FAQs

Yes. All lanes between Ballas and I-170 in both directions closed on January 2, 2008 before morning rush hour. These lanes will reopen by December 31, 2008. All lanes between I-170 and Kingshighway will be closed in January 2009. All lanes of I-64 and I-170 will be open by December 31, 2009.

The I-64 bridge over Lindbergh Boulevard was demolished over the weekend of January 4 - 7. Starting Friday night at 10 p.m. until Monday at 5:30 a.m., Lindbergh was closed at I-64. Breaks were made in the median barrier on Lindbergh at I-64 to allow southbound traffic to turn left into Salem Church or to continue northbound on Lindbergh.  The same was done on the south side of I-64. Breaks were made in the median barrier on Lindbergh at I-64 to allow northbound traffic to turn left into the Hilton Plaza Frontenac. After the demolition, Lindbergh Boulevard was reopened with two lanes in each direction.

Demolition of the I-64 bridge over Brentwood Boulevard occured over the weekend of January 11 - 14. Beginning Friday night at 10 p.m. until Monday morning at 5:30 a.m., Brentwood was closed at I-64. Brentwood reopened Monday morning with two lanes in each direction.

Demolition of the McKnight Road bridge over I-64 began at 7 a.m. on Monday, January 14. Use Brentwood Boulevard while McKnight is under construction. Reconstruction is expected to last between four and six months.

Demolition of the I-64 bridge over Clayton/Warson Roads began the weekend of January 25 - 27 and continued during the weekend of February 1 - 4 with the closure of Warson Road at I-64 from 10 p.m. Friday until 5:30 a.m. Monday. There will also be frequent night time closures and lane restrictions of Clayton Road throughout the upcoming months .

Reconstruction of the Spoede Road bridge and interchange will begin in spring 2008. Reconstruction will take approximately six months.

In 2007, with some exceptions, work hours were similar to a typical work day, Monday through Saturday. In 2008 and 2009, double shifts are possible as the work load increases.

The project has a budget of $535 million and will include I-64 from west of Spoede Road to east of Kingshighway. The project will rebuild all 12 interchanges including a new interchange at I-170, add one lane in each direction from west of Spoede to I-170, and reconstruct the bridges and pavement.

The main alternate routes will be I-70 and I-44.

Yes. All proposed sound walls throughout the I-64 project corridor have been voted on and approved. The walls will be built with the project and complete by July 31, 2010. More sound wall information can be found on the website in the Newsroom section, then sound walls.

MoDOT will be improving traffic flow with the addition of more lanes. One additional lane in each direction will be added from Ballas to I-170, but not east of I-170. The congestion east of I-170 is a result of out-dated design and operational problems such as steep hills and short on and off-ramps especially in the Brentwood, I-170 and Hanley areas. There are 30,000 fewer vehicles using I-64 east of I-170. Traffic flow along I-64 will be greatly improved by improving the overall roadway design, interchanges and the addition of exit only lanes between interchanges.

Yes. MoDOT is working with the contractor, unions and local organizations and have developed a plan to have more inclusion of minorities, females and economically disadvantaged individuals on the I-64 project. For more information, please visit the Workforce Development page of the website. 

The East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWGCOG), the planning agency for the entire St. Louis region, studied and approved the plans for MetroLink from downtown to Clayton in 1997 and from Clayton to Chesterfield in 1999. The approved routes do not use I-64, but are located north of I-64. The Clayton to Shrewsbury MetroLink line, which opened in August 2006, runs north of I-64 along Forest Park Parkway to Clayton and then south along I-170 terminating at I-44 in Shrewsbury. The other study identified a future West County line that would extend from Clayton to Page near Westport Plaza and eventually to Chesterfield Valley. Currently, there is no funding in place for any of these options. For more information about how transportation options are planned for the region, visit www.ewgateway.org. For information on current MetroLink or MetroBus lines, please visit www.metrostlouis.org.

Given the budget, time, and space constraints on the I-64 project, a two-section closure approach was the only way to accomplish all the work that needs to be done. The narrow freeway corridor restricts the options that are available. Maintaining one lane of traffic in each direction during construction would have lengthened the time of construction to six to eight years, instead of the two years it will take with the full closure approach.

MoDOT purchased 65 properties for the project. Another 79 property owners will have a portion of their property purchased for the project or for a construction or utility easement.

There are more than 30 bridges on or over I-64 in this project. New bridges are given a rating of a 9. Half of the I-64 bridges are rated 4 or 3. At a level 2 they are closed. Replacing these bridges is a major reason for doing this project quickly.

Single point interchanges help move large volumes of traffic through limited amounts of space safely and efficiently. The simple design makes the most of safety, capacity, and efficiency. These interchanges are a great way to maximize the flow of traffic where streams of traffic merge or separate. For more information on single point interchanges, visit MoDOT's web site at http://www.modot.org/stlouis/links/SinglePointUrbanInterchanges.htm#howwork

The Cross-County MTIA study was co-sponsored by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, MoDOT and Metro (formerly the Bi-State Development Agency). The report identified transportation problems along I-64 and I-170 and pinpointed concerns related to neighborhood impacts, funding, safety and security, air quality and noise. The public was kept informed through community outreach meetings, newsletters and public meetings during the study.

The resulting MTIA included the broad recommendations to reconstruct I-64, along with proposed means of improving specific interchanges along the route. The East-West Gateway Board approved the study recommendations in 1997 including the location of future MetroLink alignments including the Cross-County line currently under construction, the reconstruction of I-64's pavement and bridges, improvement to the I-64 interchanges, the addition of one lane each direction from I-270 to I-170 and not east of I-170and not extending I-170 south of I-64.

The results of this study were used by East-West Gateway to program the federal transportation funding for the I-64 project.