maintenance would be the responsibility of participating cities.

As for the master, or overlay, district, Pirrello said it would preserve the intent of the plan and prevent any one municipality from dominating the initiative.

Ellisville, Ballwin and Wildwood will be asked to approve a letter of engagement hiring Jon Dalton, an attorney, to lead the effort to draft legislation authorizing creation of the master district, a measure requiring passage by the Missouri legislature. Dalton, who also is mayor of Town & Country, specializes in government regulatory law and, according to Pirrello, is offering his services pro bono.

Other current activities include reviewing proposals for a branding identity for the Manchester corridor. The Great Streets committee holds public meetings on the first and third Mondays of every month at Bluebird Park. Also, the committee is working on establishing specific district boundaries and determining responsibilities and authorities.

In an interview after his presentation, Pirrello said he backs the Great Streets effort not only because it presents a coherent approach for the future but also because he believes in the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. It would be shameful, he noted, if the end result of all the public money and effort that already have gone into the initiative was merely a planning document “collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.”Pirrello said sales and property tax levies are likely alternatives for raising money needed to pay for the initial and any later improvements. Funding from the Missouri Department of Transportation and other sources, including Metro Transit, also is possible. With various improvements in place, ongoing maintenance would be the responsibility of participating cities.

As for the master district, Pirrello said it would preserve the intent of the plan and prevent any one municipality from dominating the initiative.

Ellisville, Ballwin and Wildwood will be asked to approve a letter of engagement hiring Jon Dalton, an attorney, to lead the effort to draft legislation authorizing creation of the master district, a measure requiring passage by the Missouri legislature. Dalton, who also is mayor of Town & County, specializes in government regulatory law.

Other current activities include reviewing proposals for a branding identity for the Manchester corridor. The Great Streets committee holds public meetings on the first and third Mondays of every month at Bluebird Park. Also, the committee is working on establishing specific district boundaries and determining responsibilities and authorities.

In an interview after his presentation, Pirrello said he backs the Great Streets effort not only because it presents a coherent approach for the future but also because he believes in the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. It would be shameful, he noted, if the end result of all the public money and effort that already have gone into the initiative was merely a planning document “collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.”