ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO – It’s a problem that has bedeviled drivers and traffic planners alike in the St. Louis region for decades, and without money, there’s little concrete hope for a solution. But on Monday, Missouri Department of Transportation officials will present concepts that someday could help solve the riddle that is the interchange of I-70, I-64 and U.S. 61 in St. Charles County.
Anyone who drives on it knows about the daily backups and bottlenecks, which can extend for miles, especially in the afternoon rush.
Here are the traffic numbers, according to MoDOT:
“The I-70/I-64 interchange serves a large amount of traffic volume daily, with additional growth anticipated in the future. Currently, approximately 75,000 vehicles use I-64 south of the interchange daily, while U.S. 61 carries over 60,000 per day. As both a major east-west interstate of national importance, and a commuter route connecting western St. Charles County to the rest of the St. Louis region, I-70 serves 85,000-90,000 vehicles per day.”
MoDOT says it is in the “conceptual study” phase of developing a solution to address safety, capacity and corridor design. It will reveal those concepts at Wentzville City Hall (1001 Schroeder Creek Blvd.) Monday between 4:30pm and 6:30pm. The concepts were made available online Monday afternoon ahead of the meeting.
There is currently no money to fund what officials Monday estimated would cost $122 million. Under a timeline released Monday, the construction phase of the project could be between 2025 and 2027, if the project were to advance.
St. Charles County provided $1 million to fund the conceptual design and has been working with MoDOT engineers and consultants on it. Assistant Director of Administration John Greifzu told Spectrum News: "we're supportive of the concept, we're excited about it and hopeful" that it will get adequate funding by state highway administrators.
According to the proposal, engineers say the area would see an 85% improvement in traffic flow in this configuration in 2050 compared to doing nothing, and see a 43% cut in traffic crashes.
