Crystal City and Festus Announce Public Kick-off for Great Streets Initiative
(Crystal City, MO/Festus, MO) - The Cities of Festus and Crystal City are kicking off public events for the Great Streets Initiative process assisted by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. This Great Streets project, dubbed the M2M: Main to Mississippi Plan, seeks to fortify Main Street, Bailey, and Mississippi between the two city halls and improve connections among the neighborhoods. This is truly a unique opportunity to author a strategy for reimagining these downtowns for a brighter reality!
“One of the goals of the Great Streets Initiative is to look at ways to support the long-enduring, positive relationship between Crystal City and Festus,” stated Paul Hubbman, Senior Manager of Corridor & Long-range Planning for East -West Gateway. “The process will incorporate past comprehensive plans, focus on enhancing the quality of both downtown districts, develop branding that reinforces the identities of both cities, analyze the economic factors and market realities at play, improve mobility, better connect both downtowns to each other, assess parking, explore underused areas for development opportunities, and reconsider environmental strategies such as stormwater and planted areas.”
Public input events will be held the weeks of February 1 and February 15 consisting of Design Studios that focus on sections of the study area from Main Street in Festus to Mississippi Avenue in Crystal City. See attached map. These interactive design studios will be held at the First Baptist Church, 107 N. Truman Boulevard, where participants can learn about the process, share ideas and concerns, and offer feedback on emerging concepts. Participants can attend for 15 minutes, an entire session, or all sessions. The goal of these workshops is to imagine the area’s future and steps to realizing its full potential.
Design Studio Schedule – First Baptist Church, 107 N. Truman Blvd.
Tuesday, February 1st, 4pm-7pm (Focus: Festus Main Street)
Wednesday, February 2nd, 11am-1pm (Focus: Festus Main Street)
Thursday, February 3rd, 4pm-7pm (Focus: Main Street and Bailey Road)
Tuesday, February 15th, 4pm-7pm (Focus: Bailey Road)
Wednesday, February 16th, 11am-1pm (Focus: Bailey Road and Mississippi Avenue)
Thursday, February 17th, 4pm-7pm (Focus: Mississippi Avenue to Main Street)
Learn more about the project and contribute your ideas/concerns on the interactive map by visiting:
The Great Streets Initiative challenges communities to envision streets as more than spaces for automotive travel, but as integrated conduits for moving people, improving connectivity, enhancing local economies, improving ecology, and creating attractive, interesting places – in brief, building stronger communities and rethinking the relationships between streets and their social and economic objectives. The final Great Streets Initiative will be completed by June 30, 2022.