Andy Newman: At the end of this year, once the west half is completed and the eastbound I-64 traffic flows on the new flyover onto northbound I-170, there will be huge need for traffic to exit I-170 onto the Forest Park Pkwy to continue going east. But that entry onto the Forest Park Pkwy is only one lane---quite a bottleneck. Is there any plan for handling this or any possibility of increasing that to two lanes, even temporarily?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We do not have the space or property to make the ramps at I-170 and Forest Park Parkway two lanes. MoDOT is working with St. Louis County on ideas for the interchange and with St. Louis City and County on the signal timing on the Parkway. However, this road can only handle so much traffic. We will be strongly encouraging people to use I-44 and I-70 as the main alternates in 2009 and also to use all the other alternate arterial routes. If everyone tries to use the Parkway, it won't work.

Linda Wilson

Susan: Hi - are you aware of the the nightly jam on southbound Lindbergh, especialy between Ladue Rd. and Clayton Rd.? Since the Spoede bridge has closed it has gotten a lot worse - I think many people (like me) take this route to avoid SB 270. Amazingly, the radio traffic reports never mention it. Also, it seems like the left turn lanes at Conway Rd. and at Clayton Rd. have been shortened, causing even worse backups as left-turners overflow into the regular lanes. The left arrow at Conway takes a long, long time to come up - often when there is absolutely no traffic heading north. Any hope of taking another look at Lindbergh for some possible solutions? Thanks for keeping communication open!

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We are aware of the traffic on Lindbergh. Typically, the traffic reporters talk about the interstates. They are private media and we cannot control what roads they focus on. The signals on Lindbergh are timed to give priority and the most time to the Lindbergh traffic. Turning traffic and side street traffic wait longer to provide more green time to the Lindbergh traffic. I will have our traffic engineers look at the Conway left turn arrow to make sure it is working correctly. I'm not away of the space for the turning bays being any shorter at these locations, but we can check that too.

Linda Wilson

clyn1034: I want to get information on the status of funding. Is the funding GUARANTEED to be there for the duration of the I-64 project...OR, is it like Social Security where it's "pay as you go" and with the current economy, I'm concerned with the decrease in driving due to high gas prices that the money won't be coming in to maintain the project funding level.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: The I-64 project is fully funded. The concern MoDOT has is with the future. MoDOT gets 17 cents per gallon whether you pay $3 or $4. When people buy fewer gallons, there is less funding available for roads. We are starting to see a decrease in gallons and a decreased in the vehicle miles traveled by motorists. The future of transportation in Missouri is in jeopardy and we will be a position where we are just maintaining the roads we have instead of being able to make improvements to those roads. But, I-64 will be complete on time and on budget.

Linda Wilson

Luckyman: What is with the stop sign at the bottom of the entrance ramp from 64 West (Ballas Road) to 270 North? You have to come to a complete stop and try to see traffic in two lanes coming around a curve while looking over your shoulder. It's impossible to tell what lane the oncoming cars are in. You just have to gun it and hope that the approaching car is in the left lane or moves over for you. I'm a lucky man to be alive, having negotiated this death trap every day for 6 months.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We have to have a stop sign on this ramp because there are two lanes coming from eastbound 64 to northbound I-270 and there are only two lanes on the ramp. If the ramp from Ballas did not stop you would have three lanes going into two. We started with a merge sign there and drivers on the Ballas ramp did not merge. Now we have the stop. With I-64 closed, the movement from eastbound 64 to northbound I-270 is very heavy and we need to provide the two lanes. We realize that this stop is unconventional, but it is the only way we can safely provide access on this ramp. Another suggestion would be to take Ballas to Ladue to access northbound I-270.

Linda Wilson

Dave: What are the plans for the on ramp from Oakland to westbound 40/64? Will this exit remained closed until the end of the project?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Laclede Gas is doing relocation work right now in the area of the Oakland to westbound 64 ramp and that is why the ramp is closed. They have about 2-3 more weeks of work and then the ramp will reopen. Of course, the ramp will close again when we close I-64 between Kingshighway and I-170 at the end of the year.

Linda Wilson