Test run for removal of mile stretch of I-70
For a while now myself and like minded individuals have been pushing the concept of removing a mile stretch of what is currently marked as I-70. This stretch runs from the Poplar Street Bridge and Cass Avenue, creating a barrier between the city and the Mississippi River to the East.
Once the new Mississippi River Bridge opens in 2014 this stretch of road will only serve local traffic. A tree-lined roadway would better serve the needs of the city. In a few days we will get the chance to see what life without this stretch of highway might be like:
ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and its contractor Fred Weber, Inc., are scheduling two weekend closures of Interstate 70 in St. Louis City in February to knock down two bridges over the interstate.
The department will close the interstate, and all ramps, between the Poplar Street Bridge and St. Louis Avenue.
MoDOT currently plans to close the interstate the weekend of February 5-8 to knock down the Cass Avenue Bridge and close the interstate the weekend of February 19-22 to remove the Madison Street bridge, weather permitting. The interstate will close at 8 p.m. on each Friday and will be reopened no later than 5 a.m. on the following Monday for each weekend closure. The work is being done in conjuction with constructing the New Mississippi River Bridge to relocate I-70 across the Mississippi River.
Additionally, the department will close I-70 reversible lanes on February 3 and keep them closed until late April to allow crews to construct the middle portion of the Madison Street Bridge over the interstate.
To get around the interstate closure, drivers must use a combination of Broadway Street, Washington Avenue and Memorial Drive. The detour around the work will be marked. However, since much of the detour is on roads with signals, drivers should make every effort to avoid the area, if possible.
“If people don’t use alternate routes to travel to downtown, the detour for the I-70 work will take a long time,” said Gregory Horn, P.E., project director for the Mississippi River Bridge project. “We are encouraging people to avoid the area by using other routes. For example, people can use the Chain of Rocks Bridge on I-270 or the Jefferson Barracks Bridge on I-255 to get between Missouri and Illinois, use I-270 to get around St. Louis County, or use I-64 to get into downtown St. Louis.”
An estimated 70,000 vehicles travel on I-70 through downtown St. Louis each weekend.
Here is the official map of the detour:
Furthermore:
MoDOT to close reversible lanes to build Madison Street bridge
(Department plans to close reversible lanes for two months)
ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and its contractor Fred Weber, Inc., will close the Interstate 70 reversible lanes February 3 for two months as part of constructing the Madison Street bridge over the interstate.
Closing the reversible lanes will help crews construct the middle support structures needed for the
bridge.
The work is being done in conjunction with constructing the new Mississippi River Bridge to relocate I-70 across the Mississippi River.
After the lanes reopen in late April, they will remain open until about mid-June before MoDOT crews need to close them for another six weeks to construct the St. Louis Avenue bridge.
Interestingly the reversible lanes haven’t reversed in more than a year. These two center lanes of I-70 were originally Eastbound the morning and Westbound in the afternoon. But for a while they have been Eastbound 24/7.
So we will soon see the impact on traffic as it is detoured on weekends.
– Steve Patterson
You may want to update your post- http://www.newriverbridge.org/documents/newsrel…
Personally, I think this is a horrible example and test of how things would work with a boulevard. The bridge is not there yet to take the I-70 traffic, and the detoured traffic will be going on streets not meant to handle that much traffic in addition to their own.
Umm…thats not quite right.
The spot in between I-55 and I-70 will forever be a connector of North and South through the City. Though a lot of cars do get onto the bridges and go over the River. There's a good amount of traffic that now goes through this area and allows people from South City to get easily to the airport, as well as people from North St. Louis to get to destinations in South St. Louis. Going around to 170, or 270 just really isnt an option. Its much more direct to go through this corridor. Trust me, I used to live in Carondelet, and this was one of the only ways to really connect to North County.
In my opinion, we have to remove that stretch of 70. The depressed lanes AND the elevated section north of the Arch combine to sever the downtown area at a crital point. We need these connections restored. There is no reason north and south drivers can't take the new boulevard or other city street. Here's to making our city a better place!
The elevated section of 70 North of the arch is necessary to avoid the MetroLink tunnel. Perhaps 70 could be re-engineered?
More like un-engineered.
How exactly is I-70 being diverted?
I-70 crosses over the river on the PSB. heads West. In 2014 it will cross the river on a new bridge North of the King bridge. The depressed lanes will serve local traffic mostly.
The diversion pattern of traffic avoiding the depressed lanes during this time of 'construction' will 'by no means' give anyone an accurate view of the traffic flow or any other such traffic maneuvering-not by a long shot. The 'diverting' of all traffic to I-270 and I-255 will be of a 'forced nature'-not a normal regular flow pattern. One only needs to look at the traffic flow that will commence in the area of the 'diversion' routes to even remotely get a picture of traffic density, not the downtown construction zone. No one is going to take those long convoluted routes, especially when a straight through route is available, through downtown. The final consolidation and gathering of all traffic flow into 'downtown St. Louis', after the bridge construction is completed will then and only then show whether it's a blunder or a miracle. As for as I know, the stretch of 'depressed highway' in front of the Arch is to remain, being called I-44, not a tree-lined 'road parkway'.