buran: Thanks for responding to my concerns about the McKnight bridge last time. However, I feel that you may not be aware of the actual condition of this intersection, which I made sure to examine when on my drive home tonight:

There are most definitely no visible arrows in the left lane indicating that it's a turn lane. It looks like there may have been arrows at one time, but they are not there now. I don't think the straight-only lane has ever had any. I don't think the straight-only lane has ever had any; if they're there, they're so faint that I didn't see them at all today.

Furthermore, the traffic light above the bridge in the southbound direction does not give drivers in the left lane a left arrow only; it gives a left arrow AND a plain green circle. This shouldn't be there on a turn-only lane, should it? The signal should be changed because it's very misleading. I'm confused as to why it's a five-light signal instead of a three-light signal. It leads drivers to believe that it's legal to go straight from the left lane when it in fact isn't.

End result: another driver went straight from the turn lane on my trip home today, forcing a driver in the straight lane to brake yet again, delaying everyone trying to go straight, and nearly causing yet another crash when the erring driver barged into the right-of-way of the driver to his or her right.

I'm hoping something can be done very soon, before someone going straight legally gets rammed by someone misusing the turn lane as they move gradually left as going straight on McKnight southbound requires. I'd expect to see this occasionally, not nearly every single time I pass through the intersection.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We did ask the contractor to restripe the left arrow on the pavement again. The straight lane does not have an arrow on the pavement. The bridge over I-64 will get a final top layer of asphalt as soon as we have temperatures consistently staying above freezing at night. Once they do the final asphalt, they will paint the stripes yet again.

The left turn lane has a left turn arrow and a solid green with a sign that says left turns yield on green. The straight lane has a normal red, yellow, green solid ball. So the solid green in the left lane is just for making a yielding left. This is a very common arrangement for signalized intersections.

We are very concerned that drivers continue to drive this incorrectly. It has been nearly four months that the interchange is open and we would assume that most people drive this on a frequent basis so they no the left turn is just for that. Perhaps they are purposely cheating ahead. We are watching this along with St. Louis County Highway Department to see what else should be done. The Ladue Police are also watching the area as well.

Linda Wilson

RFRVC: Eager Road, west of Brentwood Blvd (in Brentwood Forest), is a mess! It looks like they are doing utility work. The road has been torn up. Are there plans to re-pave this once work is finished? It needs it terribly.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Ameren UE is doing utility work along Eager Road west of Brentwood as a part of Power On. I do not know if their work is tearing up the street itself or if they plan to resurface when they are finished. I will check with our contractor who uses a portion of the road to get to our project. At this point, we are not planning to resurface the road. You should check with Ameren.

Linda Wilson

qqq23: I live near the ongoing Highway 40 construction. My concern, especially with spring here, is erosion. I see mountains of soil along the construction site, with nothing to secure it. What is being done to prevent mudslides or erosion?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Erosion control is an area that MoDOT watches very closely with the contractor. There are a lot of piles of dirt on the east half that are waiting to be moved to new areas of the project. If the dirt is going to be there a long time, they have grass grow on it. For example, we have had a pile just east of I-170 for a year now and there is grass growing on it. Now we are beginning the process of moving that pile and spreading it out in its final locations. We also work on the roadsides with haybales, erosion fences and other things to prevent slides or anything going off the state property. Again, it is an item our inspectors check on a regular basis.

Linda Wilson

Michael Cole: I have always wondered why an extension of the MetroLink light rail system out to Chesterfield was not included in the highway reconstuction? In my opinion the perfect window to apply the most obvious solution in easing traffic congestion, reducing dependancy on oil, stabilizing soaring gas prices, lowering carbon emmissions into the air and a host of other environmental and safety issues has been missed. I have yet to hear a logical answer to this question.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: I will try to give you a logical answer. I have answered this more times than I can count. The region's transportation plans are done cooperatively through the metropolitan planning organization called East-West Gateway Council of Governments. All of the region's elected county leaders and mayor of St. Louis serve on the board for the council and make decisions about long range transportation planning for the region. In the late 1990s, MoDOT, Metro and East-West Gateway conducted studies reviewing I-64 and what to do with the highway improvements and where to build MetroLink. It was a public study with public meetings and the board at Gateway voted on the decisions of what to do. For MetroLink, the decision was made to build it north of I-64 along Forest Park Parkway to Clayton and then south along I-170 ending at Shrewsbury. It may go further south if money is ever available. From Clayton, a future line is planned to go northwest toward WestPort Plaza area and then cross I-270 and go through the valley area to Chesterfield Valley. This is the planned route to Chesterfield and it is not funded. Overall the plan for MetroLink in St. Louis is to have it pedestrian friendly and create walkable development around the stations. The immediate right of way of an interstate is difficult to keep pedestrians safe and does not support the region's vision for our transit system in communities. I hope these helps explain it. It was seriously considered. If you need more information, I would recommend you contact either Metro or East-West Gateway as MoDOT is a partner to them but not actually responsible for MetroLink.

Linda Wilson

FireFly07: I recently heard that you started a Facebook page. I have never used Facebook or anything else like that. How do I find the I-64 page?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Yes, we did recently open a New I-64 Facebook page. Social media tools such as Facebook are becoming very popular...and not just with young people. Businesses are beginning to use these channels to reach the people who rely almost strictly on online information. We are hoping our Facebook page will act as an extension of our website and bring new awareness to the project and all of the activities and closures related to it. We currently have new photos and videos posted, and we hope to add hot topics onto discussion boards.

Once you are logged into Facebook and have created a user profile, enter "The New I-64" in the search box. Our page should be at the top of the results list; click on it, and you will automatically be directed to The New I-64 page. To receive updates to your Facebook account every time we post something new, click on "Become a Fan" underneath our logo in the top left corner of the page. MoDOT also has a Facebook page, so you may want to add them as well to receive other statewide and regional information.