ST. LOUIS - Crashes and the weather continue to affect traffic flow this week, five days into the closure of the east half of Interstate 64.   Traffic volumes on the interstates continue to be slightly less than normal but the arterial streets volumes have increased.

"The best alternate routes continue to be the interstates especially I-44 and I-55," said MoDOT I-64 Project Director Lesley Hoffarth. "The alternate arterial roads had good travel times, but these roads are filling up with more cars as traffic is detouring around the immediate area of the closed highway."

Forest Park Parkway continues to have increased traffic.  The biggest backups on the Parkway were at Big Bend today. The worst hour for congestion was 8-9 a.m.  A good alternative is MetroLink, which runs along Forest Park Parkway to Clayton.

A crash on eastbound I-70 closed the eastbound direction for an hour and a half at Salisbury.  A secondary crash occurred at O'Fallon Park. Alternate routes from this crash area to downtown were heavily congested as motorists worked around the closure.

Motorists are reminded of the full closure of McCausland under the I-64 bridge this weekend for demolition of the bridge.  McCausland right at I-64 will be closed in both directions tonight at 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. Monday, December 22.  Motorists will need to find an alternate route for traveling in the area this weekend.  Suggested alternates include Big Bend, Bellevue, Clayton, Tamm and Kingshighway.

St. Louis County is installing a new temporary signal for the left turns from southbound Shrewsbury to the eastbound I-44 on ramp.  This temporary signal will give the turn a left arrow instead of the yield, which will help the delays motorists have been experiencing at this point.  It is scheduled to be installed this weekend.

For more information on the I-64 project, visit http://www.thenewi64.org/ or call the project hotline at 314-524-9191.  For current traffic conditions, go to http://www.gatewayguide.com/ or call 5-1-1.