Work on Highway 40 set for spring
By Tim Bryant
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/02/2005
$46 million project will improve 4-mile area
Work is set to begin in the spring
Work is scheduled to begin next spring in O'Fallon on the first of two St. Charles County projects that will eliminate the final Highway 40 remnants that fall short of the requirements of limited-access interstates.
The two projects are among the 175 approved last week for funding through 2009. Officials said voter approval in November of constitutional Amendment 3, which directs more fuel tax money to roadbuilding, was key to the large number of projects approved.
Jim Gremaud, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said Monday that without Amendment 3 money, the start of the two Highway 40 projects could have been a decade or more away. With the additional funds, work is scheduled to begin next year on widening Highway 40 between Highway K and Winghaven Boulevard.
That $21 million project is scheduled to be followed a year later by the start of a $25 million project to widen Highway 40 from west of Lake Saint Louis Boulevard to Interstate 70. The project includes elimination of traffic signals at the highway intersections with Prospect and Callahan roads, and construction of an interchange near the current Prospect crossing.
Combined, the projects will redo about four miles of Highway 40. In some places, hills will be lowered for new lanes, Gremaud said. In much of the area, the existing westbound Highway 40 lanes will become an outer road.
"It's just fantastic we've got the money to get those projects done," Gremaud said.
Gremaud said that with the exception of the westbound Daniel Boone Bridge over the Missouri River, all 11 miles of Highway 40 in St. Charles County will "basically" be up to interstate standards. Highway 40 will have at least four lanes through the county, with room to build additional lanes in the median, he said.
A third major St. Charles County project made possible by Amendment 3 money is $30 million worth of work on the Page Avenue extension. Utility relocation should begin next year, and construction in 2007 on a section from west of Jungs Station Road to west of Harvester Road. The extension, which begins in St. Louis County, is supposed to eventually reach Wentzville.
Politicians were quick to issue statements about the Page Avenue project and other projects included last week in a $286.5 billion federal highway bill. Sen. Jim Talent said that he and Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, both R-Mo., worked to get Senate approval of $25 million for Page Avenue.
"I'm a big believer that transportation infrastructure funding creates jobs, generates economic growth and saves lives," Talent said.
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., said the federal bill "goes a long way toward making" needed highway improvements in the St. Louis area.
By Tim Bryant
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/02/2005
$46 million project will improve 4-mile area
Work is set to begin in the spring
Work is scheduled to begin next spring in O'Fallon on the first of two St. Charles County projects that will eliminate the final Highway 40 remnants that fall short of the requirements of limited-access interstates.
The two projects are among the 175 approved last week for funding through 2009. Officials said voter approval in November of constitutional Amendment 3, which directs more fuel tax money to roadbuilding, was key to the large number of projects approved.
Jim Gremaud, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said Monday that without Amendment 3 money, the start of the two Highway 40 projects could have been a decade or more away. With the additional funds, work is scheduled to begin next year on widening Highway 40 between Highway K and Winghaven Boulevard.
That $21 million project is scheduled to be followed a year later by the start of a $25 million project to widen Highway 40 from west of Lake Saint Louis Boulevard to Interstate 70. The project includes elimination of traffic signals at the highway intersections with Prospect and Callahan roads, and construction of an interchange near the current Prospect crossing.
Combined, the projects will redo about four miles of Highway 40. In some places, hills will be lowered for new lanes, Gremaud said. In much of the area, the existing westbound Highway 40 lanes will become an outer road.
"It's just fantastic we've got the money to get those projects done," Gremaud said.
Gremaud said that with the exception of the westbound Daniel Boone Bridge over the Missouri River, all 11 miles of Highway 40 in St. Charles County will "basically" be up to interstate standards. Highway 40 will have at least four lanes through the county, with room to build additional lanes in the median, he said.
A third major St. Charles County project made possible by Amendment 3 money is $30 million worth of work on the Page Avenue extension. Utility relocation should begin next year, and construction in 2007 on a section from west of Jungs Station Road to west of Harvester Road. The extension, which begins in St. Louis County, is supposed to eventually reach Wentzville.
Politicians were quick to issue statements about the Page Avenue project and other projects included last week in a $286.5 billion federal highway bill. Sen. Jim Talent said that he and Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, both R-Mo., worked to get Senate approval of $25 million for Page Avenue.
"I'm a big believer that transportation infrastructure funding creates jobs, generates economic growth and saves lives," Talent said.
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., said the federal bill "goes a long way toward making" needed highway improvements in the St. Louis area.