The Missouri Department of Transportation announced today, May 28, that McNutt Street under I-55 at Herculaneum will be shut down from 10 p.m. Friday, May 30, to 5 a.m. Monday, June 2, for bridge demolition, weather permitting.
Traffic on southbound I-55 has been shifted onto a new bridge over McNutt Street, allowing for demolition of the old southbound bridge and all lanes of I-55 will remain open, MoDOT said in a written statement.
The MoDOT statement said detour routes designated for the weekend closure of McNutt Street are:
■ Drivers west of I-55 on McNutt Street will access northbound I-55 via a detour using southbound I-55 to the Festus exit ramp to Veterans Boulevard (Hwy. A) eastbound, proceed to north on Hwy. 61-67, travel west on McNutt Street to the northbound I-55 entrance ramp.
Drivers are advised against immediately accessing northbound I-55 from Hwy. A in Festus because the turn could be too sharp for those driving semis and it could cause traffic tie-ups as the I-55-Hwy. A in Festus route is “a single-point interchange,” a MoDOT spokesperson said.
■ Drivers east of I-55 on McNutt Street will access southbound I-55 via a detour using northbound I-55 to the Pevely exit ramp to Hwy. Z westbound, then take the southbound entrance ramp.
Travelers in the Herculaneum area are encouraged to use alternative routes during the weekend closure, the statement said.
The purpose of the overall project is to address traffic and safety concerns along the I-55 corridor and account for future development and growth patterns in the region, according to the MoDOT website.
The new median lanes and demolition of the old pavement and bridge are part of an estimated $246 million I-55 Corridor Improvements project that runs from just north of Pevely south to just south of Festus.
In March 2024, MoDOT had a groundbreaking for the project, which includes constructing a third lane in both directions from Hwy. Z to Hwy. 67; replacing the signalized intersection at Hwy. 67 and Hwy. CC with an interchange that allows free-flowing traffic at of Hwy. 67 under a new Hwy. CC bridge; constructing new interchanges at Hwy. Z in Pevely, McNutt Street in Herculaneum and at Hwy. 67 south of Festus; replacing 14 bridges; rehabilitating 12 bridges and other improvements.
MoDOT awarded the design-build project to the team of KCI Construction Company, Bartlett & West and Wilson & Company.
The project’s targeted completion date is December 2026, the MoDOT website states.
For additional information about current and upcoming detours and project status, visit the I-55 Corridor Improvement project within the modot.org website.
For traffic and travel information, visit MoDOT’s Traveler Information Map at traveler.modot.org/map/.