The Gateway mall, beginning at the Arch Grounds and extending westward in a wide, green urban park space to historic Union Station at 22 nd street, provides such a place for St. Louis. Development and enhancement of this grand urban space is perhaps the most visible and important aspect of the Downtown Action Plan. The Downtown Action Plan for the Gateway Mall and Arch Grounds builds upon the grand scale of this pubic space, providing Downtown St. Louis and the entire St. Louis region with a first class landmark that will recognized throughout the world. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive program to improve streets and streetscapes throughout Downtown is being implemented. Downtown currently has a confusing collection of streets that lack direction and cause visitors in search of activities to traverse many blocks to get to their intended destination.
Signage is poor and inconsistent.
Sidewalks are of varying widths and often do not offer amenities such as benches and lighting. The Action Plan calls for creating an atmosphere that invites and encourages pedestrian activity, while facilitating vehicular traffic flow. The Action Plan will focus on creating distinct types of streets for retail, access, pedestrian, and special purposes in each of the Downtown Districts. In addition, considerable attention will be paid to establishing an identity for different blocks, using streetscape amenities and design. An intensive tree planting program, standard street lights, traffic lights, pedestrian fixtures, benches, and other pedestrian amenities need to be coordinated in order to portray a unique and coherent physical environment.