It's great to see this out there more. Wouldn't these two spots be low hanging fruit for caps? I believe any further capping would require 44 to be buried more. Short of rerouting it entirely, which seems less likely due to cost and available options. I'd be happy to be wrong about that, though.
That would be incredibleJ S wrote: ↑Jul 10, 2025Glad we are not the only ones thinking about this: https://www.stlmag.com/news/highway-rem ... -st-louis/
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Agreed - I think those sections at the least would be amazing... but it sure would be nice to see it capped from Wash Ave to Spruce. Really connecting the park to the city would just make for an incredible space... imagining Food Truck Friday "lunch edition" as a summer event along there would be so cool.EssTeeEll wrote: ↑Jul 11, 2025It's great to see this out there more. Wouldn't these two spots be low hanging fruit for caps? I believe any further capping would require 44 to be buried more. Short of rerouting it entirely, which seems less likely due to cost and available options. I'd be happy to be wrong about that, though.
^ Isn't the current section about as wide as you can go without putting some form of (expensive) ventilation in place? Would it be more feasible to create additional caps or extend the current cap?
It would be interesting to see all the different options presented in some format with renderings.
It would be interesting to see all the different options presented in some format with renderings.
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^I would imagine just leaving some strategically placed openings would do the trick also?
This study (https://files.thunderheadeng.com/femtc/2018_d2-04-jones-paper.pdf) discusses this topic in regards to capping depressed roadways and creating "short highway tunnels" which are classified between 400 and 1000 feet. From what I can tell it says that tunnels don't necessarily need to have mechanical ventilation systems if they under 3280 feet (which is about 3 times the distance an extended cap over I44 from Walnut St to Pine St would be). However depending on multiple factors they may be required to have egress stairs if engineers find natural ventilation would not be enough to expel smoke at a similar rate a mechanical system would. One of the simulations done in the paper is a 305m (1000ft) 6-lane tunnel and it found it would not pass, however if it had emergency staircases at a point(s) in the tunnel it likely would. Ultimately it seems like the existing cap is about as wide of a "bridge" it can be before its considered a short tunnel and they may be able to cap from Walnut to Pine without a costly ventilation system, but might need some emergency stairs.
While people tend to focus on expanding the cap, I'd argue that this is actually a bigger problem at this point...
This is what I think would have to happen. Illinois would rebuild the 64-70 interchange. Everything between Stan Span interchange and Eads is brought down to a surface level Boulevard. Then tunnel between Olive and Spruce. It would then sort out back on to 64/55.
Interstate traffic would cut into Illinois briefly but traffic could also continue through downtown if they didn’t mind some stoplights and traffic.
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Interstate traffic would cut into Illinois briefly but traffic could also continue through downtown if they didn’t mind some stoplights and traffic.
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Thanks for posting DB.
Maybe and hopefull for two cranes visible from Busch Stadium. The second being 2CW rising when the old round tower nearby is coming down.
Maybe and hopefull for two cranes visible from Busch Stadium. The second being 2CW rising when the old round tower nearby is coming down.
Kiener Plaza reboot? But they just built it... what are they doing to it? I don't see any publicly posted construction plans.
I think they're leveling the hilly part near the where the Christmas tree and Menorah are
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Flattening the berm and pavers in the tables and chairs area where the maintenance building is atSRQ2STL wrote: ↑Dec 16, 2025Kiener Plaza reboot? But they just built it... what are they doing to it? I don't see any publicly posted construction plans.
After a few event organizers realized the berm wasn’t great idea. Next year the ice rink for winterfest will be moved to the grass area as well
Ah. Makes sense.dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑Dec 16, 2025Flattening the berm and pavers in the tables and chairs area where the maintenance building is atSRQ2STL wrote: ↑Dec 16, 2025Kiener Plaza reboot? But they just built it... what are they doing to it? I don't see any publicly posted construction plans.
After a few event organizers realized the berm wasn’t great idea. Next year the ice rink for winterfest will be moved to the grass area as well
Awesome stuff. Never did I think I'd see the day that MoDOT was cautiously optimistic about removing 44 through Downtown.
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Put it all underground through downtown. From Gravois to The Stan Span. Some 3-5 miles. Shorter than the big dig in Boston.
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Would completely flip over downtowns future. If nothing else, tourism would spike immediately - much more attractive national park
absolutely agree with that assessmentTalkinDev wrote: ↑Jul 11, 2025While people tend to focus on expanding the cap, I'd argue that this is actually a bigger problem at this point...Screenshot 2025-07-11 160434.png
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Would it be the worst to just to add a south ramp off of MLK to I55 and reroute those southbound drivers into Illinois? Probably a 4-5 minute add to their trip?
