A little over a year ago, the St. Louis region was bracing for the worst. When the Missouri Department of Transportation shut down the western half of Highway 40/Interstate 64, there was talk of major traffic jams, loss of revenue, and even social unrest.

 

Like many drastic changes, the fears were nothing but hype. The eleven months that the section of 40/64 from Ballas road to I-170 was closed, MoDot and Gateway Contractors not only replaced and widened the existing highway but also constructed and redesigned many overpasses and exits.  

 

The team of contractors, workers, and the officials at MoDOT were able to successfully complete the construction on the western half of the highway ahead of time and celebrated the opening with a region wide party on the highway.

 

How often do you see, or even better can you say, that you and others were playing on the highway in traffic? The highway hosted everything from a bike race to carriage rides with Santa the Sunday before the western half opened and the eastern half was closed for the next year.

 

Although one of the main arteries of the region has been blocked for over a year now, the blockage has moved. With the section of I-64 from 170 to Kingshighway closed to traffic, patterns have shifted. To some, the closure of the western part of the highway was more of a hassle, but it offered more alternate routes to get in and out of the city; whereas, with the closure of the eastern section, traffic has seemed to surge onto the limited routes into the city -  Forest Park Parkway especially. Time will tell if the eastern closure will go as smooth as the western half or if it will cause problems for the region.