Todd: Thanks for taking my question.
I was in Chicago last week and noticed the toll roads had very little pot holes and were in great shape. The other roads were terrible. Does it make a difference that the toll roads are mostly concrete versus paved black top? It seems the rubberized black top just doesn't hold up like the more expensive concrete. Especially with the change of climate and precipitation. Is highway 40 going to be the cheap blacktop? Please don't give us the standard political answer that it's better, driving thru the midwest disproves that argument. Thanks..

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: I-64 will be paved with concrete designed for a 50-year lifespan, which is fairly standard for high traffic volume interstates. The constant freeze-thaw cycles you get in this part of the county do take a toll on asphalt.

Chris: When will the McKnight Road overpass be completed and opened to No./So. traffic once again?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: McKnight is scheduled to reopen in late May, after which we'll take down McCutcheon and Spoede.

JZ: When will reconstruction start on the Clayton-Warson bridge. I can see in the camera that the old one is still being demolished, but that looks almost finished. Also, when will girders be laid at Brentwood, Boland, McKnight, and Lindbergh. I also noticed that it appears that on the Kinghighway bridge over Clayton Ave. the fencing was put on the east side of the bridge, but there is a section missing. Finally, when will the Highland Terrace bridge open.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Our demolition subcontractor is still finishing the removals at Clayton/Warson but should have their work wrapped up in another couple of weeks. We'll begin pile driving for the abutments right after they are out of the way. There will be plenty of activity in that area all year long, as we construct the east and west abutments along with five support structures in between, and place 90 concrete girders to make up the bridge deck. So expect frequent night time traffic impacts.

The next girders are scheduled to be set at Lindbergh the weekend of March 28. I don't have firm dates for the other locations just yet but most should be ready in April and May. McKnight is currently scheduled to reopen in late May.

Ben: Along with the closure of I-64 it seems like MODOT and associated agencies have really tried to step up the services that provide traffic information.

I there any way to have highway emergency messages (e.g. accident blocking a lane, extreme jam, the sorts of alerts you'd put up on the message boards on the highway) sent to a cell phone?

I'm imagining being able to say that I want to specify highways and a time of day I'd use them, and have anything that would impact my travel time sent as a text message.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: MODOT does not have the ability to send messages to cell phones and blackberries, but a lot of private agencies have the ability to send you that information. You can also get customized traffic emails sent to you based on the information you put in. Say you want to know about I-70, you can get emails sent to you about I-70.

MODOT's Transportation Management Center is run under contract with a company that then provides the information via traffic.com. Base traffic information is available through MoDOT's customer service, our website at www.gatewayguide.com or by dialing 511.

Linda Wilson

John: Last week someone asked about Brentwood and you said that Brentwood can be bad from 7-8. However, yesterday at 8:50 it was backed up just past Manchester - so I think the rush "hour" is much longer than an hour (sometimes, not always). In general I think the problem is all the extra 170 traffic, but is it possible that a truck or something blocking the road for a few minutes could cause a temporary backup? It seems pretty random how bad Brentwood is every day.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: There is occasional construction traffic crossing Brentwood during the day but we try to keep it to a minimum to prevent back-ups like you describe. instead of using Galleria Parkway to go north on I-170, you might also consider just going a little further north on Brentwood to enter 170 at Forest Park Parkway. We also just restriped the ramp from Galleria Parkway so that traffic entering northbound 170 now has a dedicated lane and no longer has to merge with traffic coming off the west to north flyover. Hopefully these measures will help reduce the congestion somewhat.