Highway 40 Will Close January 1: Here Are Some Practical Lifelines For The Upcoming ‘Hwy 40 Migraine’

Travelers can get up-to-the-minute traffic information on interstates or major state routes from various MoDOT resources. Print this informative article and keep it with you in your car.

November 10, 2007

Highway 40 Will Close January 1: Here Are Some Practical Lifelines For The Upcoming ‘Hwy 40 Migraine’

Travelers can get up-to-the-minute traffic information on interstates or major state routes by dialing 5-1-1 from most cell phones; if 5-1-1 isn't available from your carrier, please dial 877-478-5511 (877-4STL-511). Travelers may also route their trips around any ramp, bridge or road closures by using the MoDOT "Map My Trip" tool at http://dist6.modot.mo.gov/mapmytrip/

The first major stretch of Highway 40 from Ballas Road east to I-170 closes ENTIRELY on January 2, 2008.

For employers along the “Highway 40 Headache Corridor,” and employees who use it regularly, there is some practical advice — and extremely helpful traffic tools on line — from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) that could well serve as your “traffic aspirins” during the next few years.

While government agencies are not necessarily known for their “helpful ways,” MoDOT has taken the impact of the $535 million rebuilding of Hwy 40 (technically, Interstate I-64) seriously and has gone out of its way to provide web-based services to help travelers and businesses during the upcoming reconstruction.

What one could term as the “ Hwy 40 Headache now,” beginning in 2008 will become the “Hwy 40 Migraine” on January 2. The planned construction schedule calls for:

2008 – closing all lanes in the western half of Hwy40 from Ballas to 1-170;
2009 – closing all lanes in the eastern half from I-170 to Kingshighway.
All lanes of I-64 and I-170 should be open by Dec. 31, 2009.
When it’s all done, motorists should see:
Upgrading and rebuilding of all bridges, pavement and intersections between Ballas Road in the County and Kingshighway in the City;
New high quality interstate-to-interstate connection between 1-64 (Hw 40) and I-170 (the Innerbelt);
Addition of one lane in each direction between Spoede Road and I-170;
Increased traffic flow through better design, with elimination of short, tight entrance/exit ramps and merges and the addition of dedicated exist lanes;
Enhances safety with wider shoulders.

Charts of Construction Timetable - PDF File

Support your employees and coddle your customers

If you depend on Hwy 40 to move your people, or yourself, MoDOT has this advice:

Gather information from employees about their commute. Start the conversation now, in order to have time to consider and implement coping strategies.
Consider if flex hours or telecommuting can be accommodated within your business needs.
Encourage and accommodate carpooling, where possible.
Ask employees what will help them deal with the closures. They may have suggestions that can be adopted easily.
Work with employees to make sure that customer contacts about the closures are upbeat and focused on problem solving.
Ensure that you get the weekly email updates concerning traffic impacts, so that your employees are aware and informed. You might even want to create a site on your internal servers that MoDOT information can be posted to daily.

To help you find the way: special tools available

MoDOT has created three particularly helpful websites that will let you stay on top of lane closures and give you daily updates on traffic conditions on the roads you used regularly.

Sample of Customize Traffic Alert - PDF File

To set up your own personal traffic alerts on the roads you use, go to: http://www.traffic.com/, a special service that will not only allow you to set up a customized traffic report system for the roads you use, but will also send you email alerts on your computer and as a text message when a blockage crops up. It’s free and of all the sites, it’s the most helpful and has to most information.
To keep track of daily lane closures go to: http://www.MoDOT.org/stlouis/news_and_information
If you want a personalized route to work, go to: http://dist6.MoDOT.mo.gov/mapmytrip/, a travel information tool to help you get to work with minimum interruptions. Since construction zones change quickly, the information available in a map generated the day of your inquiry will only be accurate for that day. After providing origin and destination locations, the program will offer an alternative route, directing motorists away from ramp, interchange or highway closures due to construction in St. Louis city and county. Travel may be plotted from any origin or destination, but accurate information on highway and ramp closures is limited to St. Louis city and county only.

Expect unanticipated lane closings at any time

“Unexpected lane closures” is the new buzzword for highway workers for the rest of 2007 until the formal rebuilding shuts down Hwy 40 totally.

Since the I-40/64 work began, its been a circus of sorts, a destination designed for a clairvoyant who can read the minds of road workers before they decide they’ll scoot those orange cones just a little further, and push you — and the 100 other cars on the road with you — into a scathing frenzy.

According to Dan Galvin, public information manager for Gateway Constructors, the general contractors working on the “New I-64” project, there is no way for them to predict or be precise on unexpected lane closures well ahead of time because it’s all part of the flow of construction.

“We can be sure on major closures, like when the old Kingshighway Bridge is demolished,” Galvin said. “That will likely take place around the end of November, when the new bridge opens and the old one is torn down. We usually know within two weeks when there are major closures, but lane restrictions are usually something that we become aware of the day before.”

County/other highway work getting ready for Hwy 40 closures

Galvin said you can’t blame all the current cruising chaos on the I-64 project.

The county is doing improvements to their roads and the state is finishing up the re-striping of I-70 and 44. Ramps are being widened and some interchanges improved along I-70 to provide some relief during the Hwy 40 makeover.

The county is also installing temporary stop signs to improve traffic flow when they are needed, Galvin said.

Here’s what is expected to be finished before the end the year. If all goes as promised:

All work on I-70 and I-44 will be free and clear of construction work, with an extra lane striped in each direction along the two highways.
I-70 will have an extra lane between I-270 and I-170.
I-44 will have an extra lane striped from I-270 to I-55.
Any needed maintenance work on these roads will be completed at night, MoDOT officials said.
Upgrading of traffic signals on Page Avenue (MO 364), Olive Street Road (MO 340), Manchester Road (MO 100) and Lindbergh Boulevard (US 61/67) to help these alternate routes move traffic as efficiently as possible. This process will be ongoing to ensure a continuing flow of traffic.