ST. LOUIS — Hundreds of millions of dollars are pouring into Missouri to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities. But unsafe streets continue to be a growing threat, as pedestrian deaths in the U.S. have spiked over the years.
In 2009, there were 4,109 pedestrian fatalities, and in 2022, there were 7,522 pedestrian fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That is an increase of 83% between 2009 and 2022.
Janae Edmondson knows the dangers of walking in St. Louis.
“I couldn't feel my body at all," said Edmondson, a car crash survivor, during court testimony on March 7. “And I was just in pain.”
Eighteen-year-old Edmondson has become the face of an epidemic. She was a victim of dangerous driving when a 21-year-old sped through an intersection and slammed into her. She was in the area for a volleyball tournament. She lost her legs.
“I was just sitting there, facedown, like on the concrete," Edmondson said.
She plays her favorite sport differently now, and physical therapy consumes her days.
“I just became depressed," she said.
Since that crash in downtown St. Louis, advocates for safer streets have been pouring through data to understand what’s going wrong and how the city can improve. And now, we’re bringing you the results of a new report that helps to connect the dots.
The I-Team met street safety advocate Cindy Mense at one of St. Louis’ busiest intersections on the corner of Forest Park Parkway and Skinker Boulevard.
“We know it's a dangerous location," she said.
She’s the CEO of Trailnet, an advocacy organization focused on street safety. For the fourth year in a row, she’s been analyzing traffic crashes.
“Fatalities went up in St. Louis County this year," she said.
Her research shows the number of people walking in the county killed by drivers has reached a new high: 28 people last year alone. It’s the highest number in recorded data.
Trailnet analyzed data from the Missouri Statewide Traffic Accident Records System (STARS), which is managed by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The following St. Louis County pedestrian deaths were reported in recent years:
- 2023 - 28 deaths.
- 2022 - 21 deaths.
- 2021 - 23 deaths.
- 2020 - 27 deaths.
The research revealed yet another record in the county, the number of crash-related injuries among people walking and biking:
- 2023 - 395 injuries.
- 2022 - 341 injuries.
- 2021 - 309 injuries.
- 2020 - 317 injuries.
Trailnet said 2023 saw the highest number of injuries since 2011.
“That is very concerning," Mense said.
Meanwhile, in the city, the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed by drivers dropped:
- 2023 - 8 people killed.
- 2022 - 20 people killed.
- 2021 - 20 people killed.
- 2020 - 19 people killed.
Mense credited more awareness.
Still, she said there’s a worrisome trend: The vast majority of crashes involving people walking continue to happen in Black and minority areas.
“Because they have higher levels of riding transit, not having cars and depending on other modes of transportation," Mense said.
She said it makes people in certain areas more vulnerable. The report revealed the most dangerous boulevards are Grand, Kingshighway and Gravois.
St. Louis County spokesperson Elizabeth Eisele told us in an email: "The County has invested $7.5 million in improvements to Airport Road that is removing and replacing 1.7 miles of Airport Road from I-170 east to N. Florissant, through Berkeley and Ferguson. This stretch sees nearly 22,000 vehicles daily and was identified by our Department of Transportation and Public Works as one of the worst roads in the County. We are replacing deteriorated sidewalks and cubs while installing new traffic signals and ADA-accessible ramps at crosswalks … The County has also begun developing a new Comprehensive Plan for the first time in 40 years. This strategic plan will look at land use, transportation, housing, infrastructure, economic development, environmental sustainability, public facilities and community services."
“I think it's a multifactor issue," said Scott Ogilvie, the City of St. Louis' program manager for Complete Streets.
The I-Team pressed Ogilvie for solutions and an explanation.
“It has something to do with roadway design. And it has a lot, we believe, to do with distracted driving … It has something to do with vehicle size," Ogilvie said.
The I-Team asked what actions the city is taking to address safety.
“I think number one is roadway design … Fewer lanes of traffic, shorter crossings for pedestrians, things that generally slow the speed of vehicular traffic," Ogilvie said.
He said there is now an unprecedented amount of funding: $300 million to roll out citywide over the next four years. It's money that’ll go toward widening sidewalks and adding bike lanes.
There is $439 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding that came into the City of St. Louis, according to Trailnet. A total of $46 million is earmarked for street and sidewalk improvements. Those funds have to all be used by Dec. 31, 2026.
“We believe that an ordinance that will allow us to have things like red light cameras, again, will likely pass, and I think that'll be a really useful policy tool on the enforcement side," Ogilvie said.
These cameras are used by law enforcement to catch drivers running red lights. Other types catch speeding. Traffic safety experts, including Marc Scribner with the think tank the Reason Foundation, called them among the most immediately helpful and least costly tools.
A spokesperson with the Missouri Department of Transportation’s St Louis District, overseeing MoDOT work in St. Louis city, county and surrounding areas, told us in an email: “MoDOT invests significantly in safety as we go through the process to evaluate and manage the roadways we maintain. As the department goes through the design process, each project is assessed as to which safety features may be included within the overall intent of, and the available funding for, the project. We have several projects being designed right now to address safety concerns along portions of Route 231, Route D in the city of St. Louis and Route 115 in St. Louis County. We have also specifically invested in safety with a $52 million project solely dedicated to enhancing safety along MoDOT-maintained routes in St. Louis and Jefferson counties, and the city of St. Louis, as well as St. Louis County-maintained routes. Our roadway users do also have a role to play in helping ensure our roadways are safe – that’s why we strongly encourage everyone in a vehicle to wear a seat belt, and for all drivers to ensure they put their phone down and pay attention to changing roadway conditions, and for more vulnerable users like pedestrians and cyclists.”
The City of St. Louis’s Board of Aldermen passed a resolution to kickstart the planning process around a “Vision Zero” city on April 5. Vision Zero is a methodology on how to approach city infrastructure with a goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries. Hoboken, New Jersey and cities across the country have instituted Vision Zero policies. The City of St. Louis is likely to apply for federal funding to help implement the Vision Zero initiative. Street safety advocates said Vision Zero is an initiative that starts with a goal and then implements a strategy to achieve that goal.
But Mense said she believes there’s too much waiting. She wants quicker changes like temporary traffic barriers to slow down cars in high crash corridors. In response to traffic safety concerns, she said any street improvements to address high crash corridors must include traffic calming features. Solutions include changes to the medians to allow people to walk across the street safely, changes in lighting and changes to traffic signals to give people more time to cross the street. Overall, she said a priority is lowering speed limits to save lives.
It’s all part of the struggle to get people to pay attention. Edmondson was hit by a driver who ignored a yield sign. Her harrowing experience is a reminder of the devastating consequences of carelessness on the road.
So what can you do right now? Safety advocates say whether you’re driving, biking or walking, keep your head up and phone down.
The I-Team has talked with over a dozen people who have been impacted by traffic dangers and want action. Here's what they told us:
Sam Denehy is a St. Louis City resident who is passionate about pedestrian and cyclist safety. He said: “I was the victim of motorist violence. I was nearly hit by, then physically assaulted by a reckless driver on a St. Louis city side street in 2023 while commuting to work. Despite this incident, I remain an active urban runner and cyclist in the city, and I’m somewhat encouraged by recent news that additional infrastructure is being put in place … While I’m optimistic about these recent announcements, I think the city should be doing more to make biking and walking more attractive. Right now, it is a risk to try to travel without a car in the city (I was attacked next to a share-the-road sign, coincidentally). By not prioritizing traffic calming measures, not prosecuting drivers engaging in reckless behavior and not making sidewalks/bike infrastructure safe and easy to use, we are sleepwalking into perpetuating a car-centric, inaccessible urban environment. I don’t know why the next generation - young people that want to feel connected to their city, feel safe on the streets and want to minimize their environmental impact - would choose St. Louis over rival cities that have prioritized people-centric urban design (a recent trip to KC left me shocked that our current bike infrastructure is so piecemeal, by comparison). I think our city does have a lot to offer, and I hope more people don’t get hurt or killed because of the recent decades’ extreme focus on car-centric urban design. We can and should do better.”
Erica Hallman lives in the Benton Park West neighborhood and owns a business called The Good-ish, a vintage clothing store. She said: “Since moving to my home in 2020, there have been more traffic accidents on our block than I can count. One of the worst was on Halloween of 2020 when there was a multiple-car accident, that sent one car through the front window of Angel Boutique across the street. After calling 911, friends and neighbors spilled out of our houses to see how we could help while waiting for EMTs to arrive, which took over 30 minutes. There was a young woman who was stuck in a car, terrified and screaming that she was going to die … Another time my neighbor was stuck in a hit-and-run accident by a car while crossing the street. Another time in 2022, there was another multiple-car accident where four cars were involved. One vehicle crashed, and the driver hopped out and jumped into a car that pulled up from behind them. Another vehicle was making a right turn from Utah onto Jefferson while another was crossing Utah on Jefferson, and both drivers said they had a green light … Traffic calming on main thoroughfares of the city, like Jefferson, is imperative … Our city needs infrastructure that supports safety and stops shifting the responsibility of issues caused by streets that are engineered to function as fast-moving highways into an issue of policing, enforcement and surveillance. Our street, neighborhoods and city need protected pedestrian crosswalks, narrowed traffic lanes, mid-lane bump outs, protected/dedicated parking lanes, protected bike and scooter lanes, have good lighting and while prioritizing pedestrians and motorists from traffic violence. And when we have them, more people will live and will get to live in communities that are being designed to be safe and walkable. These are neighborhoods that inspire people to want to stay in their city, in their neighborhoods, try local restaurants, walk to the park and get to create community where they live, rather than feeling forced to leave to find it.”
Ryan Sheehan, a local cyclist, told us: “Traffic dangers in St. Louis city and county have directly impacted me last year more than ever. The biggest issue I've faced as a daily cyclist is drivers running red lights. Often, a car will fly through at near freeway speeds. A behavior I saw much more of in 2023 was that when would-be red light runners get stuck behind stopped cars they aggressively honk and/or yell out the window at those who did stop and find an opening on the other side of the road to go around and run the red light (all while I'm trying to cross on my bike). Streets such as Gravois, Lemay Ferry and Lindbergh Boulevard (all state highways). Kingshighway, Grand and Jefferson should be lumped in with those also. I've noticed it the most in south city but more often starting last year in south county. I do not believe the current conditions on Gravois (city and county) would be tolerated anyplace other than St. Louis. Late last year, I witnessed a 40-plus mph collision in broad daylight, caused by a red-light runner, all within feet of families waiting to cross Gravois at Grant's Trail. Elsewhere in Missouri, when you get to a town on a state highway, the speed limit drastically drops and the road narrows. Even towns with a few hundred people are doing a much better job of protecting the most vulnerable users such as children and the elderly. Case in point, last year a family friend was hit and killed walking across the street in front of his own home on Chippewa. It seems everyone in St. Louis has heard of someone who was hit and killed by a car in their own neighborhood, yet officials are continually approving plans that make our roads dangerous. Recent projects still do not include leading pedestrian intervals or crosswalks on all four sides and often have crosswalk buttons that penalize pedestrians by taking longer to turn after pushing the button than when a car pulls up to the automatic sensor (yes, this is true) … Sometimes, you have to wait for a car to pull up before it'll change at all. One city project last year took us backward; as part of the 2023 Jefferson Avenue resurfacing, the bike lane was permanently removed. The (forthcoming) city of St. Louis bike trail project from the Jefferson Avenue bridge to the soccer stadium is the replacement, but it will not get cyclists to the same places and will facilitate higher speeds by cars on Jefferson. After touring homes in Lafayette Square, I chose not to move to that neighborhood because of Jefferson. Clearly, street engineers are prioritizing cars because of the new NGA campus. This is to the detriment of the neighborhood.”
Etta, a south St. Louis County resident who did not want to use her last name out of fear of retaliation, told us: “Growing up in a culture that prioritizes cars instead of protecting pedestrians and cyclists has had a profound impact on the way I see our region. I fear drivers because cars are murder machines. All drivers are bad drivers (including myself), even the people who think they are 'good drivers' play a role in upholding the racism that car industry tycoons like Henry Ford endorsed. The best way to support a safer city is with protected pedestrian walkways that take cars and people off the same path. We need pedestrian bridges for safe passage on roads, like Kingshighway near Tower Grove Park or downtown on Tucker. I’ll need the city to incentivize getting drivers out of their cars and on their feet or bikes or carpooling. Imagine a tax credit for pedestrians and cyclists. I see a future where we don’t prioritize drivers and actively discourage getting behind the wheel. People should not have to depend on cars, and it ultimately comes to citizens advocating for themselves to city planners who can plan to protect pedestrians and keep cars away from people on the move. The metro system should be fully funded, so bus drivers don’t have to worry about arguing with riders for $1 trips. Ultimately, the culture needs to change to value pedestrians more than we value our murder machines.”
If you’ve got an investigative tip, the I-Team wants to hear from you! Leave a voice message on 314-444-5231 or email Paula directly at pvasan@ksdk.com.