Walkway connecting the Arch grounds to downtown now open

Local kids were the first to cross it.

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Accessing the Gateway Arch from downtown St. Louis is now a lot easier.

On March 26 at 1 p.m., the construction fencing at the Park Over the Highway, located at Luther Ely Smith Square (between the Arch and the Old Courthouse), was removed, allowing access to the completed walkway over the highway.

For the first time in the Arch's history, the path will allow visitors to reach the landmark and surrounding green space "without a stair, step, or street in their way," according to a press release from Gateway Arch National Park.

For the March 26 unveiling, the park invited local youth—preschoolers from the University City Children's Center and Ascension School and fourth graders from Douglas Elementary School in Belleville, Illinois—to be the first to cross the walkway. The students then heard from a living history interpreter, marking the first National Park Service programming event held on the Arch grounds since 2014.

The new walkway is part of ongoing construction around the Arch. The monument's new museum (rendering below) is scheduled to open July 3.

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