Drivers in the Arnold and Imperial areas who are getting weary of the continued construction on Old Lemay Ferry Road should get something of a holiday treat.
The road, which since June has been closed to traffic between East Rock Creek Road to the Timber Creek subdivision, should be open sometime around Christmas, said Kurt Wengert, technical division manager for the Jefferson County Public Works Department.
“I’d say we’re preparing to finish up Phase 1,” Wengert said. “The gravel base is down, and if the weather cooperates, we’ll start to lay down asphalt sometime around Thanksgiving.”
The project involves realigning the section of Old Lemay Ferry Road from East Rock Creek Road to Spring Forest Road and adding turn lanes at both ends of the project as well as replacing a box culvert at East Rock Creek and adding guard rails and stormwater improvements.
After the road reopens between East Rock Creek and Timber Creek Lane, crews will turn their attention to the section between Timber Creek and Spring Forest. That work should be completed in summer 2023.
“We’re really within our schedule for this project,” he said. “We’re doing some clearing of right-of-ways and some grading around Timber Creek now.”
Wengert said those who drive in the area feel like the project is dragging on because of problems in relocating utility lines, which started over the summer, and that modern-day problem – supply chain issues in attaining materials.
He said one of the problems with relocating utility lines was a seasonal one.
“When Ameren moves its lines, it has to shut off power to the area for a period of time,” Wengert said. “They don’t want to do that during the summer, when the power is needed.”
He said depending on the weather, much of the work will be done during the holiday break.
“We try to coordinate our work with the schools to make sure that the bus routes aren’t disrupted too much,” he said. “When you’re talking about dealing with the utility companies and school districts, you’re talking about a lot of moving parts.”
Wengert said weeks ago, crews made some slight modifications at the nearby roundabout at Seckman and Old Lemay Ferry roads.
“We were getting reports that large trucks hauling trailers were having a little trouble negotiating the roundabout, so we went in and made some slight adjustments to the islands, and that seems to have solved the problem,” he said.
Gershenson Construction Co. in Eureka was the lower of two bidders for the improvements between East Rock Creek and Spring Forest. Half of that $4,215,220 project will be paid for through federal funds while the rest will come from the county’s share of a 1/2-cent countywide sales tax for road and bridge improvements.Motorists who frequent Old Lemay Ferry Road, however, will get only temporary relief from “road construction ahead” signs.
Wengert said once the Old Lemay Ferry Road project wraps up, the county will turn its attention to a project to improve Seckman Road between the I-55 Outer Road and the entrances to Mastodon State Historic Site. That project will involve raising parts of the road out of the floodplain and adding curbs, shoulders, gutters and a closed drainage system.
“We don’t want to tie up two major roads in an area at once,” Wengert said of the reason for waiting until the work on Old Lemay Ferry is finished before starting construction on Seckman Road.
Improvements to Seckman Road are scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2024, and once that work is finished, full attention will return to Old Lemay Ferry Road. The second project along that road will involve safety improvements from Kneff Road to north of Frisco Hill Road and will include wider shoulders, rumble strips, better warning signs and guardrails and widening the road around curves.
“That could possibly start in late 2023 and stretch into 2024,” Wengert said.
The final project, which will start after the second ends, entails reconstructing the portion of Old Lemay Ferry between Vogel Road and Spring Forest Road in addition to installing shoulders, making stormwater improvements and adding curbs and gutters.