Those who regularly drive on Old Lemay Ferry Road south of Arnold are advised to find an alternate route while another round of improvements is under way along the road.
Construction began Jan. 22 on a heavily traveled half-mile stretch of Old Lemay Ferry Road from Vogel Road south to Spring Forest Road in Imperial. One lane of the two-lane road is closed in the area, and temporary traffic signals are in place to allow traffic to pass through the construction zone in one direction and then the other, Jefferson County Public Works Director Jason Jonas said.
Construction is expected to be completed by the fall, he said.
Jonas said the road will be widened to 12-foot lanes and 5-foot shoulders, and a left-turn lane will be added at Adobe Drive, into the Buena Vista subdivision.
“The existing roadway has two 11.5-foot travel lanes with no shoulders and steep roadside ditches, for a roadway that carries an average vehicles per day of 11,488 (as of 2025) at a speed limit of 40 miles per hour,” Jonas said. “These improvements will greatly mitigate against the historical run-off-the-road crashes and rear-end collisions at the subdivision entrance.”
The temporary traffic signals are located north of Spring Forest Road and south of Vogel Road. As the project progresses, the lane that is closed to traffic will change, Jonas said.
He said he anticipates longer waiting queues at the signals during peak morning and evening travel times.
“The county will monitor travel conditions and make signal-timing adjustments to the greatest extent possible,” he said.
“The public is encouraged to seek alternative commute options that may be available to them, such as via Seckman Road or Lions Den Road.”
For those traveling to the Seckman Road area, Jonas recommends motorists use the West Outer Road, either from Richardson Road or Imperial Main Street. For those traveling to the Lions Den Road area, he recommends using Seckman Road or Old Hwy. 21.
Jokerst Contracting of Festus was hired to complete the improvements, which are projected to cost $1,991,239.32. Federal grants will pay for 60 percent, or $1,194,743.59, of the work, and the county will pay the remaining 40 percent, or $796,495.73, from part of its share of revenue from a countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements.
Gary Cross, the Fox C-6 director of transportation, said the school district has about 31 bus routes transporting students through the work zone.
He added that many more Fox buses use the stretch as a throughway to get to their next route or to take students on field trips.
“For most routes, they will continue to use that section of road, but those who can will take an alternate path,” Cross said.
“I am not sure at this time how much the one-way traffic will delay our buses, but I am sure many of the routes will end up being a few minutes longer.”
Other Old Lemay Ferry work
Another Old Lemay Ferry Road improvement project, from Regency Woods Place to Kneff Road in Imperial, is still under construction.
Jonas said that project was “severely delayed” due to unforeseen utility relocation work and the redesign of a major retaining wall.
The project calls for the addition of 4-foot shoulders along the quarter-mile portion of road, with the shoulders increasing to 10 feet in some areas due to the tight curves. The project will include extensive grading, slope reinforcement and retaining walls.
Jonas said the northern half of the project, from the East Rock Creek and Frisco Hill intersection to Regency Woods Place, is finished. As part of that project, a sharp curve north of the intersection of East Rock Creek and Frisco Hill roads was realigned.
Like the northern part of the project, construction crews began work on the southern end, from the intersection of East Rock Creek and Frisco Hill to roughly Kneff Road, in March 2025, intending to finish by the end of the year. However, after construction crews ran into complications with utility lines over the summer, the southern end of the project was delayed.
On Dec. 18, the Jefferson County Council voted to extend the project completion deadline to May 29 so the southern end of the project could be finished.
“The additional utility work and wall redesign/approval consumed nearly the entire fall 2025 calendar,” Jonas said. “Our contractor is now mobilizing to restart the last 50 percent of the contract work on the south end of the project.”
Above and Below Contracting was hired for the project, at $2,473,981.12. Conditions on the site required four change orders totaling $59,849.70, including extra costs for the retaining wall and additional materials needed during construction.
A federal grant will cover 80 percent, or $2,027,064.66, of the final total cost, which is $2,533,830.82. The county is covering the remaining 20 percent, or $506,766.16, with its share of a countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements.