The Sports Goddess: This week, with the closure of Big Bend overpass, I've seen some weird (sneaky?) driving.
On Southbound Dale at Big Bend, people are intentionally avoiding the light by turning right on Big Bend and making a u-turn to turn right back onto Dale.
Which leads me to ask:
Why is the light there still operational? When the Hampton overpass was down, the intersection of Oakland/Hampton became a regulated by stop sign. Could the same be done for Dale/Big Bend? |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: In talking with St. Louis County, the light is still needed at Big Bend and Dale because you can still have traffic coming from all directions and there is a lot of traffic on both Big Bend and on Dale. The light helps move this traffic better than a four-way stop. There is access on Big Bend between Dale and I-64. The access is to City Hall and the police headquarters as well as Telle Tire. It is a different situation than Hampton.
I know the Richmond Heights police have been monitoring the streets pretty closely.
Linda Wilson |
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| TwoPointers: I heard today that Bellevue Avenue (one of the few ways to cross over 40 around Clayton) is now 20 mph instead of the normal 35 mph. Is this correct? 20 mph is slower than most other "neighborhood" streets and/or school zones. If this is indeed the case, will the speed limit go back to normal once 40 is done? |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: The speed limit on Bellevue over I-64 has been 20 mph and our understanding is it will remain that. It is a city of Richmond Heights streets and our understanding in designing the bridge over I-64 was for a posted 20 mph speed limit. This is a very residential area with a church, school and daycare. It also has lots stop signs that keep the speed down too. The city sets the speed limit on Bellevue.
Linda Wilson |
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| adam_lamore: I was wondering about the designs of the new "art deco" bridges on I-64. In particular, I've noticed at Brentwood and at Lindbergh that there are what look like pillars of concrete that extend above the highway at both ends on both sides (photo can be found here: http://www.thenewi64.org/assets/i64/images/lindbergh%20bridge.jpg). What are these for? Are they decorative or is there some plan to put lights or something on them? In my opinion, unless they have some purpose they just look goofy. |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: These are just decorative. It was an aesthetic effort to capture the old art deco detailing of the old bridges on 40. Only the largest interchanges at Lindbergh, Brentwood, Kingshighway and Hampton have these.
Linda Wilson |
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Mav3481: Hello,
I went to the Zoo on Saturday, and I have to say the Hampton Entrance is very nice, as well is the Tamm Avenue bridge. My question is: Once the project nears completion, will there be a portion of the I-64 website that is a before and after picture area where we can see what it looked like to what it is now?
Other than that, great job! |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Yes. We will do before and after when we are complete. Whenever we give presentations to groups, we always present the before and after photos. It is impressive to see where we have come from.
Linda Wilson |
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Anne: Two questions:
1) This should probably go to someone at the City of St. Louis, but I'll start with this forum: Would it be possible to adjust the length of the light at Hampton and Oakland (and possibly Dale and McCausland) in the late evening/early morning hours? Or even flashing reds? I drive through these intersections at Midnight and it just seems that the lights take forever considering there is no traffic.
2) I see that Richmond Heights made streets near Big Bend and Clayton one way (e.g., Claytonia can only turn out onto Clayton, but not have Clayton drivers turn onto it). As someone who lives in that neighborhood I'm really excited to see that change made. Do you know if it's a permanent change? Or only until Big Bend reopens?
Thanks! |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: I will have the city engineers check the signal timing at these locations. Depending on the location and the type of signal equipment, some signals go to flash over night and some do not. I'm not sure about these two locations.
The City of Richmond Heights made three city streets one way northbound right before Clayton Avenue. This went into effect yesterday. Our understanding is this will remain until the Hanley Bridge over I-64 reopens later this summer.
Linda wilson |
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| jeff: I noticed numerous street closures in Richmond Heights last night, all streets leading to Boland and cutting off access to Big Bend. Is that permanent? |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: The city of Richmond Heights made three streets one-way northbound only between Boland and Big Bend. Our understanding from the City is they will leave this like this until the Hanley bridge over I-64 reopens later this summer.
Linda Wilson |
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| Colleen: Yesterday Richmond Heights/Clayton closed Boland, Claytonia and Moreland at Clayton Road causing stop and go traffic between Hanley and McCausland. Now, drivers only have Bellevue as an option to go south across the construction from Clayton Road between Brentwood and McCausland. Traveling Bellevue was also stop and go, with the added risk of blocking access to St. Mary's hospital. I understand the neighborhoods are worried about traffic, but these closures inconvenience them too. Could there have been any other options? I have always respectfully driven through these neighborhoods, even before the construction, and the only problem was congestion caused by parking on both sides of the street. Could parking be limited to one side? |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: This was a decision by the City of Richmond Heights and these are their streets. It is our understanding this will be in place until the Hanley bridge over I-64 reopens later this summer. I do not know what other options they considered. This was their decision based on what they thought was best for their city and their residents.
Linda Wilson |
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| knifeman1: I know last year at the end of the 1st phase you had to close the east side to open the entire west half; not being able to open the west half in sections. Since you don't have any closures next year is there a possibiltity to open a few exits at a time moving west from Kingshighway? Thanks. |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We do not plan to open any portions of the east half in sections. Our regional plan for handling traffic with the closed highway is all based on Kingshighway to I-170. It is not good for handling interstate traffic to have an interstate end at a smaller street. We will open the east half from end to end when it is ready, no later than December 31.
Linda Wilson |
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dougprior: I-170 was orginally numbered that way because is was a spur from I-70 to RTE 40. When the project is finished, rte 40 will officially be I-64. Will I-170 be renumbered as an even-munbered 3-digit interstate highway?
Thank you. |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: I-170 was built to be the inner loop for I-270. It actually connects from I-270 to I-64. At one point, we studied the idea of taking it to I-44 and I-55. That plan was dropped as a priority by the region over a decade ago. I-170 still serves as a loop road, similar to I-270 and it will continue to be designated as I-170. Three digit interstates are always loop or bypass roads typically found in urban areas.
Linda Wilson |
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dweebe: Can you please see what can be done about the cement trucks and dumptrucks that are coming up from I-64 on the Clayton Rd exit ramp? They are not observing the stoplight and pulling straight out into traffic after slowing down and not coming to a complete stop.
North/south traffic will have the right of way on Skinker/McCausland but the trucks will pull into the the traffic. I've seen this happen three times.
An accident is going to happen if this continues. You guys need to get a flagman up there to have traffic hold up when those trucks need to get onto Skinker/McCausland. |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: I'll mention this to our safety manager.
Dan |
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| Nick Imgrund: I absolutely love what was done at Hampton with the pedestrian tunnel, if it costs more it was well worth it. On the bike path, west of Hampton at the southeast corner of the zoo parking lot, the path has been rerouted because of construction. The new alignment has a very sharp turn, and if you come down that hill you can't see anyone until the last minute. It seems like a matter of time until someone gets hit or comes down the hill too fast and wipes out on the turn. Is the current alignment permanent? |
Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We worked very closely with Forest Park on the design of the new pedestrian underpass at Hampton. I agree it is a wonderful addition to the park. It really helps the traffic flow at the Hampton and Wells intersection and is so much safer for everyone. The Zoo is also working on the south parking lot and a new pedestrian bridge from the lot to the south entrance. Their work has just started. I am not familiar with any restrictions on the pedestrian path, but I'm going to have one our engineers go check it out. The changes to the path by the parking lot are not scheduled to be complete by the Zoo's contract until later this Fall. When complete, they are building a dual path system, so this is not the final alignment.
Linda Wilson |
