Forest Park Forever was proud to collaborate with the City of St. Louis and Aldermen Lyda Krewson and Scott Ogilvie to complete major streetscape improvements at the intersection of Skinker and Clayton Avenues and along a mile-long stretch of Oakland Avenue.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held the morning of October 20 to commemorate the completion of the $2 million project. The improvements were funded through a $1.6 federal grant secured by the City of St. Louis, $200,000 in Ward Capital Improvement funds from Aldermen Krewson and Ogilvie and a $200,000 gift to Forest Park Forever from the Gertrude and William A. Bernoudy Foundation.

The slideshow below features just a few images from the event. Speakers included Lesley S. Hoffarth, P.E., President and Executive Director of Forest Park Forever; Richard T. Bradley, P.E., President of the Board of Public Service; Thomas R. Collins, Chairman of the Forest Park Forever Board of Directors; Alderwoman Lyda Krewson (28th Ward); Alderman Scott Ogilvie (24th Ward); and Director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry Greg Hayes.

Key highlights of this project include:

• New traffic lights were installed to help manage traffic flowing through this busy intersection.
• A new trail connection to Forest Park has been created.
• Crosswalks have been installed across I-64, Skinker Ave., Clayton Ave., McCausland Ave. and along Oakland Ave. at Louisville and Tamm Ave. to allow pedestrians to more safely enter and exit Forest Park.
• ADA ramps have been installed at all crosswalks to make the area more accessible for everyone.
• Approximately 1 mile of sidewalk was built along Oakland Ave. between McCausland Ave. and Hampton Ave.
• Oakland Ave. was reduced to one lane in each direction to allow for buffered bike lanes to be created.
• Thanks to improved access and pedestrian crosswalks along Oakland Avenue, Forest Park now has better connections to adjacent neighborhoods.
• The Park has expanded thanks to construction shifting land away from the roads and converting it back to green space.

More information about this project can be found in the press release for this project's announcement.

Many thanks go out to the local news crews that were on site to cover this exciting improvement project, including Fox 2, KSDK, KMOV and STL TV.