Deer Creek Greenway Celebration!

On Saturday, May 10, 2025, Great Rivers Greenway and the City of Brentwood hosted a community celebration at Brentwood Park to mark the completion of a 0.25-mile extension to the Deer Creek Greenway. Planning Design Studio attended the event as one of the design collaborators of the project.

Deer Creek Greenway signage at Brentwood Park.

With the finalization of the enhancements to Deer Creek Greenway, Brentwood Bound has officially come to a close. For those who haven't heard of Brentwood Bound, this was an initiative set in place by the City of Brentwood and Great Rivers Greenway to connect the cities of Brentwood, Webster Groves, and Maplewood through the Deer Creek Greenway, which would facilitate more methods of transportation for each community as well as increase economic development through access to shopping centers and other community-specific amenities.

Brentwood Bound encompassed three major concepts:

• A flood mitigation plan

• Revitalization of Brentwood's central corridor (Manchester Road)

• Enhancements to the city's main park

Planning Design Studio assisted GRG and the City of Brentwood in all three concepts.

To start, the PDS team worked on the design and development of the Deer Creek Greenway Connector. The Deer Creek Greenway Connector project, commissioned by GRG and the City of Brentwood, began with a study evaluating the feasibility of building an elevated pedestrian walkway over a railroad spur and an underground crossing at Manchester Road to provide safe and efficient bike and pedestrian crossings. The master plan design also featured an urban wetland walking trail and connections to a redesigned city park and a new dog park.

With stakeholder approval and input from residents, a decision was made to create an underpass below Manchester Road. This would allow pedestrians safer and easier access along the greenway without the disruption of the heavily trafficked roadway.

Tunnel under Manchester Road, designed by Planning Design Studio.

From there, Planning Design Studio was selected by the City of Brentwood to enhance the City's main park, which also acts as a trailhead for the Deer Creek Greenway. This included creating a master plan that featured numerous amenities such as a central lake feature, an outdoor amphitheater, a destination playground, an event lawn, and a pavilion.

Thanks to the visionary collaboration between Great Rivers Greenway, the City of Brentwood, key stakeholders, and numerous project partners, this initiative has become a tremendous asset to Brentwood and the surrounding communities. We’re thrilled with how the project has turned out and grateful for the positive response from residents. We're excited about the continued expansion of the greenway and the opportunity it brings to connect even more communities.

See more photos from the event below: