The race to safer streets in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS — Whether it’s blowing red lights or driving at dangerous speeds, everyone from the mayor to aldermen is calling for change, but are they moving at the same rate as the out-of-control drivers?

The problem is clear. Many drivers speed, blow through red lights or do not stop at stop signs.

On Valentine’s Day, 42-year-old Laticha Bracero and her daughter, 21-year-old Alyssa Cordova, were hit and killed at 18th and Olive after the Drake concert by an alleged out-of-control driver.

The Chicagoans died.

The next day, Mayor Tishaura Jones pointed the spotlight to other elected leaders.

“We want to make sure people are safe,” Jones said. “This also renews our call for more street safety initiatives that’s currently being stalled at the Board of Aldermen.”

On February 28, about six months after the board’s proposal, a committee discussed the drafted bill. Another meeting was held on March 7.

St. Louis Alderman Rasheen Aldridge represents the 14th Ward and does not believe the board has stalled.

“The session isn’t over. Our session doesn’t go down until mid-April,” Aldridge said.

The board expects the proposal to pass by the end of the current session.

In the meantime, the mayor said the city is working toward safer streets.

“We’re doing everything we possibly can, humanely possible, to make our streets safer by deploying our ARPA resources to address street safety in the city,” Jones said.

The FOX Files started to dig into the money.

In May 2022, the city invested $86 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds into repaving major streets, trimming trees, maintaining city recreation centers and providing additional lighting.

Nearly a year later, in March 2023, the city forked over an additional $40 million in ARPA funds to implement completed traffic safety studies and make improvements to the city’s most dangerous intersections and main thoroughfares, which include South Grand and Forest Park Parkway.

There are numerous projects happening across St. Louis. Click here to see the breakdown and timeline.

Nearly a year later, some think it’s still complete chaos.

“It’s extremely busy,” St. Louis University student Russell Hooker said. “It’s almost confusing for the driver because it’s like 1, 2, 3, 4—it’s like a million lights.”

Hooker isn’t the only one who feels that way.

“This is the most dangerous part for walkers and pedestrians,” St. Louis University student Marco Lescea said.

There were 51 deadly crashes last year in the City of St. Louis, nine involving pedestrians. Police-provided statistics reveal that there’s fewer fatalities than in 2022, 2021 and 2020.

While the mayor said she’s deploying ARPA resources, nothing has changed at the intersection of South Grand and Forest Parkways.

“We’re moving as quickly as we possibly can,” city spokesman Nick Dunne said.

Dunne said the city is still in the design phase but hopes construction will start by the end of the year or early next year.

“Infrastructure takes time to design and engineer. If we just threw down pavement and left it at that, that would be breaking our promise to the citizens of St. Louis,” Dunne said.

Aldridge represents the 14th Ward, where the Chicago mother and daughter were killed crossing the street. He wonders if they’d be here today if the red-light cameras were active.

“Even if we passed it two or three months ago, I don’t think we would’ve seen red light cameras instantly on street corners—there’s still a process that it has to go through, Aldridge said. “I believe if red light cameras were here, this accident still would’ve happened.”

The alderman thinks making streets safer may go beyond spending money and installing red light cameras.

“It’s about changing minds and the culture of the way people drive in St. Louis.

Board of Aldermen President Megan Green said the full board should pass the red-light camera bill soon.

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