Drive Gravois Avenue during rush hour, or merge onto I-64 as it crosses into Metro East, and you'll get a feel for why the St. Louis region's crash numbers look the way they do. Between 2018 and 2022, the region logged 349,528 crashes, an average of about 69,000 a year, or roughly 200 a day, according to the East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWGCOG), the regional planning agency behind the area's first coordinated traffic safety plan.1 St. Louis County accounted for about 41% of those crashes and the City of St. Louis another 21%, with the remainder spread across the rest of the eight-county metro area.1
How bad is it, really
Using a five-year rolling average centered on 2022, EWGCOG puts the region's annual toll at 311.6 traffic deaths and 1,935 serious injuries.1 Speeding was the single biggest factor behind fatal and serious-injury crashes, present in 30% of them, ahead of failure to yield, improper lane use, impaired driving, and distraction.1 The report also found something counterintuitive: crashes cluster less right at intersections than in the 50 to 200 feet around them, a zone traffic engineers call the intersection influence area.1
That pattern shows up in real incidents. In February 2023, a driver went around stopped traffic on South Grand Boulevard, ran the red light at Forest Park Avenue, and slammed into an SUV that was knocked through a bridge railing onto the road below. Four teenagers died.2
Where the region's worst corridors are
EWGCOG's plan named a specific set of streets responsible for an outsized share of the region's serious crashes: Grand, Kingshighway, Broadway, Gravois, Lindbergh, Halls Ferry, Manchester, and Big Bend.1 Trailnet, the St. Louis nonprofit that publishes an annual State of Our Streets report, found Gravois Avenue (Missouri Route 30) was the city's deadliest corridor for people outside a vehicle in 2025: 23 crashes, 19 injuries, and 4 deaths in that year alone.3 Since 2020, Gravois has racked up nearly 1,000 injuries and 22 deaths, and MoDOT has said its crash rate runs about four times the average for comparable Missouri roads.4 In St. Louis County, Lindbergh Boulevard (also signed as U.S. 61/67) topped the list, followed by Chambers Road.3
Pedestrians and cyclists are taking the worst of it
Pedestrian crashes make up only about 1% of all collisions in the region but account for 11% of fatal and serious-injury crashes and a full 20% of traffic deaths.1 2024 was the worst year for pedestrians in recent memory: 23 killed in the City of St. Louis, up 187% from the year before, and 36 killed in St. Louis County, up 24%.5 Cyclist deaths moved in the wrong direction in 2025: 3 killed in the city, after two straight years with zero, and 2 in the county, up from zero in 2024.3 EWGCOG also found that just 18% of the region's population lives in what it classifies as disadvantaged areas, yet those areas see almost 40% of the region's fatal and serious-injury crashes.1
Metro East has its own trouble spot
The St. Louis market crosses the Mississippi, and Metro East's biggest known trouble spot right now sits on I-64 in St. Clair County. The Illinois Department of Transportation is spending $72.45 million to widen roughly 3 miles of I-64, from just west of Green Mount Road to about a mile past Illinois 158, after a five-year study found 149 crashes and 4 deaths on that stretch.6 Daily traffic there has grown from about 42,400 vehicles twenty years ago to 59,200 today, and IDOT projects 72,800 a day by 2038.6 The fix includes a concrete median barrier to stop cross-over crashes, wider ramps at the Green Mount Road interchange, and higher bridge clearances. Lane closures for prep work began in October 2025, with the main widening phase set to start this winter.6
What agencies are doing about it
MoDOT and St. Louis County are roughly halfway through a $52 million safety project covering the City of St. Louis, St. Louis County, and Jefferson County, targeting a network that saw 5,321 fatal and serious-injury crashes between 2016 and 2020.7 The work touches more than 240 locations with 435 individual upgrades, among them:
- Chevron curve signs with reflective strips and new "Stop Ahead" pavement markings
- Guardrail and traffic signal upgrades, plus centerline rumble strips and raised medians
- Dynamic signal warning flashers and intersection conflict warning systems at high-risk crossings
Construction started in April 2024 and is due to finish by June 30, 2026.7 Gravois is getting a slower, bigger fix: MoDOT and the City of St. Louis are planning a redesign that could cut lane counts and rework the street's sprawling intersections, though major construction isn't expected until late 2029.4 In November 2025, the City of St. Louis Planning Commission adopted the city's first Transportation and Mobility Plan since 1948, built over 18 months with input from roughly 4,000 residents, setting new priorities for pedestrian and bike infrastructure citywide.8 EWGCOG's regional plan sets a formal target: cut the region's traffic fatalities in half by 2050.1
The bigger picture
Statewide, the trend lines are pointed down. Missouri recorded a preliminary 909 traffic deaths in 2025, 46 fewer than 2024, and the first half of 2026 logged 402 deaths, 24 fewer than the same stretch of 2025.9 Whether St. Louis keeps pace with that statewide improvement depends heavily on what happens along the handful of corridors above. A small number of streets and interstates still account for a disproportionate share of the region's serious crashes.
If you've been in a wreck here
If a crash happens on Gravois, Lindbergh, I-64 in Metro East, or any of these named corridors, the practical questions afterward (who's at fault, what the police report says, how medical bills and lost wages get covered) usually go smoother with a local attorney who already knows these roads and the courts that handle them. You can find one through the legal directory.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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East-West Gateway Council of Governments, "Gateway to Safer Roadways: St. Louis Regional Safety Action Plan" (June 2024), https://www.ewgateway.org/gtsr/
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St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Four killed, four critically injured in vehicle crash early Sunday at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue," https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-courts/four-killed-four-critically-injured-in-vehicle-crash-early-sunday-at-south-grand-boulevard-and/article_448d16da-e1f0-5b5d-9d26-e98b24e36a04.html
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St. Louis Magazine, "Gravois is still deadly, but other St. Louis streets are getting calmer, Trailnet reports," https://www.stlmag.com/news/gravois-trailnet-crash-report-2025/
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St. Louis Public Radio, "Gravois is one of St. Louis' deadliest streets. A safety overhaul is in the works, for 2029," https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2026-07-01/gravois-is-one-of-st-louis-deadliest-streets-a-safety-overhaul-is-in-the-works-for-2029
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St. Louis Public Radio, "Report shows St. Louis region sees its deadliest year for pedestrians," https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2025-05-01/report-shows-st-louis-region-sees-its-deadliest-year-for-pedestrians
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Illinois Department of Transportation, "St. Clair County - I-64, Green Mount Road to IL 158, Overview and Scope," https://idot.illinois.gov/programs-and-projects/featured-projects/st-clair-county--i-64-green-mount-road-to-il-158/overview-and-scope.html
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Missouri Department of Transportation, "Safety Improvements Project: A Lifesaving Partnership," https://modot.org/SLSafetyProject
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City of St. Louis, "City Adopts Transportation and Mobility Plan," https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/mayor/news/city-adopts-tmp.cfm
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Missouri Department of Transportation, "Number and Rate of Fatalities," https://www.modot.org/number-and-rate-fatalities-5a