Ask the Road Crew
Is your route to work giving you a headache because of potholes, poorly timed lights or street construction? Let the experts know, and ask them your questions about highways and roads. The live chat starts at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
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Several months ago you said 141 is going to be paved later this year from Hwy 55 to Hwy 40.
So far, they have only paved from Hwy 40 to Clayton Rd. When is the remainder going to be done?
It is getting very bad around Hwy 44 and from 44 to Gravois Bluffs.
Dougherty Ferry road from Big Bend to 270 is getting very rough and holes in some parts of the pavement.
Are there any plans to resurface these sections?
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Restriping is needed on eastbound I44 east of Hampton to Kingshighway, Vandeventer and Grand. The prior striping needs to be covered or painted over as the multiple lines are confusing for all drivers. Recently we were almost run off the road by drivers on either side of us not adhering to their correct lane. This area is an accident waiting to happen & the sign stating that cars should stay in their lane does not help.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this traffic concern that should be able to be rectified quickly and inexpensively.
Concerned Driver -
Our construction contractor on the I-44 project does keep up on the striping. We do have a short period of time in the morning where the ground out stripes are a bit more visible than the current striping. Crews have also put down reflector tabs on the pavement to help better show those lanes during the morning, when the sun's glare may wash out the striping. Until the project is completed, there is very little more we can do. Once the bridge work is done this winter, we will resurface the stretch of I-44 between Grand and Kingshighway next spring. Andrew Gates, MoDOT Communications
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The traffic signal at Gravois and Mackenzie roads has protected-only left turns, no permissive lefts are allowed. The left arrows are always leading lefts, assuming that a car is in the lane wanting to turn left.
I approached too late to receive a left-turn and was patiently waiting with a red left arrow and no approaching traffic. Typically, this triggers the left-arrow to come back on. In this case, it didn't come back on. This was for east-bound Gravois. This is a waste of my time and gas. I could've easily and safely made a left turn but for the red arrow. Please fix this.
Editorial comment: In my opinion, overly restrictive traffic prohibitions like this lead to drivers choosing to violate the law. When I first began calling MoDOT and St. Louis County Highways and Traffic, this was the prevailing wisdom that the engineers instilled in me. In the past ten years, it seems as though we've gone to a nanny state where all the decisions are taken away from the motorist.
Examples, don't flash signals at night anymore, fewer permissive left turns allowed, unneeded stop signs and lowering the speed limit because a few fuddy duddies complain. I'm not advocating for anarchy, but I possess sound judgment and know what I'm doing and don't need Big Brother to run my life.. -
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I saw that Musick Avenue and Gravois Road are open for business. Great work, Dave, to you and St. Louis County DOT.
But the request for service is to Mr. Gates and MoDOT.
The streetlights that are on top of the traffic signal poles are illuminated 24/7. I've called the 340-4100 number a couple of weeks ago to let them know, but they are still always on.
Also, the controller needs a little tweaking. As soon as a car on Musick pulls up to the right turn lane, the signal goes to red for Gravois. Since cars can make a permissible right turn after stop onto Gravois, there should be a reasonable delay before the signal gives them a motorist a green light.
Great job on this project. I'm excited to see when the sidewalks are complete. -
These signals are still, temporarily, under our control. (They'll be turned back over to MoDOT in the near future.) I have asked our resident engineer for this project if we have plans to program a "delay" that would provide the pause about which you're inquiring. I'll post a reply as soon as I get it. Thank you for your kind words. This was a challenging project for local residents and motorists alike, and we truly appreciate your patience. David Wrone, St. Louis County -
In St. Louis city, Travelling East on Chippewa right before Gravois, there is a center turn lane that starts right after you pass under the Viaduct. Cars traveling east continue to use this as a driving lane instead of as a turning lane. For the cars using proper driving procedures and lanes this causes a lot of potentially dangerous and accident prone situations in trying to get over to make a left onto Gravois. Can someone looked into putting a barrier up after Alexander St to keep people from using the turning lane as driving lane? Is there some other kind of solution?
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Drivers choosing to use a turn lane as a driving lane is, primarily, an enforcement issue, which should be addressed by St. Louis Metropolitan Police. Putting up a barrier wall to prevent those individuals who choose to use the lane as a driving lane would also create a very unsafe driving condition. We'll see if we can make any improvements (like adding a raised median) that might help prevent the issue you describe without impacting driver's ability to get to the turn lane during any future projects (although we have not identified any funding for work along Chippewa at this time). Andrew Gates, MoDOT Communications
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The County maintains Dorsett, and Mr. Wrone is checking on any potential plans for Dorsett Road and will share that info. We maintain the bridge over Lindbergh, and are currently planning to have the Dorsett/Midland bridge open to one lane of traffic in each direction by the end of September. Andrew Gates, MoDOT Communications
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Funding isn't available to resurface Dorsett in the near future. However, we're currently working to secure funding that would enable us to improve the road from just east of I-270 to Old Dorsett in 2024. I'm sorry I don't have better news to share. This section of Dorsett is certainly in less than optimal condition. David Wrone, St. Louis
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Yes, Missouri American Water Company is responsible for restoring the disrupted pavement. It's my understanding that the utility currently is trying to find a company to perform that work, but to date, hasn't been successful. I therefore can't provide a schedule for the restoration work. David Wrone, St. Louis County
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Hi,
I was wondering about the repairs going on Upper Bottom road in St. Charles between the Family Arena and Streets of St. Charles complex. It seems as if they've finished repaving one side of the road (heading towards I-70 from Family Arena) but that road is extremely bumpy, it isn't level at all. Driving on that road is like going on a roller coaster. Is the road in an interim stage and further repairs still need to be made or is it finished? -
Response from the County Highway Department -The initial placement of asphalt is a base course. A second layer of asphalt will be placed as the driving surface. The contractor is aware that corrections are needed to the base course in order to achieve the level of smoothness in the final riding surface that is required by the contract. Those corrections will be made just prior to the placement of the surface course. -
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We'll be repaving Big Bend from Manchester to Delmar next year. In any major improvement project like this, application of the new driving surface is always the last "step" in the process. Meanwhile, our contractor will continue to remove and replace deteriorated curb and sidewalk and construct hundreds of wheelchair-accessible ramps on both sides of the road. We're improving three miles of Big Bend, and that means a significant amount of concrete work (i.e., the curbs, sidewalks and ramps) must be performed before the new pavement is put down. We know the existing pavement is in very rough shape, and we appreciate your patience. David Wrone, St. Louis County
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Hi and thanks as always for doing these chats. Rock Hill Rd southbound, south of Litszinger and just south of Old Warson Rd there has been construction occurring for a few months. There is an electronic sign that states "right lane will be closed Aug 7." It has been almost a month and this sign is still up. Any way to update the info on the sign? Thanks!!
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Curious as to when the road striping will be completed on highway 67 southbound from Festus. Most of this road has been striped earlier this year (which was a great improvement, especially at night!) except for the white line to the right of the right lane from highway 55 to near highway 110 and then again from near highway JJ at least as far as I travel to Park Hills. It is the same way northbound to JJ and then fine from there.
Thank you to your crews and to you for participating in this kind of forum! -
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Hi, in St. Charles County there is considerable morning traffic on Route 94 southbound in Weldon Spring due to the large number of students, staff, and parents commuting to Francis Howell High School. The traffic sometimes backs up greater than a mile, past even the overpass for Interstate 64. This causes frequent delays for commuters that are just needing to get onto the highway.
Additionally, this results in significant back up in vehicles on Route D, which intersects with Route 94 near the high school.
Here is the location I am referring to: goo.gl
Are there any plans to perhaps widen Route 94 southbound and extend its rightmost lane all the way down to Route D or the high school? There is already a lane there that quickly requires traffic to merge — why not extend it the rest of the way to Route D or the the high school to accommodate the large amount of vehicles? Thanks. -
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WB McDonnell Blvd between Boeing entrance traffic signal and Lindbergh Blvd traffic signal utility work has piled dirt on sidewalk near bus shelter. Has been this way for 6 months and requires people to walk into the street to get to bus stop. Can you research who did this and get the situation fixed.
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1. SB 67 tunnel sign says "No Changing Lanes in Tunnei" What is a Tunnei?
2. NB 67 tunnel sign says "Stay in lane G"?
3. NB 67 after railroad underpass the concrete to asphalt transition has a huge bump which is significant for trucks and trailers.
4. NB 67 after railroad underpass the sidewalk and curb stick into traffic lanes and are constantly hit by longer vehicles and vehicles with dual rear tires -
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Another Manchester Road question: Just west of Manchester and Kirkwood Road, there is a "new" left turn lane that was installed solely for Midwest Regional Bank and CVS customers (turning south). That left turn lane has a raised concrete island which extends into the flow of eastbound Manchester traffic. That is clear just by looking at it, and the island is frequently struck by cars - the directional sign is currently down, in fact, for that reason! In my view, this turn lane is unsafe. ....thousands of cars travel east on Manchester daily at this location, while relatively few ever make the problematic left turn. Inevitably, cars in the right lane, eastbound, cut into the left lane, eastbound, on Manchester..... It is dangerous! Were alternatives considered? Is there any chance that residents could petition to have it changed? The benefit of removal seems dramatically greater than keeping it as-is. thanks for any reply.
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At the corner of Walnut and 4th, it's one way heading North on 4th, yet when the westbound traffic on Walnut has a green light, the eastbound traffic waits on a red even though there is no cross traffic. It makes sense to me that the east and west traffic should cross the intersection at the same time. Thank you
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In the eastbound direction we have a separate left turn lane, a shared left/thru lane, and a thru lane. The eastbound left turn movement is protected-only (turn on arrow only). With that shared lane configuration it is appropriate to run east-west traffic separately for safety of dual turning movements from one direction. -
