On a half-mile of Manchester Road in Ballwin, a road safety audit has put hard numbers to what frustrated drivers and nervous pedestrians have been saying for years. MoDOT’s review of the corridor between New Ballwin Road and Holloway Road flags narrow sidewalks, patchy lighting and a tangle of closely spaced driveways that make life tricky for people walking, catching the bus or trying to turn in and out of traffic.
What the audit found
According to a report by MoDOT, the stretch logged 658 crashes between 2015 and 2024, with rear-end and turning collisions making up most of the pileups. Pedestrian crashes were fewer in number but far more severe: one person killed and two others left with disabling injuries during the study period, plus another pedestrian fatality in 2025 outside that window. The department singled out the segment between Coral Terrace Drive and Steamboat Lane as having the highest pedestrian crash rate along the corridor.
Residents sound the alarm
Locals say the audit simply puts official language on everyday experience. “I travel the outskirts just so I don’t have to deal with Manchester Road,” driver Ken Holst told First Alert 4, summing up a strategy many drivers quietly admit to using.
Michael Carmody of Safer Streets for Kirkwood and St. Louis County called the audit “a catalyst” for change and estimated the total cost of the crashes at roughly $25 million using the FHWA crash-cost tool, as reported by First Alert 4. In other words, this short stretch of Manchester is not just stressful, it is expensive.
What MoDOT recommends
The road safety audit lays out a mix of short-, mid- and long-term fixes focused on making people easier to see, giving pedestrians more protection and cutting down on conflict points from turning vehicles.
Short-term recommendations include trimming back median vegetation, moving a pedestrian sign that currently blocks the view of the existing rapid-flashing beacon, installing advance warning flashers and refreshing striping on side streets. Mid-term ideas include new crosswalk lighting and upgrading the Old Ballwin rapid-flashing beacon to a pedestrian hybrid beacon.
As detailed by MoDOT, one quick fix has already been checked off the list: the department increased the flashing duration of the existing RRFB on October 22, 2025, and notes that several other short-term items are already in progress.
Timeline and next steps
MoDOT told reporters it expects to wrap most short-term improvements by the end of 2026. The department also plans to work with the City of Ballwin on a speed study, median planning and potential driveway consolidation, a package that will involve public input before anything big changes on the ground.
First Alert 4 reported that MoDOT is recommending mid-term measures be folded into a pavement resurfacing project already programmed for state fiscal year 2029. A separate MoDOT effort is set to complete required ADA upgrades by March 2026.
For neighbors and business owners along this slice of Manchester, the first visible changes are expected to be the unglamorous but important ones: vegetation trimming, crisper striping and extra warning flashers that should make crossings harder for drivers to miss.
What to watch
Residents can expect public outreach from MoDOT and the City of Ballwin as officials sort through mid- and long-term options. The proposed speed study and any moves to consolidate driveways will need community feedback before they advance.
In the meantime, advocates say the audit hands local leaders a clear checklist of relatively low-cost changes they can roll out soon, steps they hope will make walking to the bus stop or crossing for coffee feel a lot less like a dare.
