ST. LOUIS — A key stretch of Seventh Street downtown is set to get more than $3 million in infrastructure work, an investment organizers hope will better connect Ballpark Village with Washington Avenue.
"Downtown has some incredible investors right now, big projects, but we need to create the linkages. We need to pull everybody up," said St. Louis Cardinals' President Bill DeWitt III.
The work — including new sidewalks, ramps, lighting, traffic signals, trees and a cycle track on the west side of the street, which will be repaved — is targeted for Seventh from Walnut Street north to Washington.
That's aimed at connecting "two strong anchors in Ballpark Village and the Convention Center while providing a new walkable and bikeable experience for residents, visitors and people who work downtown," said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis Inc., the private-sector business group.
The subject of a turnaround plan released last year, downtown has also suffered foot-traffic declines amid the pandemic.
A city of St. Louis spokesman said the government is working to secure rights of way and temporary construction easements from property owners along the route. Work on the project will be put out for bids this fall, the spokesman said, and completion could come by the end of 2023. Architecture firm HOK, which is based downtown, has already done significant design work.
Funding, the city said, is coming from the state and federal governments, plus private sources.
Officials said the Missouri Development Finance Board awarded $400,000 in tax credits, which yielded $800,000 in contributions. Federal money came from the Surface Transportation Program run by East-West Gateway Council of Governments ($2.1 million) and the U.S. Department of Transportation's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program ($900,000).
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