ST. LOUIS — It’s been one year since Janae Edmondson lost her legs in a crash while in St. Louis for the President’s Day Classic Volleyball Tournament.
Just two weeks after the tragedy St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones signed a bill dedicating millions to traffic safety.
A then-17-year-old Janae Edmondson was crossing the street on Feb. 18, 2023, when her life as she knew it changed forever. She was hit by a car and lost her legs.
Now, roughly a year later, another family is grieving after a mother and daughter were hit and killed by a speeding driver leaving a Drake concert.
“My heart goes out to everyone impacted by traffic violence," Jones said. "No matter how you get around the City of St. Louis, everyone deserves to feel safe on our streets and sidewalks. While the city has made significant investments in traffic and pedestrian infrastructure, reckless driving continues to be an urgent and immediate issue that directly affects the safety and wellbeing of residents and visitors alike."
What happened to Edmondson heavily affected St. Louis in two major areas: the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office and streets plagued with traffic problems.
“How can we teach our teenagers how to drive in a city where the rules of the road feel more like suggestions.”
Those were Jones’ words as she signed the St. Louis Safer Streets Bill nearly one year ago, allocating $47.25 million to traffic calming and road improvements. Since then the city’s website shows only $392,161.47 of that money has been spent.
Here’s how that $47.25 million breaks down:
- Traffic calming and roadway improvements - $12 million allocated, $98,013.99 spent.
- Sidewalk Improvements - $6 million allocated, $205,934.21 spent.
- Street paving for arterials - $8 million allocated, $0 spent.
- Greenway North Grand Corridor improvement - $2 million allocated, $0 spent.
- ADA and traffic calming improvements - $14.5 million allocated, $71,965.50 spent.
- Safety improvements of top 10 crash locations - $3.5 million allocated, $16,247.77 spent.
- Mobility and Transportation Master Plan - $1.25 million allocated, $0 spent.
“What I have discovered as mayor is that it takes a long time from the time that the money is passed by the board and approved, to the time from the design to RFP, to when we see the work in our communities,” Jones said. " That work is happening and people should start seeing that work start this year."
We could see plans to fix the city’s top ten intersections with the most crashes sometime this spring, as construction is scheduled to start between October and December.
These are the top ten crash locations:
Broadway and Washington Avenue.
Broadway and Walnut Street.
Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Parkway.
North Grand Boulevard/Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard/Evans Avenue.
Grand Boulevard and Gravois Avenue.
Kingshighway Boulevard and Lindell Boulevard.
Kingshighway Boulevard and Delmar Boulevard.
Gravois Avenue/Russell Avenue/Tucker Boulevard.
Florissant Avenue and Palm Avenue.
Lindell Boulevard/Whittier Street.
“We don't have to wait around for more people to die. We can take action now,” co-chair of the Community Mobility Committee Aubrey Bryon said.
She said temporary solutions could have been put in place while the long-term plans move through the process that takes years to implement.
“You can put up plastic bollards to help narrow lanes and slow traffic," Byron said. "We can have curb bump-outs that make it safer and narrow the crossing. Most importantly, we can put crosswalks down. If pedestrians have the right of way, our infrastructure should show that. And in so many places, the crossings are almost gone."
Byron said the city desperately needs a Mobility and Transportation Master Plan, which the mayor allocated $1.25 million for, but so far it appears none of that money has been spent.
“Right now, we just have Alderpeople trying to do their best who don't have a planning background or an urban design background, taking their discretionary funds and just doing what they can with it," Byron said. "We really need a city-wide plan to address this issue of traffic violence. And we'd like to see someone in the streets department, or perhaps a (Department of Transportation) dedicated to vulnerable road users' safety, which is pedestrians and cyclists or people using a wheelchair. Right now, there is not a single person in St. Louis staff that is fully dedicated to improving pedestrian safety in St. Louis."
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