Work will begin this spring on two portions of Old Lemay Ferry Road, leading to both partial and full road closures.
Jefferson County Public Works Director Jason Jonas said construction crews will begin working on a quarter-mile stretch of the road from south of Regency Woods Place to Kneff Road in Imperial late this month or early in March.
Construction will begin on a different section of Old Lemay Ferry, from Vogel Road to Spring Forest Drive just outside Arnold, in late April to early May, Jonas said.
Both projects, once complete, will make the road safer for motorists, he said.
“We have a lot of serious and minor injury crashes from the curvy road and steep grades, narrow lanes, that sort of thing,” Jonas said.
On the stretch of Old Lemay Ferry from Regency Woods Place to Kneff Road, he said, construction crews with Above and Below Contracting LLC in Imperial will work to add 4-foot-wide shoulders, with the shoulders increasing to 10 feet in some areas due to the tight curves. Some of the tightest curves will be slightly straightened.
Crews will cut some of the steep bluff slopes to allow for better sight distance, and high-friction pavement will be added to a portion of the road.
“A lot of asphalt, when it’s paved, is very smooth, and this will have a rougher feel to it so when you drive it, you’ll actually feel the road more than you would on a normal, newly paved asphalt road,” Jonas said. “It grips the tires better, keeps you on the road, so it’s more forgiving if you have a speeding issue or if it’s wet pavement. That high-friction pavement is really going to help keep tires on the road.”
That first road project will cost $2,473,981.12, with a federal grant covering 80 percent, or $1,979,184.90, and the county covering 20 percent, or $494,796.22, with some of its share of a countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements.
The Jefferson County Council approved the contract with Above and Below in August.
Jonas said he anticipates partial lane closures while construction is underway and a full road closure lasting about a month in July or August. When traffic is dropped to one lane, motorists can expect a traffic signal to direct vehicles, he said.
That portion of the Old Lemay Ferry Road improvements is set to be finished by the end of the year.
“We’ll do everything we can to time that (shutdown of Old Lemay Ferry) during summer closure for the schools, in the July or August timeframe,” Jonas said.
Northern Old Lemay Ferry project
Whereas the southern portion of the safety project deals with a narrow, curvy section of Old Lemay Ferry Road, the northern portion, from Vogel Road to Spring Forest Drive, is “extremely straight,” Jonas said.
“There are no curves on it whatsoever, but the difference is that it gets extremely high traffic per day, about 9,000 vehicles a day,” he said. “The one to the south is more like 2,000 to 3,000. You have a high volume (of traffic) on that route, which usually leads to high crashes.”
The Jefferson County Council voted 5-0 on Feb. 10 to award a contract to Jokerst Paving and Contracting Inc. in Festus to complete the improvements along the more northern part of Old Lemay Ferry. Councilmen Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) and Scott Seek (District 5, Festus) were absent from the meeting.
Jokerst Paving and Contracting will be paid $1,991,239.32 for the project, with 60 percent, or $1,194,743.60 covered by a federal grant. The county will pay 40 percent, or $796,495.73, with part of its share of a countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements.
Jonas said Jokerst Paving and Contracting submitted the lowest of three bids for the project.
Construction crews will work to increase lane width to 12 feet, with 5-foot shoulders, Jonas said, along the approximately 2,960-foot length of road from Vogel to Spring Forest. A left turn lane will be added from the turn signal at Vogel to Adobe Drive.
While no full road closures are expected along this section of Old Lemay Ferry during improvements, motorists should expect partial lane closures with temporary signals used to direct traffic, Jonas said.
The project is expected to be completed by August 2026, he said.