Deer Creek Trail Project Canceled Over City Council Demands

MAPLEWOOD, MO — A plan to extend Deer Creek Greenway in Maplewood, Mo., by building a trail through the city has been canceled by the developer, Great Rivers Greenway, after the Maplewood City Council delayed approval, jeopardizing a $1.5 million federal grant allocated to the project, according to a release by St. Louis Alderman Scott Ogilvie. The trail's proposed route would have taken it through the city of St. Louis' jurisdiction along Canterbury Ave. where it would have crossed Big Bend Blvd. and connected to an existing trail at Deer Creek Shopping Center.

According to the alderman, a disagreement among Maplewood councilmembers about the trail's specific route delayed approval, and Great Rivers Greenway had already passed a federal deadline to show progress on the project. Council members said last month that they wanted to see an underpass built at the Big Bend crossing for safety reasons, while the developer's plans called for a cheaper cross walk. The width of the trail was another matter of debate, and the council was divided on whether the trail should take a northern or a southern route through Maplewood, with the northern route prompting more safety concerns but the southern route being more expensive and requiring the use of eminent domain to acquire land from some homeowners along the proposed route.

Rather than undertake a project that could not be completed on budget or by the federal deadline, the developer decided to return the grant money and cancel the project.

"It is clear that this project is not ready to progress on the original timeline within the original scope of the project," Great Rivers' CEO Susan Trautman wrote this week in a letter to the city of Maplewood.

Alderman Ogilvie said the project's cancellation is frustrating and an example of how the fragmentation of municipal governments complicates projects that cross multiple jurisdictions.

"Don't shoot the messenger here," he wrote on Twitter Thursday, blaming the cancellation on Maplewood's indecision. "I could not be more disappointed."

Photo by Renee Schiavone/Patch