mdm8589: Can something please be done about the Hampton/Oakland intersection? Every day, I see people driving north on Hampton ignore the blocked left lane and no left turn sign. Just this morning, 3 vehicles in front of me held up traffic so they could turn left onto Oakland. It is very frustrating getting caught behind them during rush hour. Perhaps signs could be placed well before the intersection, instructing them to turn onto another street if they want to cut through Dogtown?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: I will share this with the City Police and also talk with our engineers about the possibility of more signs. People may note remember but before we started construction there were no left turns on northbound Hampton to westbound Oakland. The intersection is too close to the interstate and those left turns will not be allowed now or in the future. Drivers are breaking the law. A simple solution is to cross the bridge and go around the roundabout and then make a right turn on Oakland. Then you aren't breaking the law or stopping traffic. There are also several other streets where left turns are allowed and you can get through Dogtown and over to Oakland.

Linda Wilson

cats: Dangerous turn: when going west on Dale turning north on Hanley, the way Hanley curves, you are right in the traffic lane immediately after turning. Is this a problem that will be addressed?

Also, will access to wb I-64 be eliminated from Blendon Place?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: The right turn from Dale onto northbound Hanley does put you right in a driving lane. When construction is complete, there will be a yielding right turn around an island from Dale to northbound Hanley. It has not been built yet and the traffic lanes are tight on Hanley right now because of the construction of the new Hanley and Eager connection.

The McCausland and I-64 interchange is being rebuilt so the new ramp from McCausland to westbound I-64 will go directly from McCausland and not along Berthold. From Blendon, you will need to get to McCausland to access the new westbound ramp to I-64.

All of our design plans are available on the I-64 website. Go to www.thenewi64.org, click on news and information and then downloads to see a listing of the design plans.

Linda Wilson

Bob K: I believe that the overpasses in the (open) western half of the highway have the street name carved into the overpass, i.e. Spoede, McKnight. I do not recall seeing that on Tamm (when driving the eastern half last year). Will the street names be carved into the eastern half overpasses - if the answer is no, what is the reasoning for not doing so on the eastern half (and if this will not be done in the eastern half, was the western half carving paid for by the local municipality?. Thank you.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: The street names are not carved into the concrete. It is an actual sign attached to the bridge. Every bridge will have one. The Tamm sign is not installed yet because there is still active construction with very large equipment in the area and the contractor wanted to reduce the risk of potential damage. The street signs are one of the last things they install. No local governments are paying for these signs and again we are signing all of them. They just haven't all been installed yet.

Linda Wilson

Roger: on Highway 30, it looks like you are replacing the traffic light at delores exit. are any plans to replace the light at the Northwest ave exit? the timing at NW really is out of sync with the delores and bluff's exits. in the early mornings (5:50AM TO 6:00AM) sometimes the left turn traffic into NW backs up to the Bluff exit. Could you have a traffic engineer review the timings?

thanks

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Certainly. I will pass this along to our traffic engineer for this area. Thank you for the detail regarding which directions and what time of day you experience the problem. That detail helps the traffic engineers know what to look for.

Linda Wilson

StlMax: Hi Linda and Dan.
I understand that the severe congestion at Hanley/Dale/Meridian is just temporary while the "jug handle" access to Eager Road is being built. Once the jug handle access is completed the intersection should be much easier to navigate for northbound Hanley drivers to go west on Eager and for eastbound Eager road drivers to head south on Hanley/east on Dale.

My question concerns the southbound Hanley traffic looking to go west on Eager road. It appears from the drawings of the finished interchange that those drivers will indeed continue to use Meridian Drive to circle around to a traffic light at Eager Road just west of the Best Buy. This is the same path as the current detour. If my interpretation is correct, and this will be the permanent solution for these drivers, what changes will be made to Meridian to ease traffic flow? Today there are two stop signs and numerous pedestrian cross walks to get to and from the parking garage to buildings and the MetroLink station. Is this truly a viable solution for the southbound Hanley to westbound Eager traffic? Thanks.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Your assessment of the plans is correct. The southbound Hanley direction is the only direction that the new interchange design could not accommodate. All other movements will use the new Eager to Hanley road. The problem right now is that all traffic is using Meridian and it is overloaded. When you only have one direction needing to use it, it will be signficantly better. The other major issue right now is that Eager is the access route to get to I-170. The new interchange will have a direct ramp from Hanley to northbound i-170. Motorists will not need to turn on Eager to get to I-170, although that access will be there as well.

The Meridian is a street built and maintained by the developed and within the jurisdiction of the City of Brentwood. The large parking garage provides parking for the building who work in the stores and the office building at the Meridian. The stop signs are necessary to help those people.

Linda Wilson