Parking lot's closing presents challenge for Chouteau Island
Break-ins were common on St. Louis side
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| Chris Coates photo -- A sign warns motorists at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge parking lot in North St. Louis. The nonprofit that runs the bridge, which links Missouri to Chouteau Island, closed the lot Nov. 1, raising concerns that visitors won't be able to get to the island. Chris Coates photo -- A sign warns motorists at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge parking lot in North St. Louis. The nonprofit that runs the bridge, which links Missouri to Chouteau Island, closed the lot Nov. 1, raising concerns that visitors won't be able to get to the island. |
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Trailnet, the nonprofit that operates the region's bike trails, earlier this month closed the lot, which sits about a quarter-mile south of Interstate 270 off Riverview Drive and was used by hikers and others to park their cars before walking across the bridge to the island.
The pedestrian bridge, which once carried Route 66 over the Mississippi River, is the only way to enter the island from Missouri; another bridge, open to cars and pedestrians, links the island to Illinois through West Chain of Rocks Road.Earlier, the St. Louis lot had been plagued by numerous car break-ins -- by some counts as many as 50 this summer alone -- forcing Trailnet to post a guard at the bridge
That guard was removed and the lot, which charged $3 per vehicle, was shuttered Nov. 1 due to cost concerns, said Trailnet spokeswoman Kathi Weilbacher.
While the bridge will remain open -- from a half-hour before dawn to a half-hour after sunset -- the parking lot will be closed through spring except for some special events, she said.
"We were providing secure parking but we just don't have the budget to provide that all the time and since we're going into winter, we've made the hard decision to cut hours," she said.
On a visit Tuesday evening, the asphalt parking lot was empty and chained shut, without a clear entrance to the bridge. A sign tells visitors parking is available in another unlit parking lot at North Riverfront Park, located 1.7 miles south.
There is also no indication that the bridge is still open -- it sits about 100 yards away from the locked gate -- or that visitors can park on Chouteau Island. However, Trailnet's Web site does mention the Illinois lots.
Despite the confusion, John Hamm, the mayor of Madison, which controls the bulk of the property, thinks closing the lot could actually help drive more people to use free parking lots on the island itself, which he said are safer than those in St. Louis.
"The people that use that bridge know that. Because it's safer," he said. "I think we're going to see an increase."
Hamm pointed out that Madison recently installed cameras on the island to discourage car break-ins and illegal dumping.
Police on Sunday used the cameras to catch a team of three prolific burglars who were breaking into parked cars in the Chouteau Island lot, said Madison police Detective Steve Shelby.
Shelby thinks the burglars, two men and a teen-ager, came to that lot after discovering the St. Louis parking lot was shuttered.
"They can't go to Missouri," he said Friday, "so they come to Illinois."
Shelby said the arrests are part of an overall effort to stamp down on criminal elements on the island.
For now, though, crime appears to be holding steady despite the cameras and closures, said Mark Ottis, a captain with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources police, which patrols the 3,200-acre island and enforces fish and game regulations.
"We have our share of problems, but it's no more or no less," he said earlier this week. "Given its isolated nature, there's crime of all sorts out there."
E-mail: ccoates@yourjournal.com
