Manchester Streetscape

Forest Park Southeast Development Corp. > Forest Park Southeast Infrastructure Committee >

Update: Stakeholders from Forest Park Southeast have postponed a decision on picking a pedestrian streetlight for Manchester Avenue while city officials gather more information about the fixtures. A final decision is expected by the end of the month. In deciding which fixture to choose, committee members are weighing factors such as brightness, light uniformity, lamp type (high pressure sodium vs. metal halide), pole (granitoid vs. cast iron), aesthetics (historic vs. contemporary) and cost.
Lighting fixture finalists

New streetlights will shine in the Grove, thanks to a grant from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. The council awarded $1.45 million for pedestrian lighting on Manchester from Taylor to Sarah in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. The new lights will be installed as part of Manchester Streetscape Project in 2010.

The Manchester lighting project was one of 75 projects picked by the council to receive funds. Nearly 400 projects from around the region vied for the grants, which were part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act recently passed by Congress.

Joe Roddy, 17th Ward Alderman, said the lighting grant was "another major step forward" for the community. “This is great news for the businesses, residents and patrons of the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood," Roddy said. "I want to thank East West Gateway and of course the city’s representative on that board, Mayor Slay, for sharing our vision of Manchester as a pedestrian-oriented entertainment and commercial district.”

The original $2 million Manchester streetscape plan calls for new sidewalks, trees, street furniture and crosswalks – and thanks to the grant, lighting will now be included. Funded through a federal grant plus funds from the city of St. Louis and Washington University Medical Center, the project is scheduled to begin in 2010, after completion of the I-64/Highway 40 construction project.

Manchester Plan