Construction, construction -- everywhere construction!

Construction on the I-64 bridge over the Mississippi River.

By Michael Castro
St. Louis District Construction and Materials Engineer

So, it’s spring, and construction work zones are springing up on surrounding roads like crabgrass in your lawn – and are almost as welcome.

As we move into the construction season, especially when there are projects that have stopped through the winter, one of the big questions the department is often asked is “why can’t you finish one project before you start another?”

There are several reasons, but the two biggest ones are keeping up with roadway maintenance needs and money.

With more than 33,000 miles of roadway in Missouri and about 1,600 miles of roadway in St. Louis (most of which have multiple lanes), there simply is too much maintenance that would need to be done to keep the roadway in good, safe operational condition without working in several locations.

But as importantly, it would be an ineffective use of the construction forces in the area, and would drive up the cost of construction significantly.

You see, most of the day to day repairs on the roadway – pothole patching, signal or sign repairs and the like – are done with MoDOT maintenance teams.  However, MoDOT typically designs major construction projects and then puts them out for bid to the contracting community – a process called design-bid-build.  MoDOT simply doesn’t have all the specialized equipment needed to complete major construction.  Having several projects working at the same time means that contractor equipment and workers that aren’t needed for one project can move to another and help the construction contractors stay efficient.  Most construction projects have a specific path of construction that needs to be completed – you can’t place the driving surface for a roadway before you have completed the necessary repairs to the support network and fill underneath the roadway.

All construction projects have impacts, and MoDOT does attempt to minimize those impacts as much as possible – or use the impacts from one project to help reduce the impacts of another.  A good example is the work along I-44 in and near St. Louis City.   The bridge repair work between Grand and Kingshighway reduces traffic to three lanes on westbound I-44.  Lane merging causes a significant amount of congestion around construction.  So, having one lane merge back here improves the safety and reduces congestion between the two work zones. However, the department works very hard to avoid putting additional construction on surrounding routes that people may use to detour around the work or the congestion.

There are more impacts from construction than just congestion, especially in an urban area.  Light and sound around construction zones are very impactful in a residential neighborhood.  Working around the clock on construction may save time, but it usually is more expensive (because of the hazards of working at night, even under lights) and the impacts on the community.  MoDOT does look at working at night – especially when the traffic impacts may need to be significant (such as interstate resurfacing work), but that does have to be balanced with the costs, and the impact to the surrounding residents.

The primary goal in all of this is to ensure that all Missourians have a safe and operational transportation system, while still being good stewards of the funding that Missouri has entrusted to the department.

While driving through work zones, remember to slow down to the posted speed limits, avoid distractions – especially cell phones, wear your seat belt and pay attention to the signs around the construction.

 

 

Work along I-44 to significantly impact commuting traffic through St. Louis City

Construction in the St. Louis City area that is among the work that will be impacting travel along the I-44 corridor for the next year.

Note:  This is a revitalization of the Missouri Department of Transportation, St. Louis area, blog.  At this point, we are anticipating sharing a new blog item about every two weeks on topics of general transportation interest.  If you have an item you would like to have considered for discussion, please feel free to let us know. 

By Tom Blair, MoDOT St. Louis District Engineer:

It’s spring in St. Louis, which means that the delays commuters experience from snow, ice or other incidents is replaced by those from construction.

This year in St. Louis is no different with several dozen construction projects underway, ranging from signal replacements to interstate river bridge replacements.

This work is all a part of taking care of the system – making sure that the 6,800 miles of state roadway in the St. Louis area remains safe and in good condition.  It’s somewhat similar to the regular maintenance that homeowners get used to as part of taking care of their property.

And like that maintenance, sometimes the impacts can be inconvenient, especially on the interstates, multiplied by the thousands of vehicles that use the roadway daily.

So what can you expect for the next year, and where do we anticipate some of the larger delays may be?

Drivers who currently use the I-44 corridor to travel or as part of your commute will have the most impacts in the 2018 construction season. Several projects along the corridor – both in the city and in St. Louis County, are expected to have around-the-clock lane closures

We have several projects along the I-44 corridor – from the Mississippi River all the way out to the Crawford County line.  Two of them – the bridge replacement near Shrewsbury and the bridge work between Kingshighway and 39^th Street in St. Louis City – will have a very large impact on travel into and through the St. Louis City area.  In fact, work will start the week of March 5 on the I-44 bridge project at Shrewsbury. Crews will close two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane and will shift traffic from the eastbound to the westbound lanes. If traffic levels continue as they are today, that will mean long delays during peak traffic times, especially westbound. We encourage drivers that regularly use that section of I-44 to start looking at some of their other options now.  For some, adjusting the time of their commute may be an option, or talking to their company about telecommuting options.  Others may want to consider alternate routes to get around the construction.  For others, using ride-sharing, carpooling or transit options may be the best choice. Drivers need to make their decision now about what their choice will be to avoid the possible backups and congestion

As we determine what work needs to be done in the region, we look at the bridge and roadway conditions and we prioritize the work, scheduling the needed work based on what funding we are projecting for the year.  That means that we tend to focus on one corridor for a long period of time.  I-44 is more than 50 years old, and most interstate roadways/bridges have an expected lifespan of about 50 years. 

We understand the frustration with lane closures and congestion;  the less we try to impact the traveling public (with lane closures and the like), the longer projects take.  We try to ensure that we get as much traffic through as we can, but we also encourage drivers to consider options, where they can use them.  That is one of the reasons we started sharing information about impacts as early as we did – to be open about what drivers can expect, so they can make the choices that work best for them.

To stay informed, the department has several avenues where drivers can get information about upcoming lane closures and impact in the St. Louis area.  We put out a work zone report every Wednesday afternoon detailing work for the next week.  We also share information on social media – namely Twitter (@MoDOT_StLouis) and Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/MoDOT-St-Louis-286948911751/).  People can sign up for the e-update lists of our larger projects –such as the Poplar Street Bridge and I-44 work at Shrewsbury. You can find out more information on projects in the greater St. Louis area at http://www.modot.org/stlouis/. Finally, people can check out information on our Traveler Information Map: http://traveler.modot.org/map/index.html.