Once again, improvements to I-55 are the highlights of a five-year plan for improvements to roads maintained by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT).
The plan, called the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), includes projected spending of nearly $14 billion in federal and state money for transportation-related projects around the state, the largest ever.
The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved the plan July 12. The plan includes 19 projects for Jefferson County totaling an estimated $350,090,000, but nothing new over the previous STIP.
“We still have some projects that need to get done, but definitely there’s not a lot new in the STIP,” said Stephen O’Connor, the MoDOT area engineer for Jefferson and Franklin counties.
“The cost for all projects are going up, construction and engineering,” he said. “I think we’re getting better at predicting that and building it into our estimates than we were a couple of years ago, which is one reason why you’re not seeing a lot of new projects being added on. I don’t have an exact figure, but it seems like compared with last year, most projects are 20 to 30 percent more expensive. And the cost estimates are especially hard to predict when you’re talking about work done in years 4 and 5, when we’re only using our best guesses. When we get closer to the actual construction, we adjust those numbers.”
The highlight of the plan for Jefferson County remains a $246 million project to add a third lane on I-55 in Jefferson County, from 1 1/2 miles north of Hwy. Z in Pevely to 1 mile south of Hwy. 67 south of the Twin Cities.
At the same meeting at which it approved the STIP, the Highways and Transportation Commission awarded a contract to design and build the I-55 project to the KCI Team.
KCI Construction Co. in St. Louis will be the builder, working off designs from engineering firms Bartlett and West of Sunset Hills and Wilson and Co. of Kansas City.
Construction is expected to begin late this year or early next year and could last through 2026, although generally two lanes of traffic on I-55 will be kept open in both directions during construction, especially during the day, although traffic may have to be directed off the interstate in some areas while bridge work is ongoing, officials said.
Another project planned for I-55 is the third-priciest of county projects, coming in at $16,975,000.
That works calls for rehabilitation of the bridges over the Meramec River in Arnold linking Jefferson County with St. Louis County.
O’Connor said the Arnold I-55 project includes replacing expansion devices, placing an overlay on the bridge deck and completing miscellaneous repairs. He said painting the steel girders will be completed as part of a later project.
“Some of the cost will deal with traffic control. It’s a heavily used bridge, of course,” he said.
Work on the bridges is scheduled for late 2024 or the first half of 2025.
The second and fourth most expensive projects are slated for Hwy. 61-67, which roughly parallels I-55 from Arnold to south of Festus.
A $19,074,000 project involves resurfacing the pavement, upgrading guardrails and pedestrian access on Hwy. 61-67 from Hwy. M in Barnhart to Hwy. 67 south of Festus.
“That’s a pretty lengthy stretch (almost 11 miles),” O’Connor said.
Those plans also have been expanded over the last year, he said, with two culverts, just south of Schmidt Road and south of Hillside Estates Drive, both in Barnhart, to be replaced.
“That’s an example of how things change once we get in there and take a look around,” O’Connor said. “We usually don’t get the full scope of a project until we go out in the field. We found those two culverts that go under the road needed to be replaced.
“While we’re addressing the top of the road, we also need to fix what’s underneath the road. While that’s a lot of money, it’s a large project that will take a lot of traffic diversion.”
That work is scheduled for 2025, but O’Connor said timing on that, as well as another project to replace the Hwy. 61-67 bridges over the Joachim Creek at Herculaneum, will depend in part on the progress of I-55 work.
Construction on that $18,506,000 project was scheduled to start in the first half of 2024 in last year’s STIP, but has been delayed until the first half of 2025 in this year’s plan.
“We definitely don’t want to tie up both roads concurrently,” O’Connor said.
Coming up
The following is a list of the 19 projects in Jefferson County, and MoDOT assigns projects for specific budget years, which run from July 1 to June 30. The estimated costs for the projects include construction work, engineering plans and land acquisition:
HWY. 110: Rehabilitation of a bridge over the Joachim Creek and Union Pacific railroad tracks and another on Hwy. 61 over Rock Creek.
Estimated cost: $2,645,000
Construction: 2027
HWY. 21: Resurface pavement and upgrade guardrails on 14.91 miles from Hwy. B in Hillsboro to the Washington County line and on Hwy. N (Rock Road) from Hwy. 21 to Donnelly Street in De Soto.
Estimated cost: $10,810,000
Construction: 2025 or 2026
HWY. 231 (Telegraph Road): Resurface pavement and upgrade guardrails along 2.19 miles from the Meramec River to Hwy. 61-67 in Arnold.
Estimated cost: $1,586,000
Construction: 2025
HWY. 30: Resurface pavement and upgrade guardrails along 5.74 miles from Hwy. PP in High Ridge to the St. Louis County line.
Estimated cost: $4,104,000
Construction: 2027
I-55: Replace structural signs from south of Hwy. TT near the Ste. Genevieve County line through Jefferson County to I-44 in St. Louis.
Estimated cost: $4,709,000
Construction: 2024 or 2025
I-55, HWY. 61-67, HWY. 21 and HWY V: Sealing decks of various bridges, also some in Franklin County and possibly some on Hwy. 141 in Jefferson and St. Louis counties.
Estimated cost: $1,665,000
Construction: 2024
HWY. 61-67: Add center turn lane and resurface pavement on 1.08 miles from Brandon Wallace Way to Sixth Street in Crystal City.
Estimated cost: $3,848,000
Construction: 2025
HWY. 61-67: Add traffic signals and turn lanes at Miller Road and St. John’s Church Road in Arnold.
Estimated cost: $3,572,000
Construction: July 2024
HWY. C: Resurfacing and repairing pavement and upgrading guardrails on 4.66 miles from Hwy. B in Morse Mill to Hwy. Y in Ware.
Estimated cost: $1,783,000
Construction: 2024
HWY. CC: Pavement resurfacing and guardrail upgrades on 5.6 miles from Hwy. 67 south of Festus to Hwy. 110 in Olympian Village.
Estimated cost: $2,142,000
Construction: 2025.
HWY. M: Resurfacing of 7.31 miles from Hwy. 21 in Otto to Metropolitan Boulevard in Barnhart.
Estimated cost: $2,872,000
Construction: 2027
HWY. MM: Repaving surface and guardrail upgrades on 4.34 miles from Hwy. 30 to Buckeye Valley Road between House Springs and Otto.
Estimated cost: $4,075,000
Construction: 2025
HWY. P: Pavement resurfacing and repairs and guardrail upgrades on 8.62 miles from Hwy. A west of Festus to Hwy. 110 in De Soto.
Estimated cost: $1,860,000
Construction: 2024
HWY. PP: Pavement resurfacing and repairs and guardrail upgrades of 2.16 miles from Byrnes Mill Road to Hwy. 30.
Estimated cost: $1,155,000
Construction: 2025 or early 2026
HWY. T: Rehabilitation of bridge over Plattin Creek south of Festus.
Estimated cost: $466,000
Construction: 2027