Road construction projects are scheduled all over Jefferson County this spring and summer.
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is in the middle of seven projects in the county, with plans to start two more this summer.
Stephen O’Connor, area engineer, said the biggest project is along Jeffco Boulevard (Hwy. 61-67) in Arnold and began in March.
“There are actually two projects, but it’s the same contractor, so for all intents and purposes, it’s one project in Arnold. They’re also expensive and complicated projects,” he said.
The state will pay about $9.2 million to resurface Jeffco from north of the Meramec River to Collier Drive near the Arnold Eagles hall.
In addition, crews will install guardrails along the stretch and make upgrades for pedestrian traffic, including building concrete curb ramps and traffic island cut-throughs to meet Americans With Disabilities standards and adapting traffic signals to make sure they are accessible to all pedestrians.
That project is expected to wrap up in November.
While that work is underway, crews also will be working farther south on Jeffco to install a two-way left-turn lane from Richardson Road to Telegraph Road (Hwy. 231).
“It will improve safety and reduce the number of crashes, as well as help overall traffic flow,” O’Connor said.
That project will cost an estimated $1.2 million and should be complete by fall.
“Of course, we’re all getting ready for the big project for Jefferson County – the work on I-55,” O’Connor said.
That project, which involves adding a third lane in each direction from Pevely to the Hwy. 61-67 interchange south of Festus, is in the planning stages but O’Connor said work is scheduled to begin sometime in 2024.
“Things can change, it could be pushed up or back,” he said.
Public comments on the project, he said, will be sought this summer.
O’Connor said two of the state’s other projects should be wrapping up soon.
The first involves installing a traffic signal at highways 21 and 110 and Liberty School Road just north of De Soto.
The other is at Hwy. B and Column Drive in the Hillsboro area, which is at the entrance to the Raintree Plantation subdivision, where there is a curve with limited sight distance.
“We’re installing a warning system to let people know about coming out of the subdivision,” he said.
Both projects, he said, should have been finished weeks ago, but supply-chain issues have delayed getting the electronic equipment needed at both sites.
“It used to take us a couple of months to get a traffic signal,” O’Connor said. “Now it takes as long as nine months.”
The following is a list of other projects on the schedule:
HILLSBORO (Hwy. 21 at Lowry Lane south of Hwy. B): This safety improvement will involve installing a two-way, left-turn lane and replacing an existing guardrail along about 3,000 feet of Hwy. 21. Work is expected to last until November.
MoDOT’s website indicates that once the project is complete, the high number of rear-end crashes in the area should be reduced. The estimated cost of the project is $1.3 million.
PACIFIC AREA (Hwy. F from Hwy. O to St. Joseph Hill Road): This project takes in almost all of Hwy. F in Jefferson County – about 4.02 miles – and involves resurfacing and upgrading guardrails. It’s expected to be finished sometime this fall. The estimated cost of the project is $1,041,000.
CEDAR HILL TO HILLSBORO (Hwy. BB from Hwy. 30 in Cedar Hill to Business 21 in Hillsboro): Similar to the Hwy. F project, this one also involves resurfacing and upgrading guardrails. The cost of the project, which involves 10.78 miles, is estimated at $3,309,000 and should be finished sometime in the fall.
ARNOLD AREA-IMPERIAL (Hwy. 21 from Gravois Road in St. Louis County to Schenk Road in Imperial): O’Connor said the bulk of the work of this project will be done in St. Louis County and is scheduled to start sometime over the summer.
“In Jefferson County, there will be nothing major, mostly resurfacing,” he said.
For this $9.1 million project, bridges to be rehabilitated are north of the Jefferson County line, O’Connor said.
The project also includes upgrades of traffic signals, guardrails and features that meet ADA standards, in St. Louis County where Hwy. 21 is not a divided, limited access highway.
O’Connor said the bridges south of the Meramec River are mainly in good shape, with only pavement work needed in Jefferson County.
FESTUS AREA (Hwy. AA from Hwy. TT to end at Burlington-Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks): This project, scheduled to begin sometime this summer, also will involve resurfacing and upgrading guardrails.
The work on the 4.42-mile stretch of road is expected to cost $1.56 million.
If all that’s not enough, O’Connor said MoDOT crews are out around the county patching potholes and making repairs to roads that were ravaged by the late-winter storms.
“The winter was very tough on our roads,” O’Connor said.
County seeking input on two more road projects
The Jefferson County Public Works Department has scheduled two more public hearings on upcoming road improvement projects.
The department already had announced a hearing for safety improvements on Old Lemay Ferry Road from Spring Forest to Vogel Road from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at Simpson Elementary School, 3585 Vogel Road, in Arnold.
A second hearing on another project to improve another portion of Old Lemay Ferry Road, from Regency Woods to Kneff Road in the Imperial area, will be held from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, April 21, in the Seckman High School cafeteria, 2800 Seckman Road, in Imperial.
On Wednesday, April 20, the public is invited to provide input for a plan to improve Dulin Creek Road from Meyer Lane to Local Hillsboro Road in House Springs. That meeting will be held from 4-7 p.m. in the Northwest High School cafeteria, 6005 Cedar Hill Road, in Cedar Hill.
All three hearings will be an open house format, allowing parties to stop by anytime during the meeting.
“There will be no set presentation given,” said Public Works Director Jason Jonas. “We’ll have a series of project photos, visual information of aerial photographs of the area that we’re looking to improve, with before- and after-photos and what things will look like as the project proceeds.”
He said county staff members and engineers will be available to answer questions.
“There also will be comment cards that you can fill out that night, or send to us later. The comment cards also are available through our office for people who can’t make it.”
Jonas said both projects ranked high on the county’s list for safety improvements.
“That’s why we have the list,” he said. “We’re trying to improve safety anywhere we can.”
Like the project on Old Lemay Ferry from Spring Forest to Vogel, the project on Old Lemay Ferry from Regency Woods to Kneff Road calls for the stretch to be widened and straightened.
“This one will probably generate the most interest because of the number of trucks that fall off the pavement,” Jonas said. “This stretch of road has some really sharp curves, which we’re going to address.”
Work on the estimated $2.3 million project is expected to start in summer 2023.
The road in both directions of the .75-mile stretch will be widened from 11.5 feet to 12 feet, and shoulders of at least 2 feet will be added.
The shoulders will be wider at a sharp curve just north of the East Four Ridge Road-Frisco Hill intersection, which also will be realigned, and a series of S-curves also will be redone to improve safety.
“There are about four curves that resemble a snake,” Jonas said. “We’re going to make sure there are at least 4-foot shoulders, and as wide as 8 feet, so trucks and other large vehicles won’t be falling off the side of the road.”
Jonas said another problem area, a curve south of East Four Ridge Road-Frisco Hill, will be addressed as well.
“In that area, there are sight distance issues because of a hillside,” he said.
He said the county has purchased an easement to cut the hill back and improve the sight distance for vehicles.
“We’ll also be improving curbs and gutters along that area,” Jonas said.
On Dulin Creek Road, Jonas said, the mile-long stretch needs to be resurfaced with asphalt, and the current 11.5-foot-wide lanes with no shoulders will become 12-foot lanes with 4-foot shoulders.
New striping, signs, a centerline rumble strip and improved guardrails also will be part of the estimated $1.22 million project, with construction scheduled to last from summer through winter of 2024.