I-170 Ramp Opens to Drivers’ Delight

By Elisa Crouch, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Oct. 23–RICHMOND HEIGHTS — Robert McGuire was caught in afternoon traffic Monday with thousands of other motorists on westbound Highway 40.

And then, relief.

The new fly-over ramp to northbound Interstate 170 opened, giving McGuire and his mother, Bonnie McGuire, wide open pavement. Highway workers removed the last cone and motioned their white Nissan sedan onto the ramp.

“I’d heard on the radio stations it was going to be open,” the 46-year-old Florissant man said from his home.

He and other travelers marked this milestone in the Highway 40 (Interstate 64) rebuilding effort by honking or waving to cameras as they drove the new connector.

The ramp — 56 feet tall — was built in seven months. The Tamm Avenue overpass, which opened Saturday, was rebuilt in six.

By late 2009, crews are scheduled to rebuild about 10 miles of interstate from west of Spoede Road in Frontenac to Kingshighway in St. Louis. They plan to close about 4.5 miles of the interstate, between Ballas Road and I-170, for about 12 months, starting Jan. 2, said Dan Galvin, spokesman for Gateway Constructors. In 2009, the section from I-170 to Kingshighway closes.

“I hope some of this good will carries over to then,” Galvin said, waving back at motorists giving him a thumbs up.

Many drivers are already avoiding the interstate. Traffic volumes on Highway 40 have dropped about 15 percent in the last 12 months, Galvin said.

The stretch at I-170 remains one of the busiest sections, with 170,000 motorists driving it daily, according to traffic counts. At peak times, up to 2,200 an hour will be using the new ramp.

The interchange, once complete, will make the most difference in eliminating traffic snarls on Highway 40, highway engineers say — even more than the extra lane each way between I-170 and Spoede. The ramps will carry traffic at higher speeds than old ones, eliminating much of the braking and weaving that causes backups.

“This is going to make that movement much better,” said Garry Earls, head of St. Louis County’s highway department.

A second ramp, carrying traffic from southbound I-170 to eastbound Highway 40 — should open in December.

McGuire said the ramp made driving to I-170 easier.

“It was an improvement,” he said.

ecrouch@post-dispatch.com — 314-340-8119

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