So, I left St. Louis for a weekend trip, headed south on 55 at around 4:00 and was astonished to see traffic back up where the highway shifted from three lanes each way to two.  I REALLY hope the state does not exacerbate sprawl by building a six lane highway farther south.

I think you mean 4 lanes to two. Is that down by Rt M? You can thank Gephardt for funding such a monstrocity.

^And I-55 is planned to go 6-lanes (3 each direction) from MO MM to US 67, but not until sometime after 2020. Perhaps, you don't need an Urban Growth Boundary, when you have fiscal constraints slowing down even "committed" widenings of the region's radial interstates.

^Uhh, it was a total waste of money just like that Alaska bridge...gotta love pork barrel spending. Three lanes would have been fine, but it was overbuilt out of political pressue. I love driving on 55 south of I-270, especially on the six lane part where people pass me like I'm standing still. Mind you I usually drive 80 through that concrete wasteland All of those lanes cost lots of money, money that could have been better spent elsewhere.

^Those two aren't even comparable.

yeah, I love it, 12 lanes!! Makes me feel like I'm in LA! Sorry New River bridge, no money for you four lanes TOTAL!!!



Elaine driving. The passenger seats are piled with the garbage from the basement

- old carpets, bits of timber, boxes, etc. An external shot of the car reveals

she is driving on Kramer's section of road, as the black-painted lane markers

can be seen.



ELAINE: Hey, look at this. Wide lanes. This is so luxurious. Woo, yeah.

As a new commuter and resident of STL, I find it rather odd that highway 40 does not hit 55. Why is this? I understand 55 turns into 44S and 70W, but I would love it if 55 would have an entrance ramp onto 40 because the exits I need to get off at (Usually Boyle St) is almost right alway off of 40. Instead I have to drive around the city to take the highway, or get off somewhere on 44 and take streets that I'm unfamiliar with until I can find a 40 entrance ramp.



Is that poor transportation planning or what? I'm assuming a connection between the two highways will never happen.

"As a new commuter and resident of STL, I find it rather odd that highway 40 does not hit 55. Why is this? I understand 55 turns into 44S and 70W, but I would love it if 55 would have an entrance ramp onto 40 because the exits I need to get off at (Usually Boyle St) is almost right alway off of 40. Instead I have to drive around the city to take the highway, or get off somewhere on 44 and take streets that I'm unfamiliar with until I can find a 40 entrance ramp."



You're in a car...no big deal. Chalk it up to exploration. The only better ways for you to get to know your new city better would be to ride your bike or walk through the neighborhoods. Do what I did for years: 55 north to the Lafayette St. exit, left on Lafayette to Jefferson, right on Jefferson to 40 west, stay in that entrance lane, and you're on the Forest park Parkway, a couple of blocks from Boyle.

Coming back, take the same route, but when you're coming south on the viaduct on Jefferson, pay attention to the light at Choteau. If it's stale green or already yellow, get in the left turn lane. You'll get the left turn arrow before Jefferson traffic gets green. Go left on Choteau, then right on Mississippi to Lafayette. You're then right there at the entrance ramp for 55 south. That will shave 11, maybe even 12 seconds off your time had you gone all the way to Lafayette on Jefferson. Take those 11 seconds, and put them in an envelope in your freezer.

That won't work right now with the Jefferson Bridge closed for a few more months, but the basic idea is right.

Survivor147 wrote:As a new commuter and resident of STL, I find it rather odd that highway 40 does not hit 55. Why is this? I understand 55 turns into 44S and 70W, but I would love it if 55 would have an entrance ramp onto 40 because the exits I need to get off at (Usually Boyle St) is almost right alway off of 40. Instead I have to drive around the city to take the highway, or get off somewhere on 44 and take streets that I'm unfamiliar with until I can find a 40 entrance ramp.



Is that poor transportation planning or what? I'm assuming a connection between the two highways will never happen.

Check out Missouri Route 755. Most everyone on this board agrees that while the connections would have been nice to have, the highway would have come at much too great a cost to the urban fabric.

^I think that was one of the reasons that the connection was never built at the downtown interchange. Later on studies looked at connecting I-64 at I-55, but there wasn't enough room and not enough cars were projected to use it.

Gone Corporate wrote: Respectfully speaking, allowing for an easier commute between SoCo and the CWE was not a consideration.

Please don't make comments like that...as if county residents aren't as great as you city folk. It wasn't my choice to live with a friend because I haven't fully moved here yet.



What I'm saying is that a good city/state should have good roads, bridges, and highways. I don't care if back "then" there wasn't a concern with people getting from SoCo to the CWE. There is a large population out in the county and I think it would be very easy access to have the two highways connect. I for one would use it frequently instead of the mess that is 270 getting to 44.



All I had to do was ask the question until I found out about 755. I would hope that one day this will be made.

someone is way too sensitive.





Another highway that bisects our neighborhoods is the last thing we need. In fact, i'd be for converting one or more highways to boulevards between DT and the city line.

the last thing this city needs is another interstate running through it. Already I-44 and I-64 are pretty much serving the same purpose. why would we need one that just parallels 70-55?



There are plenty of arteries in the city that will take you from one highway to the other in mere minutes.

Also, the I-170 extension was killed by County Executive Buzz Westfall back in the 90s. That would have connected to 55 in South County.



The neighborhood that fought against it promptly sold out to Target, starting the clusterfark that is Eager Rd.

^That's true, but I was referring to the area directly south of the current terminus of I-170. There were many neighborhood and cities that didn't want it. It would have been political suicide for Buzz to support it.

brickandmortar wrote:Also, the I-170 extension was killed by County Executive Buzz Westfall back in the 90s. That would have connected to 55 in South County.



The neighborhood that fought against it promptly sold out to Target, starting the clusterfark that is Eager Rd.

I'll take that Cluster F over a completed 170 south EVERY day of the week. That was only a good idea on paper.

Actually, the good idea would have been to continue 170 as an urban parkway connecting to Hanley/Laclede Station, which would then continue as a parkway at least to 44 and maybe all the way to Gravois.



Instead, we get the abomination that is the Promenade and a need for yet another duct-tape-and-chicken-wire "solution," namely the new "jug handle" intersection of Hanley and Eager.



I'm going to be really interested to see if the 40 rebuild betters or worsens the Promenade/Brentwood/Hanley disaster.

very glad 170 didn't expand farther south.

Moorlander wrote:Another highway that bisects our neighborhoods is the last thing we need. In fact, i'd be for converting one or more highways to boulevards between DT and the city line.

That was my biggest problem with the 64/40 rebuild. I'd love to see all of the interstates inside the 270/255 loop converted into parkways.

Progress wrote:

JCity wrote:very glad 170 didn't expand farther south.

Moorlander wrote:I'll take that Cluster F over a completed 170 south EVERY day of the week. That was only a good idea on paper.

Why? It certainly would've shortened driving times for people who have to go from north-to-south and vice versa!

Shorter commutes, but at what cost? 170 would have bisected some of StL's best communities. IMO, the idea sounds good on paper (fast commutes, better transportation network) but it's a terrible idea in reality.