Arnold city officials are looking into the feasibility of improving the intersection at Arnold Tenbrook and Tenbrook roads.
City Council members voted 6-0 on Nov. 16 to pay the Great River Associates Inc. engineering firm in St. Louis to study the intersection and develop suggestions for how to improve it.
The council also voted 6-0 that day to enter an agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to accept an engineering assistance program grant that will cover $12,000 of the study’s cost. The city will pay the remaining $3,000, according to council documents.
Ward 1 Councilman EJ Fleischmann and Ward 4 Councilman Butch Cooley were absent from the meeting.
Arnold Public Works Director Judy Wagner said she expects the work on the study to take about two months and begin between mid-December and the end of January.
“We may want to wait (to begin the study) for school to be out,” Wagner said because the Fox Schools campus on Jeffco Boulevard across from Tenbrook Road is home to Fox high, middle and elementary schools, as well as the Central Office, Rickman Auditorium and Bridges Alternative School.
“We want to make sure it is the most accurate count as possible,” Wagner said.
She said Great River will set up a monitoring device at the four-way intersection at Tenbrook and Arnold Tenbrook roads to track how much traffic uses the area.
When the study is complete, Great River will provide Arnold with a traffic count, projections for how much traffic may use that intersection in 20 years and preliminary suggestions for improvements.
“As I drive it every day, I think of different things we may be able to do,” Wagner said. “Arnold Tenbrook has the hill, but Tenbrook is pretty flat. I am thinking we will raise the grades on Arnold Tenbrook and lower the intersection a foot or two. But I am not going to impede another engineer’s creativity. They will look at four or five different options.
“This will be a very high conceptual level study. We will not get a lot of details like survey information on what the grades actually are.”
Wagner said after Great River completes its study, the city will apply for another grant for a more detailed engineering study and improvement plans.
She said the city would likely apply for that grant in fall 2024.
Wagner said there are three main concerns about the intersection.
“One of the biggest issues is the blindness of the driver as they approach the intersection (from eastbound and westbound Arnold Tenbrook Road leading to Tenbrook Road at the four-way stop sign),” she said. “You really can’t see the oncoming cars until you are completely stopped.”
During the winter, the hills on Arnold Tenbrook Road become packed with ice, making them hard to drive up to, stop at and then resume traveling, she said
Another problem, Wagner said, are the tractor-trailers traveling on the industrial section along Arnold Tenbrook Road that struggle with the steep hills, especially on westbound Arnold Tenbrook Road.
“Even though trucks are not allowed, they still go through there,” Wagner said. “Those large trucks just can’t make the turn (onto Tenbrook Road) without running up on the islands. Some of them have knocked over the signs, and some of them have gotten stuck.”
City Administrator Bryan Richison said he is interested in what potential solutions Great River comes up with.
“It can be challenging with the steep grades and the four-way stop,” he said. “We want to see what might work and make this better.”