![\"caption2\"](\"http:\/\/safetga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/IMG_8097-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>Buffered bike lanes have been painted on Tower Grove Avenue between Vandeventer and Magnolia. \u00a0A view of the Shaw intersection looking south along\u00a0Tower Grove Ave.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
![\"caption1\"](\"http:\/\/safetga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/IMG_8071-Edit-300x198.jpg\")
<\/a>The striping is not complete. \u00a0We will pay close attention to the progress\u00a0and write more about the details soon.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
We’ll detail the lanes in a later post, but for now we’ll savor the moment, thank\u00a0our friends, recall how we\u00a0got here, and share thoughts about what’s next.<\/p>\n
We’d like to sincerely acknowledge, first, the role played by Mayor Slay’s office, Alderman Conway, and the Streets Department in making this happen. \u00a0Bringing them on board did not always feel easy, but once committed they moved quickly and expertly to install the lanes. \u00a0They did so because hundreds of you\u00a0signed our petition and told them, in various ways, why making Tower Grove Avenue safe for cyclists is so important. \u00a0Thank you all. \u00a0We are also grateful to Great Rivers Greenway and Trailnet for their advocacy and support, and to the passionate\u00a0and talented\u00a0people who work there. \u00a0Special thanks to Rhonda Smythe for her wisdom and vision, and most of all to Dana Gray, without whose inspiration, aid, and guidance this would not have happened.<\/p>\n
We started SafeTGA two years ago to advocate for cyclist safety on Tower Grove Avenue<\/a> because we rely on it ourselves, and we know many others do too. \u00a0We wrote<\/a> about the threats posed by the upcoming Kingshighway project early on, and raised the alarm<\/a> when\u00a0the City postponed\u00a0Phase III bike lanes to accommodate more traffic during the closure. \u00a0We organized a meeting<\/a> for local cyclists to find\u00a0a consensus on what we want Tower Grove Ave to look like, and presented the Mayor a petition<\/a> asking that buffered bike lanes be installed before Kingshighway closes. \u00a0The result was astounding – over 650 people signed the petition, hundreds wrote<\/a> about why this was important, and a\u00a0local TV station did a news story about this issue<\/a>. \u00a0Yet the future of Tower Grove Ave involves the neighborhood as a whole, and we presented at both the Southwest Garden<\/a> as well as the Shaw neighborhood<\/a> meetings to share our concerns and gather feedback from the broader community. \u00a0Once\u00a0the neighborhood organizations were on board things moved quickly<\/a>, and within a week crews were painting\u00a0lines on Tower Grove Avenue.<\/p>\n Going forward, SafeTGA\u00a0will continue to advocate for cyclists and pedestrians along the Tower Grove Avenue corridor, from the Tower Grove neighborhoods\u00a0to the Cortex District. \u00a0We’ll also organize group rides around\u00a0St. Louis to check out\u00a0bike infrastructure and offer feedback. \u00a0If this sounds like something you’d like to hear more about, stay in touch: write us at info@safetga.org<\/a>, like our SafeTGA page<\/a> on Facebook, and search for\u00a0our #SafeTGA<\/a> tag on Twitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We did it! \u00a0Buffered bike lanes were painted on Tower Grove Avenue last week! \u00a0Cyclists on St. Louis’ busiest bike route will now have dedicated lanes when Kingshighway closes in a few weeks. Update: The new Tower Grove Ave bike…<\/span><\/p>\n