The Webster Groves City Council on Dec. 17 gave the nod for Great Rivers Greenway (GRG) to continue plans for the second phase of the proposed Shady Creek and Deer Creek greenways. This phase would feature a pedestrian trail and other improvements through Webster Groves, as well Brentwood and Maplewood.

Plans include a public open house most likely in February, finalizing a design and cost estimate by summer, going out for bids and breaking ground as early as fall of 2014, and a projected nine-month construction schedule, Carey Bundy, GRG project manager told the council during its work session.

This greenway plan will connect parks and other open spaces along natural corridors such as streams. It will follow Shady and Deer creeks between Larson Park in Webster Groves and Deer Creek Center in Maplewood, and include an approximate three-mile trail, Bundy said.

Shady Creek and Deer Creek greenways are meant to link Brentwood, Maplewood and Webster Groves. In a later phase, they will link other communities with Brentwood's system of trails.

The greenways will also serve as a connector to a planned larger system of trails following Deer Creek and, ultimately, lead to River des Peres and the Mississippi River. To the west, the Shady Creek Greenway will link to the Gravois Greenway and Grant's Trail, Bundy said.

These will be among 16 active greenways that have been established in St. Louis and St. Charles counties and St. Louis city since GRG was formed in 2000. The greenways include about 106 miles of off street trails and a little over 80 miles of onstreet routes, both serving pedestrians and bicyclists.

The Shady Creek greenway improvements going through Webster Groves are meant to enhance the corridor along Brentwood Boulevard in Lorraine Davis Park next to the creek, as well as deal with problems along the creek such as eroding stream banks, debris in creeks and periodic flooding.

Director of Parks and Recreation Mike Oppermann said he was aware of city concerns on parking and maintenance of trail improvements.

"There is now a new GRG emergency maintenance fund established for 2014 and beyond to pay for unforeseen repairs needed on these projects," he said.

And there is the potential to purchase some land for parking along the trail, Bundy said.

"Even after the trail is in, we can monitor feedback on usage to find areas for extra parking," she said.

Shared use of some parking spaces at churches near the trail could be negotiated, Welch said, although Council Member Debi Salberg warned that trail parking shouldn't conflict with the need for parking during church services.

Bundy said the Shady Creek and Deer Creek Greenways, and their trails, will be implemented in five phases:

  • A first phase, which has been completed, includes nearly a one-mile trail connecting Deer Creek Park east to Deer Creek Center in Maplewood.
  • The second phase will include a 1.7-mile trail from Lorraine Davis Park in Webster Groves to Deer Creek Park, a new bridge, landscaping, as well as a creek bank biostabilization demonstration project at Lorraine Davis Park.
  • The third phase is for an eastern trail extension from Deer Creek Center to River Des Peres.
  • In the final two phases, the trail will be extended from Deer Creek greenway to Rogers Parkway in Brentwood, and from Lorraine Davis Park to Larson Park.

Preliminary cost estimates for phase two are approximately $4 million, with no final cost yet determined for the entire greenway buildout, Bundy said.