Street Permit Policies for Special Events

Overview

A street permit is needed for any event that requires use of any part of a street or sidewalk. This includes the closing of an entire street or just designating curb lanes for special parking/no parking.

Street Permit Costs

Permits for festivals/fairs are priced by the number of lanes, number of blocks and number of days the right of way will be used by the event.

• The estimated cost is $50 per curb lane and traffic lane per day per block. We can only provide a precise estimate once we know your exact closures.

Example: One block for one day with two traffic lanes and two curb lanes is $200.

A parade, run, march, walk, ride or other "routed" event is $100 per route. If you have an event that includes a festival and a parade, for example, then the fee will be $100 for the parade plus blocking fees for the festival area as described above.

Parking Meters and Costs

Meters are managed by the City Treasurer and must be rented for the time that the curb lane will be blocked from public parking.

• $25 application fee
• $500 refundable deposit (refunded by the Treasurer if all meter signage is removed and meters are left in good condition after the event)
• $20/block/day when meters blocked for a stationary event (such as a concert, street festival, staging area, etc)
• $500 flat fee for parades/runs/bike rides etc that block meters and utilize a rolling closure/re-open plan

The Street Department will collect these fees on behalf of the Treasurer at the time the Street Permit is issued. Requests for refunding of the $500 deposit should be submitted directly to the Treasurer's office.

Route Description

On the Street Closing portion of your application, you should provide a text description of your route from starting point to ending point. The wording should utilize directions (N, S, E, W) as well as street names.  

Example: Start at 13th & Olive, S on 13th to Market, W to 20th, N to Locust, E to 13th, S to end at start point. 

You will need to attach a map of your route.

Street Closure Policies

On your application, you will be asked to indicate your request for street closures. Provide a reason why that section of street closure is needed, i.e., will it be used for parking, for food/festival area, for parade staging, etc. Because fees are based on number of blocks, number of lanes, and number of meters to be closed, it is important that the grid be filled out completely.  

The Street Department will review your request and advise if there are any circumstances that will require adjustment to your street plan. In general, events held downtown on the weekends cannot begin set up until 7 p.m. on Friday and must be finished with clean up by 7 a.m. the following Monday.

 Other conditions will be communicated to you after we review your application.

Barricade/Closure of Street and Posting Detour Signs

Your organization is responsible for closing the street with proper barricades. As part of your application, you will be asked to submit the name of the traffic control company you are hiring for managing closures/detours, details of the types of barricades you plan to use and where they will be placed.  

Local traffic control companies include:

• Warning Lites of Southern Illinois
• Traffic Control Company
• TraMar Contracting
• Traffic Management

You will be required to post clear and concise signage informing people of traffic detours.

Traffic Plan

You will need to provide clear and concise signage and traffic detours. A traffic plan must be attached to your application.

Tow Policy for Special Events

Options for clearing the area of parked cars

Option 1: Cars Moved Nearby

You hire the City Tow Lot to relocate cars. The tow lot will simply move cars to a nearby side street or parking lot.

The owner of the vehicle can find out where their car has been placed by calling either the police or the City Tow Lot. This is less inconvenient for the vehicle owner, as they will not have to pay to get their car out of the impound lot.

Cost to the event organizer is approximately $200/2 hr. tow truck shift. This option is available at the discretion of the Street Commissioner. It is not available to small events.

Option 2: City Tow Lot

The City tows vehicles to the impound lot at 7410 Hall Street and vehicle owners have to go to the tow lot to pay towing fees in order to retrieve their vehicles (approximately $150-$200/vehicle).

With this option, there is no cost to the event organizers, however the police must request the towing for public safety reasons.

State Highway On/Off Ramp Closures

Some city streets are also state highways and require a closure permit from MoDOT:

• Riverview (H & 367)
• Hall St (H)
• Natural Bridge (115)
• Page (D)
• Manchester/Chouteau (100)
• Gravois (30)
• Chippewa (366)

Closing any interstate on/off ramps also requires a permit from MoDOT. If you plan to utilize any state highway or on and off ramps, you will need to complete the MoDOT application at the time you submit your Special Event Application.

There is no cost for most MoDOT permits. You will be responsible for hiring a traffic control company to manage the closure.