Ryan: Hello Dan and Linda. Does either of you know what is going on with the lights under the Claytonia bridge? I don't think they have been on since the bridge opened.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: I'll have to check on that one. In several areas we have the lights in place but Ameren still needs to get power to them. I seem to recall that is one of those areas.

Dan

rxp71105z14: What does "traffic science" say about what will happen to the volume on I-270 in South and West County once I-64 is open??

A friend says that I-270 traffic will get lighter (i.e. back to before the project) because people won't be using it as much to get to I-44 and I-70 (the detours).

I disagree and say that generally traffic on I-270 will be worse than before because once you make a highway more attractive to drive on (which was the whole point of the Highway 40 reconstruction) it gives people a greater incentive to get to it and I-270 is the chief way to do that.
Also, if my friend were correct, the traffic counts for 270 should have already gone down once the western half opened, yet traffic on 270 seems just as jammed as when the eastern half was open and west was closed.

I'd be interested in both Dan and Linda's opinions. I understand that 270 cannot be widened - ever.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: MoDOT's traffic engineers have been taking twice monthly traffic counts on all the interstates and major streets since January 2008. The volumes on I-270 between I-64 and I-44 have not gone back down yet. There is still an increase in traffic that is taking I-64 to I-270 to I-44 to get to downtown. We do expect this to lighten some when I-64 is completely open and available to get to and from downtown. We issue a monthly traffic report including volumes and travel times if you are interested. You can find it on the web at www.modot.org, click on St. Louis and then click on news and information to see our monthly release. The August data will be issued hopefully this week.

Linda Wilson

Lando Griffin: Hats off to ya'll on your work. It has been tremendous.

Is there any plan to increase the signage for the exit only ramp on EB 40 at McKnight. Countless times people have waited until the last second to realize that, that lane is an exit only lane and had to cut people off to get on the highway.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Thank you. That entire area is going to be restriped when we reopen the second half of the project, and the exit lane to McKnight will be more obvious. We'll then have four through lanes as far as the McCutcheon Road bridge, then one will become an exit lane to take you either to the flyover ramp to go north on I-170 or to exit at Brentwood. Three through lanes will then continue east.

Dan

suzyjax: This issue is a few weeks old, but I am finally remembering to ask this question. Why was it decided to restripe and reduce lanes on Page before the completion of the full Hwy 40 project? Were there significant traffic reductions from Lindbergh to I-270? (It just seems if people were already using Page as a detour, they wouldn't change routes at the innerbelt.). The timing was also odd, it was done the first day of school in this area. So you not only had people swerving because they were in the wrong lane, but swerving around school kids and buses. (I know there were warning signs, but in the afternoon with the sun shining on them, they were not real visible and they were only on the right side of the road when the left lanes were affected.)

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Page Avenue was restriped in late 2007 to add a lane between Schuetz and Lindbergh to serve as an alternate route to I-64, especially for the closure of the west half in 2008. The additional lane was placed on the shoulder. This shoulder pavement is not strong enough to continue indefinitely as a lane of pavement. We know this worked very well to handle rush hour traffic, but we had to return the lanes and the shoulder back the way they used to be. This work was done now instead of at the end of the year because restriping is better in the warmer months. Unfortunately, it was completed right when school started which is a heavy traffic time. We have adjusted the signal timing to give the most time possible for the peak direction. We are looking at long term solutions here, but for now we have to have the two lanes on Page. Also, in 2010, we are starting construction of the I-270 and Dorsett interchange. While that is under construction, the double left turn from Page to Schuetz will be important to help people get to the many office buildings located between Page and Dorsett in the Westport area.

Linda Wilson

Mark: Can we get an update on Big Bend progress? It looks to be moving along well. Will the approaches be rebuilt like what is being done at McCausland or will they be resurfaced like the rest of the bridge approaches?

Thanks for all your hard work!

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: You're welcome. Big Bend is going well. The deck has been poured and we're getting ready to begin the approach slabs. The bridge will be tied in with the existing asphalt like at McKnight or Hanley. The reason we rebuilt the entire road at McCausland was because the road base was failing and had to be completely rebuilt. Since we make our own concrete on the job it just made sense to use concrete to do it.

Dan