Ladue Council Approves Safety Measures for the Ladue Middle School Traffic Zone

Most everyone in Ladue knows that traffic on Clayton Road at Conway Road can be somewhat dangerous. That’s coupled with the fact this is the location of a very busy Ladue Middle School as well as the district headquarters building on those grounds.

Cars tend to drive way too fast through the middle school zone and also,  there’s a rather severe bend in the road at the intersection of Clayton and Conway.

Parents have voiced concerns and the City of Ladue Council took action. The council approved a cost a cost of $7,643.03 to add two school zone speed beacon assemblies with mounting poles at both ends of the school grounds. A  school zone warning sign will be placed as far east as the entrance to Ladue Chapel on Clayton Road.

One middle school parent voiced his concern, addressing the council by saying although he lived in a subdivision directly across the street, his wife still drove his daughter across the road to get safely to school.

Dennis Bible, soon to retire director of Public Works was on the phone immediately ordering the new assembly. The Ladue School District has agreed to split the costs of these two beacons and assemblies.

City Takes another step towards new fire houses

The Ladue Council took one step further towards the building of two new fire houses in the city. They advanced the measure to the Finance Committee in order to put hard figures on paper.

The City’s Finance Director Rick Jett said there are some options to pay for the project. One way, as not to go to the voters for a bond issue would be dragging out the timing of project.

He said one scenario calls for building the two structures over the course of six years. “We could build each fire house in two years, with a two year period between the construction projects.”

Jett has been in conversation often with the finance committee chairman James Schiele. “He made it clear a year ago, they were not going along with assuming any additional debt and that the city would not take from other existing funds to do the project. He has set the bar very high,” said Jett.

In other action by the council, the city granted a request by Churchill School a 60 day extension of their permit for building demolition for the property at 1035 Price School Road. Project officials indicated that unknown remediation findings have slowed the process and assured in short order, the building will be leveled with grass growing over it.

Council members approved a bid by the Joseph Ward Painting Co to paint traffic signals throughout the city at the cost of $10,758.00 and approved a contract with O.R. Colan to negotiate temporary construction easements as part of the McKnight road improvement project not to exceed $14,300.00.

City administrator Michael Woolridge indicated the McKnight Road sidewalk grant request from the East/West Coordinating Council was still alive, though any decision of regional spending was put off to the end of September or early October.