The high number of fatal crashes along Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis City is driving an effort between the Missouri Department of Transportation, state and local St. Louis officials, and the community to improve safety along the route.
Since 2012, there have 18 fatal crashes, including 13 involving pedestrians, on Natural Bridge Avenue in the city of St. Louis. Twenty people died as a result of those crashes.
The current effort focuses on a four-mile section of Natural Bridge Avenue/Route 115 between Salisbury/Parnell and the city limits.
MoDOT has partnered with St. Louis Metropolitan Police Dept. to designate a 4-mile segment of Natural Bridge between Goodfellow and Parnell a Travel Safe Zone. A travel safe zone is used to decrease crashes through increased enforcement and under Missouri law, fines are doubled. The designated zones are identified by signing. A team comprised of engineering, law enforcement and public information individuals will periodically monitor the zone for effectiveness.
As part of a collaboration with transportation partners, MoDOT has put together a series of public service announcements and is involved with a series of focus groups. These groups are intended to make the community aware of the safety issues along the roadway and to involve them in the conversation and the ultimate solutions. Many of the opportunities to improve roadway safety were identified during a road safety audit conducted earlier this year by MoDOT and local officials. You can see the current public service announcements below.
Natural Bridge carries about 12,000 vehicles per day. Between 2012 and 2016, there were a total of 1,469 crashes on the Natural Bridge corridor, a significantly higher number than other similar roadways in Missouri.