Historic St. Charles Gateway Redone

St. Charles, MO is a classic American river city that has preserved its historical charm and attracts almost a million visitors each year. With the completion of the Fifth Street Gateway Streetscape Project, visitors are welcomed into town and immediately get a sense of what makes St. Charles such a sought-out destination.

This unique, $10 million (program budget) complete street project designed features around existing facilities to maintain the community’s character, while promoting economic development. Improvements cover a ten-block section of urban roadway and were designed to improve traffic flow and pedestrian activity. Final construction documents included:

• pavement rehabilitation;
• reconstruction and widening;
• ADA-compliant sidewalks;
• curb ramps and crosswalks;
• decorative retaining walls (including the gateway called the “River Wall”);
• storm sewers;
• signals, lighting and signs;
• shared bicycle lanes;
• right-of-way takings from over 50 parcels;
• new 12-inch water main;
• a complex staging plan;
• access management and driveway reconfiguration and
• an extensive add alternate plan that allowed the City to pick and choose the “extras” that they could afford.

Crawford, Murphy & Tilly (CMT) also provided a utility coordinator who oversaw the successful completion of undergrounding the communication lines and coordinating over $1 million worth of utility work. Streetscape and architecture features include decorative street and pedestrian lighting, brick pavers, street trees, planting beds, wayfinding signs, park benches, green space, and placemaking.

An in-depth public engagement program helped achieve buy-in for the project and allowed residents to weigh in on design decisions such as site furnishings, typical section options, and light fixtures. Two open house style meetings proved to be very successful with both the stakeholders and the surrounding community.