I-24 Through St. Louis?

arch city · PostFeb 13, 2014#12014-02-13T23:31+00:00

Sometimes, I think St. Louis isn't doing enough to keep up with its neighboring distribution competitors. On top of that, St. Louis tends to be "reactive" rather than be progressive - most of the time. The new "Stan Span" Bridge is helpful as well as the upgrades to local ports, but it seems like St. Louis needs to be better connected to one of the "trade" highways.

World-Class Port (check)
Airport facilities and options (check)
World-Class Rail access (check)
Interstate connections (check)

However, with I-69 (South Texas to Indianapolis/Detroit/Canada) moving pretty fast and I-49 (KC to New Orleans/Houston via I-10), is it time for St. Louis and Missouri to step up its game? The competition is getting tougher.

St. Louis has I-44, I-55, I-64 and I-70 - and to a lesser extent I-57.

I-24 goes roughly from Carbondale-Marion, Paducah, Nashville and currently ends in Chattanooga. I-24 merges with I-57 in Carbondale/Marion/Mt. Vernon. In Chattanooga, I-24 merges into I-75 which then goes into Atlanta.

If I-24 were to extend into St. Louis, I-24 could co-sign and flow with I-57, which would then connect/cosign/flow with I-64W, which would then head into St. Louis/St. Charles. I-24 would then break off in St. Charles County and become I-24, which would then merge into I-35 all the way to MSP using the upgraded sections of the Avenue of the Saints route.

I-35 is the nearest major trade route.

The Avenue of the Saints route would remain, yet older segments would be brought up to interstate status and new segments created if necessary.

St. Louis then would have direct interstate connection to Nashville, Chattanooga and semi-direct connections to Atlanta (Southeast US.) and MSP (via I-35).

Knowitall · PostFeb 14, 2014#22014-02-14T02:04+00:00

Not sure what St.Louis or Missouri could do about it, most of the work would have to be done in Illinois and that state is broke. Extending 24 is not a priority for them

imperialmog · PostFeb 14, 2014#32014-02-14T02:10+00:00

I have heard that such a route has been considered in the past but funding has never been available. Actually that route not existing is a reason why over time I-57 is being widened to 6 lanes between I-64 and I-24 due to the large traffic flows that use that route (especially trucks). Ideally such a route would somewhat overlap Illinois Route 15 and would also make for easier transportation between St. Louis and Carbondale. As a related note, if this ever happened maybe also have right of way along it for a future HSR line since maybe a future line could be if the 220 Chicago to St. Louis route occurs, to have it go along this route for a Southern extension that could go to either Memphis and/or Nashville with say maybe a split around Paducah, Kentucky.

wabash · PostFeb 14, 2014#42014-02-14T02:13+00:00

I don't see shaving 10 minutes off of the current St. Louis to Marion time justifying the financial and environmental cost.

Investing in freight and passenger rail infrastructure between STL and Carbondale might be a more efficient use of resources.

mill204 · PostFeb 14, 2014#52014-02-14T06:55+00:00

^ This. Also, from the Interstate-Guide website which I would like to verify sometime:

According to the ISTEA/NHS/TEA-21 Legislation, money was appropriated for a feasibility study of a tollway running from East Saint Louis to Carbondale (City and State Rural Access Item 31) and for upgrading Illinois 13 in Williamson County (City and State Rural Access Item 35). These improvements lead me to believe that Illinois plans on extending Interstate 24 from its current northwestern terminus near Carbondale all the way to East Saint Louis. The three best alternatives for the proposed expressway, according to a consulting team headed by the planning agency of Wilbur Smith and Associates, are:
From north of Waterloo to Carbondale, via Red Bud, Sparta and Murphysboro.

From the Mousette Lane interchange on Interstate 255 at Cahokia to Carbondale, via New Athens, Sparta and Murphysboro.

From Interstate 64 east of Illinois 4 near the commercial airport being built at Scott Air Force Base to Carbondale, via Marissa, Cutler and Murphysboro.
The Illinois Department of Transportation and a group of expressway supporters known as the Southwest Illinois Freeway Team, or SWIFT, held public meetings in October 1995 at Sparta and Carbondale to unveil the three suggested routes and to try to drum up more support for the highway. Members of SWIFT say the expressway is needed to reduce travel time and eliminate the frustration of driving on old, two-lane roads between the Metro East area and Carbondale-Marion. Currently, traffic must travel along two to four lane city and town streets, then take two-lane rural roads between the cities and towns. Another reason for the proposed new tollway is the potential to open up southwestern Illinois to more commercial and residential development, which is the mantra for many proposed new highway projects.

The tollway feasibility study indicates that a tollway between East St. Louis and Marion via Carbondale will not pay for itself, but the potential traffic count may still be significant. Some SWIFT members say that most people at the public meetings favored building an expressway. Many citizens were puzzled about why a toll road is being considered rather than a "free" road for this corridor, but that is due to the fact that the state does not have the funding. By 1998, this corridor was no longer actively considered for construction as an Interstate-grade facility.

BrickCity4470 · PostFeb 14, 2014#62014-02-14T13:48+00:00

I was actually thinking about this the other day on if i wanted to trek down to Florida having I-24 connected to I-255 would do wonders instead of either taking I-64 east or I-55 south to get there ...With Illinois being broke this will never happen and i don't think Missouri will put I-24 in place of U.S. 61 if that were to be ever upgraded to interstate status.. 24 is a east-west interstate so it would have to be a north-south number like 3-13- 23-53-63 or other ..

onecity · PostFeb 14, 2014#72014-02-14T15:56+00:00

How about I-45, make it a N-S route would run between I-35 and I-55, and maybe run from the gulf/Houston up through the Twin Cities.

quincunx · PostFeb 14, 2014#82014-02-14T16:12+00:00

We need another interstate like we need a hole in our head. I-64 and I-57 are 30 miles longer than as the crow flies. I'd rather keep the farmland.

STLEnginerd · PostFeb 14, 2014#92014-02-14T16:36+00:00

We need another interstate like we need a hole in our head. I-64 and I-57 are 30 miles longer than as the crow flies. I'd rather keep the farmland.

Agreed. There isn't much advantage to St. Louis. If that part of IL was more populated it might make sense, but as it is the only underserved communities are Carbondale and Murphysboro. The leg to Hannibal might make sense but sadly it would probably be more harmful to St. Louis than good, by promoting more sprawl into St. Charles County.

dweebe · PostFeb 14, 2014#102014-02-14T16:39+00:00

Let Illinois build a 4 lane limited access highway like Hwy 61 north from St. Louis.

The other notable interstate "hole" is a route from Memphis >> Birmingham >> Atlanta that they proposed as to be I-22: but that's pretty much dead.

quincunx · PostFeb 14, 2014#112014-02-14T17:50+00:00

STLEnginerd wrote:Agreed. There isn't much advantage to St. Louis. If that part of IL was more populated it might make sense, but as it is the only underserved communities are Carbondale and Murphysboro. The leg to Hannibal might make sense but sadly it would probably be more harmful to St. Louis than good, by promoting more sprawl into St. Charles County.

And Lincoln County too!

m2tbone · PostFeb 14, 2014#122014-02-14T19:57+00:00

^^I'm not sure what you mean about I-22 being dead. It is almost complete. The interchange connecting I-22 to I-65 north of Birmingham is under construction.

shadrach · PostFeb 14, 2014#132014-02-14T20:04+00:00

Not sure if much has changed since I brought this up 8 years ago.

http://urbanstl.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... 9&start=15

I was a sensitive, new member then and almost never returned after the perceived beating I got.

ebo · PostFeb 15, 2014#142014-02-15T16:56+00:00

^^Yeah I travel a good chunk of the proposed I-22 annually to visit family. Most of it is already up to interstate standard, and currently it's lack of a connection to an existing interstate is the last major hurdle for it to clear before it earns interstate designation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_22

The interchange near Birmingham you mentioned should do that.

dweebe · PostFeb 15, 2014#152014-02-15T19:36+00:00

ebo wrote:^^Yeah I travel a good chunk of the proposed I-22 annually to visit family. Most of it is already up to interstate standard, and currently it's lack of a connection to an existing interstate is the last major hurdle for it to clear before it earns interstate designation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_22

The interchange near Birmingham you mentioned should do that.

My bad. But wasn't I-22 proposed to go to south of Atlanta or the Macon GA area instead of stopping at Birmingham?

imperialmog · PostFeb 15, 2014#162014-02-15T23:22+00:00

quincunx wrote:
STLEnginerd wrote:Agreed. There isn't much advantage to St. Louis. If that part of IL was more populated it might make sense, but as it is the only underserved communities are Carbondale and Murphysboro. The leg to Hannibal might make sense but sadly it would probably be more harmful to St. Louis than good, by promoting more sprawl into St. Charles County.
And Lincoln County too!

Wouldn't it really not promote any more sprawl than the current US-61 does now? The only change would be eliminating the at-grade intersections which have been done in places to the point that there are only a few left between Wentzville and Troy. That and with that road, there is a legitimate safety reason to do that because of there are a number of fatal accidents due to those intersections. Another corridor I see similar work that has been done is US-67 south of Festus and especially the Bonne Terre to Farmington corridor

Isn't one big issue with a lot of these road corridors has to do with the increase in long-range truck traffic going through the area?

mill204 · PostDec 04, 2015#172015-12-04T22:07+00:00

I'll just put this crazy idea here.

kbshapiro · PostDec 05, 2015#182015-12-05T01:44+00:00

The only justifiable Interstate from St Louis metro would be one that connects St Louis to Des Moines Iowa

hebeters2 · PostDec 05, 2015#192015-12-05T14:53+00:00

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/arc ... ms/416892/

arch city · PostDec 07, 2015#202015-12-07T00:43+00:00

mill204 wrote:I'll just put this crazy idea here.

Can you please explain?

stlhistory · PostDec 07, 2015#212015-12-07T00:50+00:00

^It's the suggestion to extend I-24 westward from its current junction with I-57 all the way to I-55 south of St. Louis.

I'm not sure the traffic to STL from Southern destinations warrants it, given that it would only shave 45-60 minutes from the trip. I've made the trip numerous times from Tennessee up I-24 and never really thought it would help much. What would be nice is another rest area in Illinois on I-24, as there's only a handful of exits and most don't have any services.

imperialmog · PostDec 07, 2015#222015-12-07T12:51+00:00

I remember one of the issues that might involve this was how I-57 between Mt. Vernon and I-24 is getting more congested and there have been proposals to make it a 6 lane highway. The other issue was the I-24 extension idea being related as a means of upgrading IL-13 since there are congestion bottlenecks in some of the towns along its route along with issues of safety.

mill204 · PostDec 07, 2015#232015-12-07T17:14+00:00

stlhistory wrote:^It's the suggestion to extend I-24 westward from its current junction with I-57 all the way to I-55 south of St. Louis.

Yeah, that's the idea. I know people in the Carbondale area complain how relatively difficult it is to get to St. Louis without high quality freeways. Was thinking that perhaps it's not necessary to connect I-24 directly to St. Louis, so what would it look like if the highway crossed the Mississippi at Chester IL or somewhere nearby instead? Then I got carried away and started thinking: you know, what if I-24 kept going west to connect with Rte 50 and connected with I-70 way out in Lawrence KS?