Ladue has three good places to walk: the shared-use path at Deer Creek Preserve, the Clayton Road business district and the fitness loop at Tilles Park. Right now you mostly drive between them. Several projects underway this fall, run by the City of Ladue and by Great Rivers Greenway, would change that. Most of them lead to the same place, the quarter-mile of shops and restaurants on Clayton Road.
The city's October 1, 2026 Public Works update tracks each one. Some are close to finished. Others are still on paper. Here is where each piece stands as of early October 2026.
| Project | What it connects | Status as of Oct. 2026 | Expected timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| HAWK pedestrian beacon, Clayton Road | Both sides of the business district at the crosswalk just west of Dwyer Place | Cabinet, mast arm and push-button pedestal installed; ADA ramps underway | Pavement markings go in last, then the signal turns on |
| ADA Phase VI sidewalks | Clayton Road between Lay and Price | Under construction by PCX Construction | November to end of 2026 |
| S. 40 Drive shared-use path | Deer Creek Preserve area to the Clayton Road business district | Final plans being prepared for MoDOT | Construction targeted for spring 2027 |
| Deer Creek Preserve Phase II | Loop trail, overlook, boardwalk | Grant application pending with the Municipal League | Not yet funded |
| Ladue Road sidewalks | Price to Dielman | Federal funding approved; engineer to be hired for design | Design phase next |
| Deer Creek Greenway extension | Brentwood and Webster Groves to Tilles Park | Alignment study; draft report due mid-October | Design and construction may be phased |
The crosswalk that comes first
The most visible change this fall is on Clayton Road itself. The city is installing a High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk Beacon, called a HAWK, at the existing crosswalk immediately west of Dwyer Place. It will have a push-button on both sides of the road. According to the October 1 update, Gerstner Electric has installed the signal cabinet, mast arm and push-button pedestal and is now working on the ADA ramps. Pavement markings go in last, and then the signal becomes operational.
Sidewalk work is happening along the same corridor. Phase VI of the city's ADA sidewalk program covers Clayton Road between Lay and Price. PCX Construction is the contractor, and one part of the memo expects completion in November while another says by the end of the year. The city calls the Clayton Road sidewalks "the highest priority" in its ADA transition plan.
The crosswalk matters because of what sits on either side of it.
What's on either side of Clayton Road
The city's business directory describes the Clayton Road Business District as about a quarter-mile of shops, restaurants, bars, ice cream and smoothie shops, and a hardware store. It treats Ladue Crossing as a separate cluster to the east.
These are the walking stops on Clayton Road:
- Companion Café, 9781 Clayton Road. Its website lists café service daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Ladue Taco, 9783 Clayton Road. It's next door to Companion and hosted packet pickup for the 2026 Dogwood Run in May.
- Little Derby Boutique, 9757 Clayton Road. This children's boutique opened April 22, 2026, according to St. Louis Magazine and Ladue News. It's open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sportsman's Park, 9901 Clayton Road, and Lester's, 9906 Clayton Road. These two sports-bar restaurants sit across from each other farther along the strip.
Ladue Crossing has the newest addition. St. Louis Public Radio's August roundup lists Playa Bowls in Ladue among the month's openings. St. Louis Magazine reported that the 8853 Ladue Road space is the brand's first St. Louis-area location and the first of five the franchise plans for the area. It took over the storefront that JARS by Fabio Viviani left earlier this year after 19 months.
Deer Creek Preserve now, and what Phase II would add
Deer Creek Preserve, at 9810 S. 40 Drive, is the newest of Ladue's three walking spots. The city describes it as part of a 14-acre parcel, with more than 11 acres set aside as passive-use open space and a shared-use path for walking, running and biking. The Phase I trail opened in spring 2024. It came with benches, landscaped areas, new native trees and a garden planted to attract pollinators.
Phase II would make the preserve a place to stay longer. The proposed work includes a looped trail, a scenic overlook, honeysuckle removal, a boardwalk through the low-lying areas and new plantings. The city has applied for Municipal Park Construction Grant funding and, as of October 1, was waiting on the Municipal League's review. Until that decision comes, Phase II is a plan, not a schedule.
The S. 40 Drive path connects the preserve to the shops
The S. 40 Drive shared-use path would link Deer Creek Preserve to the Clayton Road business district. The city's Public Works projects page says the path will connect to the Deer Creek Preserve Trail so trail users can reach the Clayton Road Business District. Preliminary plans are approved. Final plans are being prepared for submission to MoDOT in November. Depending on how long MoDOT's review takes, the city plans to bid the project over the winter and start construction in spring 2027.
The memo describes both ends. On the east, the path extends to Rolling Rock Drive. On the west, it runs into the Clayton Road business district. Once it's built, a walk from the preserve could end with coffee at Companion or a stop at Little Derby, all off-street. That's why the HAWK beacon and the Lay-to-Price sidewalk work matter. They improve the stretch of Clayton Road the new path will feed into.
Ladue Road is on a separate, earlier track. Federal funding has been approved for sidewalks between Price and Dielman. The next step is hiring an engineer through the city's qualifications-based selection process to design them.
Tilles Park this winter
Tilles Park is a St. Louis County park at 9551 Litzsinger Road. It has a one-mile rock-surface fitness trail, and County Parks notes that two laps make a 2.0-mile hike. The park also has two playgrounds, tennis courts, fishing, a spray-fountain play area, three reservable shelters and a restroom near the playground that stays open year-round.
From late November, the park hosts Winter Wonderland:
- Dates and hours. County Parks lists Wednesday, November 25, 2026, through Saturday, January 2, 2027, nightly from 5 to 9 p.m. No reservations are needed for the drive-through.
- Traffic route. Cars enter from southbound McKnight Road and exit at the Litzsinger Road gate.
- Closed nights. County sources disagree. The event page lists the drive-through as closed November 29 and 30 and December 24, 25 and 31. The county's ticketing listing leaves out November 29 and adds December 7 and 14. Check with County Parks before planning around a specific night.
- Evening Under the Lights. This ticketed photo-and-stroll event runs November 20, 22, 29 and 30. Sessions are 90 minutes and start at 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. The event page lists $80 per family vehicle, with a limit of 125 vehicles per session. The ticketing listing says the event is dog-friendly, each group must arrive in a single vehicle, and walk-ins aren't allowed.
Tilles is also where the largest walking project in the area is meant to end.
The greenway route that's still being chosen
Great Rivers Greenway is studying an extension of the Deer Creek Greenway. According to its project page, the goal is to run from Lorraine Davis Park in Webster Groves and Brentwood Park in Brentwood west through Rock Hill to Tilles Park in Ladue. It would eventually connect to Ladue's new shared-use path near I-64 and Clayton Road and, beyond that, to Horton Watkins High School.
The project is in the planning stage. GRG held open houses in Brentwood, Rock Hill and Ladue in February 2026 and again in June. The June boards showed three route options:
- Following Deer Creek tracks the creek and utility corridors toward Deer Creek Preserve.
- Litzsinger Road uses existing greenway and sidewalk connections along Litzsinger.
- Community Connector combines local streets, creek crossings and utility corridors.
GRG's presentation to Ladue's Public Works Committee on October 7 summarized the public feedback. Of the respondents, 323 commented in person and 244 sent online forms. They favored routes that are off-road, wooded and separated from traffic, that build on existing pathways, and that connect to parks, businesses and other everyday destinations. Support fell for routes with difficult crossings at major roads. Routes near Deer Creek were well liked, though people raised concerns about flooding, erosion and maintenance. The presentation highlighted specific spots, including the Litzsinger Road bend, the Litzsinger and McKnight intersection, the area under the I-64 overpass and a possible bridge over Deer Creek.
The draft report was scheduled for October 13. After that, the team plans to present to city leaders in Ladue, Brentwood and Rock Hill, including Ladue's mayor, city council and planning bodies. No route has been approved, and GRG says later design and construction may be split into phases. The city's next Public Works Committee meeting is December 2, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.
If you're thinking about how a home's location fits into Ladue's growing network of paths, whether it's a short walk from the Clayton Road crossing or close to where the S. 40 Drive path will run, Jason D Cooper can talk through what these project timelines mean for a particular street. Schedule a personalized consultation.
