The City of Chesterfield is designing a public hillside to connect Downtown Chesterfield with Central Park. The biggest decision in that design depends on a traffic signal the city doesn't control. At a Sept. 24 open house at City Hall, the design team showed two ways to get people across Chesterfield Parkway. One is a pedestrian bridge estimated at $10.1 million. The other is a marked crosswalk at street level estimated at $5.1 million. A third option, a full traffic light, was ruled out, according to West Newsmagazine.
The two options are about $5 million apart. Without a light, the city has to choose between lifting people over the Parkway and getting cars to stop for a crosswalk some other way. That choice also decides what the walk to the Chesterfield Amphitheater, City Hall and the aquatic center will feel like once the former mall site has residents.
The Hillside, Measured
The city calls the project the grand entry. It covers about 3.89 acres on West Chesterfield Parkway, between Park Circle Drive and the planned Downtown Chesterfield Boulevard. The ground rises about 48 feet across the site. The plans shown in September cover that climb with stairs, an accessible ramp that switches back up the slope, and a path through the grassy area. Planting beds would sit between the ramp sections.
The Staenberg Group is the developer turning the former Chesterfield Mall into Downtown Chesterfield. It donated the roughly 3.9-acre site and $300,000 for the design. The city will manage both design and construction. The design team is Kanopi Gap and Lamar Johnson Collaborative, and both firms had staff at the open house.
"We want this space to become a memorable part of Chesterfield," Public Works Director James Eckrich told West Newsmagazine. He added that community feedback would shape its design, character and experience.
The stairs and ramp take care of the climb. People on foot still have to cross Chesterfield Parkway at the bottom.
Why the Crossing Came Down to Two Options
At the open house, Assistant City Engineer Zachary Wolff explained why a full traffic signal is unlikely. The Missouri Department of Transportation would not allow one so close to the existing signal at Lydia Hill. The city's own ADA transition plan explains why the city doesn't decide this. Traffic and pedestrian signals in Chesterfield are maintained by St. Louis County or MoDOT, not by the city.
So the grand entry has to get people across the Parkway without a red light to stop cars. The two options shown in September do that in different ways.
| Pedestrian bridge | At-grade crossing | |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated cost | $10.1 million | $5.1 million |
| How people cross | Over Chesterfield Parkway, separated from traffic | At an improved, marked crosswalk at street level |
| Traffic control | None needed at the crossing | Could include Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons |
| Signal required | No | No; a full signal is unlikely given the Lydia Hill signal nearby |
Wolff said the street-level crossing could use Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons as a safety measure. The bridge would let pedestrians cross without meeting traffic at all, at roughly twice the estimated cost. Both prices are estimates from September. Neither option has been chosen.
The People the Crossing Is For
Today the hill mostly separates a construction site from a park. The plans for the former mall site explain why the crossing matters. Tim Lowe, vice president of leasing and development at The Staenberg Group, told West Newsmagazine that crews are still working on utilities, roads, parks and bike paths. Vertical construction begins after that work is done. The paper reports that infrastructure and grading should run until spring 2027, when building construction is expected to start. No part of Downtown Chesterfield is open yet.
Lowe said The Staenberg Group is finalizing deals with developers. Some have signed on and others are still negotiating. About 800 to 1,000 residential units are expected in the first phase. "We've got to have a good phase 1," Lowe said. "You can't flood the market too much at one time."
Parks, Recreation and Arts Director Wayne Dunker made a related point at the open house. With projects like the Villas at Downtown Chesterfield, more people will be living near the crossing. The Villas plan east of Chesterfield Parkway West recently changed from multi-family to single-family villas. The proposal was also amended from two internal streets to one. That is a site-plan change and does not close any current road.
Retail will add more foot traffic. The former Dillard's and Macy's buildings were kept when the main mall was demolished. In November 2025, First Alert 4 reported that Dillard's was expected to reopen around August 2027. That target is nearly a year old and remains a projection.
The full plan for the site includes housing, a hotel, restaurants, entertainment, offices and community space, all on the opposite side of the Parkway from Central Park.
What Waits at the Top of the Ramp
The grand entry would land people from Downtown Chesterfield at these city facilities:
- The Chesterfield Amphitheater, with concession stands, restrooms and an accessible viewing deck.
- A gazebo, picnic pavilions and an accessible nature walkway across the park grounds.
- The Central Park Playground, which the city lists as its own facility.
- Chesterfield City Hall at 690 Chesterfield Parkway West, where the September open house took place.
- The Chesterfield Family Aquatic Center at 16365 Lydia Hill Drive.
The library is changing too. The St. Louis County Library branch at 16400 Burkhardt Place, formerly the Samuel C. Sachs Branch, closed for construction on Jan. 31, 2026. It will reopen as the Guy and Judy Jaffe Family Branch, which the library expects in early 2027. That is around the same time vertical construction is expected to start across the Parkway.
The amphitheater's next big event is this weekend. The Chesterfield Fall Festival is Saturday, Oct. 17, and admission is free. Gates open at 1 p.m. The festival has food vendors, craft and market vendors, carnival rides, a pumpkin patch, a hayride, and live music from Russo & Co. and Box of Chocolates. Once the grand entry is built, events like this one will have a walking route in from Downtown Chesterfield.
The Planting Choice and the Council Vote Still Ahead
The crossing was one of two questions at the open house. The other was the planting design. One option uses cultivated native and adapted plants, described as "a layered garden with seasonal color, habitat value and an immersive landscape experience." The other is a flexible lawn with planted edges. That version is more open, leaves room for informal recreation and gatherings, and keeps clear views across the site.
First Alert 4 spoke with residents at the open house. One asked the city to "hold onto as much nature as you can." Another suggested adding water features to the planting plan. A third said the city's development is part of why he lives in Chesterfield.
With the public input received, architects will make final adjustments to their plan, then submit a proposal for the city council's consideration.
That is the next step as First Alert 4 described it. The City Council has already discussed the project once. Its Aug. 18, 2026 agenda included an item titled "Grand Entry, Update and Direction." As of mid-October, no Council date for a final decision has been posted. No construction schedule or construction funding source has been announced either, beyond The Staenberg Group's donation of land and design money. The choice between $10.1 million and $5.1 million is still open, and it will come back to the Council in a public meeting.
At The Benes Group, we follow Downtown Chesterfield one Council agenda at a time, because decisions like this crossing shape daily life around Central Park. If you own near the Parkway and want to know how the former mall site's progress is reflected in your home's value today, request a complimentary home valuation and we'll go through it with you privately.
