The 39 North Agtech District anchors St. Louis's global life sciences and agricultural innovation economy — 600+ acres in Creve Coeur home to the Danforth Plant Science Center, BRDG Park, Bayer Crop Science, and the Helix Center Biotech Incubator. Yet despite its ambitions, the district lacked even basic pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Developed before annexation by Creve Coeur, the area was built for truck access; researchers and employees had no safe way to move between campuses, let alone connect to the surrounding community.

The 39 North Greenway Plan — prepared by DG2 Design in partnership with Reitz & Jens, Inc. Consulting Engineers, Civil Design, Inc., and FPA Group for the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and Great Rivers Greenway — addressed that gap directly. The December 2019 plan charts an eight-segment, multi-use trail network linking the district's key nodes to one another and to the regional Centennial Greenway.

PLANNING & ENGAGEMENT

The greenway was the third of three priority projects identified in the 2017 39 North District Master Plan, designed to build on a reconfigured Lindbergh Blvd/Olive Blvd interchange and a Great Streets redesign of Old Olive Street Road. DG2's study launched in early 2018 with a Core Working Team spanning the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Great Rivers Greenway, the Cities of Creve Coeur and Olivette, the Danforth Plant Science Center, and Bayer.

A defining constraint: the project would not use eminent domain. Every easement required willing cooperation from affected landowners — a complex undertaking in a district layered with private property lines, utility corridors, and active railroad easements. The team conducted field measurements, reviewed public records, and met individually with businesses and property owners along the alignment. Broader outreach included district-wide mailings, Venture Café appearances, National Bike to Work Day participation, and an online survey. Community priorities that emerged: safer walking and biking, better campus-to-campus connections, improved commute options, and the kind of informal collaboration that innovation districts depend on.

THE GREENWAY ALIGNMENT

The plan's eight segments form a continuous network from Stacy Park in Olivette to the Jewish Community Millstone Campus west of Lindbergh Blvd. The route threads through the Danforth Center campus — connecting to existing bike commuter facilities and allowing authorized vehicle use between research buildings — then loops around the Missouri American Water tank site to create a 0.6-mile hub linking Corporate Square, the Helix Center, and the Danforth Center. Heading north, the alignment follows inactive railroad easements through the Lindbergh-Warson Industrial Center before crossing the active Union Pacific corridor at Research Blvd.

The plan's signature element is a grade-separated bridge crossing of Lindbergh Blvd (US Highway 67) — the district's most significant mobility barrier. Landing at the Millstone Campus, the bridge provides both a critical regional connection and a highly visible northern gateway into the 39 North District. Throughout, alignments were designed to meet AASHTO, PROWAG, and ADA standards, with stormwater BMPs, utility conflict mapping, and railroad easement analysis informing every segment.

The result is a plan built on physical reality — measured grades, identified property owners, and hard-won stakeholder commitments — that gives the Cities of Creve Coeur and Olivette, St. Louis County, and Great Rivers Greenway a clear framework for phased implementation as funding and right-of-way opportunities arise.