Allen Dotson: Hello,
After the construction is over and the dust settles, can we call the highway either Hwy 40 or Hwy 64. I know many people who are confused when you say Hwy 64.

Is there going to be one name for the new hwy.

Thanks, Allen

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: When complete the highway will have the same signs it has had on it since 1988. It is Interstate 64/US Route 40. We focus on the interstate designation because that is the highest designation. We know many people just call it Highway 40. It is and will be both.

Linda Wilson

Bill: I was looking at the webcam at 170 and 64. There is one pier next to the finished portion of the east to north flyover ramp that looks awfully close to the others. Is that just the camera angle or is it really that close? By the way,thanks for putting those three cameras in place.It is interesting to watch the progress.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: The pier for the eastbound I-64 to northbound I-170 ramp is close to the lanes of I-64. The I-170 interchange is a complicated design with many piers, ramps and lanes close to others. It is all safely designed.

We are glad you enjoy the cameras. We are working on getting more for the project and also moving them around. For example, next year we will have a camera at Hanley to watch the progress when that interchange is transformed.

Linda Wilson

Graeme: Thanks for taking the time to do this every week!

Was there a study done to see what roads needed to be improved to handle the traffic that roads such as Manchester, Page, and Olive in particular take on? Olive seems extremely bad until 141 then it lightens up. Has anything been studied about this and if the Highway 40 shutdown affected it?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We are glad to have the opportunity to do this every week. Thanks to the Post-Dispatch for providing this forum for your questions and our answers.

MoDOT studied for years what the impacts would be. MoDOT and Gateway Constructors also modeled the traffic impacts once we knew the exact construction schedule. It was predicted that all the parallel roads to I-64 would take the extra traffic. The closer to I-64, the more traffic would divert to it. We have seen increases on Manchester, Olive and Page. Olive traffic volumes have increased 70% east of I-270. West of I-270 it is only a 5 % increase. MoDOT continues to study and report every two weeks on the traffic volumes and travel times on the alternate routes. We have these reports on the MoDOT website at www.modot.mo.gov click on St. Louis and then click on I-64 traffic information. The latest report was posted today.

Linda Wilson

mike: would it be possible for a local news group to feature latest video or pictures of progress being made ,maybe from aerial photos,just curious at the progress being made ,I travel to east corridor daily and from what I can see it is coming along nicely

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We have been working with the local news media to provide updates. Just last week, the Post-Dispatch, Channel 5 and Channel 2 all took tours of the project and did reports on the progress. We are providing every opportunity possible to let them in the work zone for updates.

We also have a camera at Clayton/Warson that you can see views of the project every 15 minutes and a photo gallery on the I-64 website at www.thenewi64.org, click on the Photo icon on the homepage.

Linda Wilson

Sam: I believe I have found a design flaw on the rebuild of the Boland ave. overpass. Eastbound drivers on the exit ramp to Boland cannot see southbound Boland traffic to decide whether it is safe to turn out into Boland because the angle is at an incline and the new barrier on the west side of the bridge is built so high. Can you check it out?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: I'm assuming you are referring to the Bellevue bridge exit, as we do not have ramps at Boland. We are aware of the sight issue at Bellevue. Gateway Constructors is moving the sidewalk crossing and the stop sign location this week. It should improve the situation. The barrier cannot be removed because it is the crash barrier to keep vehicles from going off the bridge. The restriping and moving of the stop bar should take care of the problem.

Linda Wilson