St. Louisans can expect delays on Interstate 64 next spring as the Missouri Department of Transportation gets ready for major road construction on the highway east of Kingshighway.
The projects will be the subject of a public meeting on Thursday night at Stix Early Childhood Center, 647 Tower Grove Ave. They include:
- Earthquake seismic retrofitting on the double decked structure;
- Painting and resurfacing work on the same structure;
- A new interchange at Tower Grove/Boyle;
- New high mast tower street lights;
- New bridges at Jefferson, Newstead, Taylor, Boyle and Tower Grove avenues.
Deanna Venker, the MoDOT area engineer for the city of St. Louis, says the interchange was originally part of the two-year "New I-64" project, but contractors chose to stop at Kinshighway because of funding. She says Barnes-Jewish Hospital is helping to cover the costs.
"It'll help alleviate a lot of the traffic coming off of Kingshighway," Venker said. "It'll also provide another access point to BJC, the new Shriner's Hospital, and a lot of the other businesses."
The resurfacing especially could cause traffic delays. Venker says starting in spring of 2012, one lane of the highway in both directions will be closed from 18th Street to the Poplar Street Bridge.
"And then during off-peak hours, we will have an additional lane closure so the workers can have a place to have their vehicles, all their equipment, and the materials that they need to do their work," she said. "So during off-peak hours, there will be one lane open in each direction."
The earthquake retrofit work is currently underway. The resurfacing of the double deck, and construction of the Jefferson Ave. bridge, will begin in spring 2012, though Venker says the bridge work depends on the Grand Ave. bridge being completed in time.
