Work for the $246 million I-55 corridor improvement project soon will shift to the Pevely area, Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) spokesman Jordan Dalaviras told Pevely officials at the Board of Aldermen meeting Monday.
Dalaviras, the department’s area liaison for Franklin and Jefferson counties, said the project to expand I-55 from two to three lanes from Hwy. Z in Pevely to Hwy. 67 south of Festus is entering its final phase, but a significant amount of work is yet to be done.
He said I-55 work to take place in the Pevely area includes replacing three bridges and building a roundabout at the intersection of the I-55 southbound exit at Hwy. Z.
“One of the major changes we’re trying to get the word out is that we will have to close the southbound ramps,” Dalaviras said. “So, this month we’ll have to close the southbound ramps, the off ramp of I-55 and the on ramp for (Hwy.) Z.”
Dalaviras said the southbound ramps will be closed “probably until late fall.”
After the southbound I-55 work at Pevely is completed, similar work will occur on the northbound I-55 exit at Pevely, although that will include rebuilding the intersection without a roundabout.
The work is tentatively scheduled to begin June 18, he said.
“It is quite possible that what we’re looking at is that Thursday night, June 18, into June 19, that we’ll be able to do that shift,” Dalaviras said. “The purpose of this closure is actually working on three bridges kind of at one time. So, once we do the closure and we have the ramps closed, the Route Z bridge will be demolished, as well. We have two railroad bridges on opposite ends of the interchange of Route Z, two different railroad companies – BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) and the other UP (Union Pacific).
“At the same time, we’ll be working on Route Z, as with these ramps and Weier Road. We are converting that intersection into a roundabout intersection.”
Drivers still may use Hwy. Z through Pevely during the work, Dalaviras said.
“(Hwy.) Z will remain open, so you still we be able to go east and west on Z,” he said. “Nobody will be able to utilize those (south) ramps. Those 55 north ramps will remain open.”
Dalaviras said trucks with oversized loads on southbound I-55 will be told to exit at Hwy. M in Barnhart and proceed to southbound Hwy. 61-67.
He said if an oversized or overweight truck failed to exit southbound I-55 at Hwy. M, it would cause a major traffic problem.
“If they, for whatever reason, get past that interchange, they’re going to get stuck, they’re not going to be able to get through,” he said. “They’re going to have to back up the whole way because, of course, the ramps are going to be closed.”
Dalaviras said the project to replace the Hwy. 61-67 bridge over Joachim Creek in Herculaneum will proceed, but traffic should not be affected.
“That construction is all off to the side for the brand new bridge, because the new bridge is being built right alongside the existing bridge,” he said. “None of that construction will impact any of this detour.”
Dalaviras said the I-55 corridor improvement project, which MoDOT had targeted for completion in December, is now expected to be completed in spring 2027.
MoDOT began planning for the project in 2021 and construction work started in 2024.