Shrewsbury Seeking Public Feedback on Connector, No Official Statement Yet

As the city of Shrewsbury mulls over its official response to the proposed South County Connector, it's invited residents to let them know how they feel about it at the next board of aldermen meeting.

Mayor Felicity Buckley has invited to the public to its July 9 meeting, where she hopes the aldermen can gather feedback via several “break-out sessions”. It will likely be similar to public forums held to gather comment about the Shrewsbury Walmart.

The board discussed the issue at a work session Tuesday, where they heard a summary of St. Louis County’s draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the city’s engineering contractor, Tom Weiss.

“There are pros and cons,” Buckley said of the project, adding that she has not made up her mind personally about whether she supports or opposes it. 

The biggest question for Buckley and one repeated by other aldermen and city officials concerns how the proposed roadway will impact traffic on local streets. The best case scenario would be that it could pull drivers off the city’s “feeder” streets, such as Landsdowne, Murdoch and Laclede.

“The city of Shrewsbury could uniquely benefit from having traffic decline in the community, but we are not exactly certain that will occur,” she said.

It currently aims to connect Hanley Road to the north with River Des Peres Boulevard in the south with a new stretch of roadway that will wind along Deer Creek, cross over it toward Highway 44 and then enter Shrewsbury between the railroad and the Metro Link.

In a summary of the EIS provided by St. Louis County, the government said it has performed traffic study simulations according to three possible “build scenarios.” The two options involving the construction of the South County Connector showed that traffic will decrease on Marshall, Lansdowne and Shrewsbury avenues. 

One of the biggest impacts on Shrewsbury will be the construction of a new, full interchange at Highway 44. Alderman Sam Sciortino said this will likely mean the closing of the highway’s current half interchange at Shrewsbury Avenue.

With two possible routes for the roadway, Sciortino said there remain many unknowns and some details of the project, such as that proposed interchange, are still being talked about in generalities.

“Do I see a need? Sure,” he said. “Is this the solution for that need? I’m just not certain yet.”

Like Buckley, he said that he had not come to a firm opinion either way on the project. However, he indicated that the city would be releasing a unified statement on the South County Connector sometime in the near future.

Whatever the case, the stakes for Shrewsbury aren’t quite as high as for their neighbor Maplewood, which has already released such a statement expressing opposition to the South County Connector due to its route through their recently developed Deer Creek Center.

Shrewsbury Director of Administration Jonathan Greever said homes or business close to the proposed I-44 interchange are the most likely to be impacted. The city itself also has some facilities nearby, including the aquatic center and the public works facility.

“It may involve acquiring some property in that area,” he said. “The question is how does that integrate with the current planning and layout of the city at that location?”