Ask the Road Crew your road work questions, 1 p.m. Wednesday
Wondering about road work? Ask the experts your questions about highways and roads. The live chat starts at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
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When was the last time every route (state, county, city) had it routes checked for correct heights, bridges, wires, traffic lights? How would your departments handle this? Just last weekend watched a truck pull a wire down. I don’t think it should be left up to self-compliance. Had a semi truck driver tell me hasn’t trusted bridge height for years.
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Thanks for providing this forum and all that you collectively do. My question is for the City. Can anything be done about the light at Papin and Truman Parkway? It cycles for ghost traffic for the Ameren parking lot or from those turning from Papin as it is very rare that I see someone exiting the Ameren lot or turning from Papin. Is there anyway that detection can be installed so that the light is green for Truman Parkway traffic until someone is turning from Papin or the Ameren parking lot? This happens at all times of day, all week. Thanks.
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Andrew — SB 170 in the right exit lane for Brentwood SB. I think right near the mile marker sign that has been pounding pretty heavily as a result of the recent rains. Last nights rain actually brought it into the slow lane. May want to check the drainage.
As an aside there is plenty of debris in the drainage grates all along 170 as to be expected but that area above should be noted! -
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I have two questions. First I would like to ask about the selection process for lane-striping paint. The current paint does not seem to me to be as visible at night or especially rainy nights as I have seen in other areas. Secondly, since lane closures seem to cause the biggest traffic problems when there is any construction, I would like to know if any thought is going into schemes that might force traffic to merge smoothy? The primary problem is usually due to the people who will remain in the closing lane until the last second -- then they get blocked out or make erratic maneuvers which bring all traffic to a halt.
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All striping paint must meet standards that area established by the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Typically, there is some material (usually glass beads) that is added to the paint for reflectivity. As with most standards, there are products that exceed those standards that one can buy, usually for a significantly higher cost. Additionally, on most of the multi-lane interstates and some major roadways, we have inlaid reflective pavement markers that also help provide some depiction of where lane lines are late at night. Since rain is reflective (and the heavier it is, the more reflective it is) -- falling rain and water on the roadway during a heavy rain can significantly interfere with the reflectiveness of a roadway. Secondly, when there is a work zone where you have two lanes merging into one, and the traffic levels are heavy, we strongly encourage using the zipper merge: https://www.modot.org/zipper-merge. In short, this is where traffic stays in the two lanes approaching the work zone, and once they reach the point where the lane closes, each car takes a turn merging into the open lane (somewhat like a zipper). It is more effective and gets traffic moving into and through the work zone faster than everyone lining up in the open lane and moving into the work zone (especially if you have someone who behaves in the manner you describe). Andrew Gates, MoDOT Communications
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Andrew, but that doesn’t answer our question. Wires, traffic lights don’t seem to stay at the height they are supposed to. I guess if a truck hits a low object MoDOT automatically send a bill to them for the repair when in reality it’s MoDOT’s or other agencies fault.
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With more than 30,000 miles of roadway within the state, if would be impractical to set up a regular survey to ensure that wires or signals on wires are at the appropriate level. To ensure that an object never dropped below the set height, you would have to have an individual constantly monitor that object -- every day, for 24 hours a day. Otherwise you risk that the object would drop just after you checked it out. That's why it is helpful to have the residents who may happen to see a possible issue on the roadway report it. We have about 6,000 people within the department across the state -- that's 6,000 pairs of eyes. There are more than 4 million licensed drivers in the state That's a lot more eyes and the likelihood of catching an issue such as you describe is much greater. If you see something on the roadway that you believe is an issue, please feel free to call us at 314-275-1500 or 1-888-275-6636 anytime -- we have a live person answering the phone 24/7. Andrew Gates, MoDOT Communications
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"With more than 30,000 miles of roadway within the state"
Maybe you shouldn't have so many maintainable miles. Of course, MoDOT would prefer that every last square inch of the state was under its jurisdiction so that it could have an unlimited budget and power. MoDOT has more damage to the state and its cities than any other government entity. You are responsible for the rotted out core of St. Louis city. -
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This project - a culvert replacement job - will take no more than a week. Theiss will be closed between Eli Drive and Little Rock Road from 8 a.m. through 3 p.m. during the project, at which time steel plates will placed over the excavated pavement and the road reopened until the next morning. David Wrone, St. Louis County's Department of Transportation -
For the past few weeks, on westbound Big Bend Road just west of Sulphur Spring Road, there has been water constantly on the roadway. I'm not sure if there is a water main break nearby or water from the Circle K car wash isn't being properly drained but could someone investigate to see where the water is coming from and make the appropriate entity fix it so the road isn't constantly wet?
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Is there any way to add better signage for the exit to Highway 67 south from I-55 south? The area is busy with construction and the only alert for the Highway 67 south exit is a flashing construction sign. The exit itself does not indicate what road the exit is for. Thanks!
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You can check out the following for more information on your comment about the stretch of I-44 though the downtown area:
https://www.modot.org/st-louis-frequently-asked-questions#elevated. Andrwe Gates, MoDOT Communications
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Another question for the City:: Will Market be repaved between 8th & 9th streets? I assume that even though the rest of Market has been repaved, the delay is for the utility work be completed? There are some rather deep potholes in the "parking" lane on eastbound Market at the corner of 8th street. If this section is not going to be repaved, can these be filled in?
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Good Afternoon. Has anyone had a chance to look at the pavement at the intersection of Skinker and Waterman? It has sunk somewhat around the manhole and now there is water seeping through the cracks. It is in the southbound lane of Skinker. It seems to have sunk a little bit more than a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for checking it out!
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A couple of Missouri American Water / Watson Road comments . . . one, eastbound Watson has yet to be fully restriped, between Grant Road and General Grant Lane, where a major water line was replaced (and Watson was repaved, several months ago).Two, at Watson and Grant, a recent water main break required replacing a section of sidewalk. The new section went back in where the previously non-ADA-compliant sidewalk was, and does not come close to connecting to the curb cut. I'm thinking that it needs to be torn out and redone correctly. Am I correct?goo.gl
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Hello, this is for the County. Rock Hill Road from Watson Road in the east to Laclede Station Road in the west needs some help.
1. There’s a giant overgrown bush just east of General Grant Lane which needs to be removed—it makes it very difficult to see westbound traffic on Rock Hill Road.
2. There’s a big problem with speeding. It’s a 35 MPH road, but it’s not uncommon to see folks driving much faster. Making a left turn from General Grant Lane onto eastbound Rock Hill Road is difficult—beside the overgrown bush, there’s a bend in the road to the west of General Grant Lane, so it’s difficult to see oncoming traffic even with the fisheye mirror.
3. Is there a plan to have a sidewalk installed on one side of Rock Hill Road or the other? The road is narrow, there’s no significant shoulder to speak of, and if you’re walking along the road, you have to walk in a ditch. It is still popular with pedestrians, cyclists and runners since it is near to Grant’s Trail. -
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Missouri can get some pretty torrential downpours -- you can get several inches of water within a fairly short time. Practically, you build infrastructure to handle the majority of it -- but it is rare when you can build that infrastructure to handle 100 percent of it -- at least not without it costing a significant amount more. Andrew Gates, MoDOT Communications
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