Chuck Loehr: Dan,
Just wondering if your background is in engineering, or construction?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Technically, none of the above. I have a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Arizona State, worked in TV news for a few years and then was Community Relations Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation. I've been doing this sort of work for Granite Construction Company since 1998.

Sam: My question concerns better marking and signage of arterial roads. Because of the Hwy 40 shutdown, many of us are now taking arterial roads that we are not real familiar with. Many of these roads are two-lanes in each direction BUT one lane becomes dedicated at an intersection to turning right or left. If there is a "Left Lane Must turn Left" sign up, it is woefully inadequate because it is positioned about 25 yards from the intersection whereas the traffic backs up 200 yards are more. And not everyone has the far-vision to see 200 yards, especially at night. So you are forced to "do a dance" at every intersection and it is a hazard. Or do you want people to end up in the wrong lane and have to "beg"? I could think of a good reason for it: trying to make sure both lanes are full so that the line-up doesn't block intersections. But if the latter is the case, I think it would be better to put signs up warning people in plenty of time so they can make up their own minds if they are in a begging mood. (Ladue, Clayton and Elm are three examples that come to mind where the "dedicated at intersection" lanes seem to switch almost every other one.)

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: All roads are signed with a uniform signing plan. All traffic engineers across the country following the same manual of standards for signing to ensure safety and driver expectancy. The advance warning signs are placed where they are supposed to be. But, that doesn't mean this can't be improved. The two-lane roads you refer to our not the state's. The state is responsible for Manchester, Olive and Page, which are four-lane roads. I will share your concerns with St. Louis County and see if there is something that can be done to assist. As drivers get used to driving these roads, they will also get used to which lane they need to be in. You will have less cut over traffic.

Linda Wilson

CD: Quick question: the "project overview" page on thenewi64.com has a link with the current Kingshighway traffic plan. The map is, well, anything but current. It still shows traffic going over the east side of the bridge. Are updates to this and other areas forthcoming?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Very good point. We need to remove that from the website. It was put there late last spring to show the traffic control plan on Kingshighway when we first started closing lanes. I'm not sure if that same information is available for the traffic control on other interchanges. If it is available, we will post it. Thank you for pointing this out.

Linda Wilson

CD: Another question, since it seems no one else has any. The complaint (rightly so) about 40 was the terrible interchanges, and the same could be said about several stretches of 70, 44, 55, Page east of 270, and, for that matter, 270. I know there's a limited re-build project planned in a year or two for some spots on I-55, but are there any major plans (with or without a shutdown) planned for the region's other major highways?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Unfortunately, our available funds for transportation are going to dramatically drop off in the next two years. Our highway projects are funded with both federal and state transportation dollars. Most projects are 80% federal and 20% state. You pay a state gas tax of 17 cents in Missouri, which is one of the lowest, and a federal gas tax of 18.4 cents. Our funding from the federal level and state level will be cut in half in two years due to a combination of reduced federal funds and the need to pay off bonded funds for projects in Missouri. Bottomline is without additional funding, we will be doing very little in Missouri other than pavement and bridge maintenance. There is very little funding available to do rebuilding projects including reconstructing interchanges along our interstates to make them operate better. As a region, MoDOT works with the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to prioritize where we spend our limited funds in a three-year plan with a 20-year long term. At this point, we don't have plans in the three-year funded window to do any other major interstate rebuilds, like the I-64 project.

Linda Wilson