Blog

Florissant Mayor Thomas P. Schneider has announced that the city is realigning rue St. Francois from rue St. Charles to St. Ferdinand Shrine to eliminate the “jog in the road”. A video about this project is available on Cable TV or on the city website at www.florissantmo.com.

For far too many years it has been obvious that St Francois Street did not line-up with the roadway down to the Shrine, Schneider said. Meanwhile, there has been an increase in the number of activities in Old Town.

In addition to the 50 year old Valley of Flowers Festival, the city hosts the Old Town Partners Wednesday Nights Out, Hispanic Festival, Fall Festival, Green Line Tours and other activities. There has also been an increase in attention the Archdiocese is giving to the Shrine, Schneider added, which has resulted in an increase in special events and tourism there. As a result, a priority was given to a project to improve the traffic flow for safety and efficiency for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic and to improve the aesthetics of the entrance to our most important historical landmark.

City Street Department personnel Jason Timme (backhoe operator), Bobby Krause, and Dan Pagano started on the project last week led by Street Foreman Kevin Green and Street Superintendent Gary Meyer. Director of Public Works Lou Jearls  says the project should be completed by July 12, weather permitting.

Work involves locating utilities, cutting out the area to realign the curb-line, relocating a bench along the sidewalk, placing several lifts of rock and asphalt, installing an asphalt curb, landscaping behind the curb and reworking the ADA sidewalk ramp at the corner.  The widening will vary from just a few feet to 7-8 feet at its widest point.

It will look better and motorists will immediately ‘feel’ the difference, Schneider said.