WESTWOOD VILLAGE — Village leaders have abandoned their fight to install gates on Conway Road, which would have spared it from the expected surge in Highway 40 detour traffic next year.

The decision to reverse course came Monday evening at a meeting with St. Louis County highway officials, village chairman Fred Berger said Tuesday.

County officials had said that they'd take over Conway Road to stop the gates, and Berger had countered with the threat of a court fight.

Now, the village wants to avoid legal action.

"If we'd known St. Louis County would object to it and start to take it over in the outset, we never would have done this," Berger said. "In talking with the county about this, in seeking a resolution, we think the county has some good things to offer us. We're not desirous of an unnecessary legal battle."

The village's proposal to block one mile of Conway Road to just about everyone except village residents, emergency responders, school buses and members of the Westwood Country Club, touched off opposition last week from county officials. They have been committed to keeping all roads in the county open during Highway 40 (Interstate 64) work. For one year starting in January, crews plan to close all lanes on Highway 40 from just west of Spoede Road in Frontenac to Interstate 170 in Richmond Heights.

Conway Road, which stretches from Chesterfield to Ladue, runs almost parallel to the interstate. It's expected to serve as an alternative east-west route for drivers needing to get to St. John's Mercy Medical Center, Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School, and churches and businesses in the area.

"People were asking us, 'How can they do this?'" said Vi Smith, executive vice president of the Creve Coeur Olivette Chamber of Commerce.

County officials still plan to take over the stretch of Conway, through Westwood Village and Frontenac, for the duration of the New I-64 project. But first, the county will work out an agreement with the two municipalities. The county made similar agreements earlier this year with Frontenac, Ladue, Creve Coeur and Town and Country when the county took over Clayton and Ladue roads.

If the County Council approves, the county will assume maintenance of Conway Road and will keep the $17,000 it contributes to the village annually for plowing and upkeep, said Garry Earls, head of the county highway department. He did not have a ready estimate of the county's costs for Conway.

Because the village owns its section of Conway, it has authority to control its traffic. But Jim Wild, with East-West Gateway Council of Governments, said it was questionable whether the village could block the road to most traffic.

That's because in 2003, the village used $128,000 in federal grant money to repair a small bridge on the road.

"Could the road be closed down because federal funds were used on it?" said Wild, who oversees Gateway's allocation of federal transportation money to the region. "That was one of the issues we had."

Berger said that he was pleased the village had worked things out with the county, and that he hopes the county will return Conway Road to the village in better condition.

Earls said, "It is a great idea that we can go on about doing the business of St. Louis County without having to worry about Conway Road," Earls said.

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