St. Louis braces for I-64 shutdown during 2-year project

By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD
The Associated Press

1/2/2008

ST. LOUIS — Thousands of commuters here can expect to face traffic jams, delays and detours Wednesday as one of the largest highway repair projects in state history gets under way.

The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to close all lanes along a 5-mile stretch of Interstate 64 on Jan. 2, closing a major artery in the St. Louis metro area. State and local officials have spent months educating residents and businesses about the shutdown, advising them of alternate routes and other strategies to avoid gridlock.

But no one knows what the real impact will be when the barriers are finally put in place.

“We’re in a wait-and-see pattern right now,” said Town and Country Police Sgt. Jeff Myer.

Like other local authorities along the construction route, Myer is planning on an overflow of displaced motorists — but said it’s guess work to say how many.

“I’m going to go in early on Wednesday and just see out it goes,” Myer said.

The $535 million reconstruction project is the single largest contract in MoDOT’s history, said spokeswoman Linda Wilson. The project will last two years, with one 5-mile stretch of the interstate closed during 2008 and a second during 2009.

The goal is to replace aging bridges and roadways that date back as far as 70 years, Wilson said. Of the 30 bridges along the route, about half have been deemed structurally deteriorated, she said. Eighty percent of the project’s funding comes from the federal government, with the remainder coming from state transportation coffers.

“This project is first and foremost about rebuilding that deteriorated infrastructure,” Wilson said.

MoDOT also plans to add two lanes of new road going each direction along the stretch of highway to be repaired in 2008. Two new lanes for exiting traffic will be added on the portion to be done in 2009.

The repair plan has been controversial in St. Louis, where tens to thousands of commuters rely on Interstate 64, also known as Highway 40, as a primary route from the populous suburbs to downtown. An alternative plan called for one lane in each direction to remain open during the construction.

Keeping a lane open would have extended the life of the project from two to six or eight years, pushing the total price higher, Wilson said. The additional cost would have forced MoDOT to scale back its repair plans, she said.

To alleviate congestion, MoDOT has added one lane of traffic in each direction to both Interstate 44 and Interstate 70 around St. Louis. The department has also set up a Web site for commuters that will send e-mail updates about detours and delays at: www.thenewi64.org

MoDOT and local police departments have set up four parking areas off the highway to be used by motorists who get in minor fender-benders. Keeping cars off the shoulder should help ease congestion, Myer said.

But even with such measures in place, commuters can expect a lot of gridlock as they head back to work after the holidays, Myer said.

“The biggest advice is to leave early and be patient,” he said.