Local News Releases

Prepared by Andrew Gates 314/453-1808

November 07, 2012 07:26 PM

I-70 Traffic Increased on Third Night of Blanchette closure:

Westbound traffic backed up to east of I-270 at height of rush

ST LOUIS - More people are continuing to move back to I-70 at the Blanchette Bridge causing traffic levels to back up to just east of I-270 during the peak of the rush from about 5:15 p.m. to 5:45.

Traffic remained high on the closest two river crossings on Route 370 and Route 364, but traffic is still moving smoothly on the alternate routes.

"Traffic on the Blanchette at the peak of evening rush is getting higher. We are close to capacity on the roadway around the Blanchette and we are starting to see traffic backing up at times. People still need to use Route 364 and Route 370 to help keep traffic moving on the Blanchette during rush period," said MoDOT St Louis Assistant District Engineer Bill Schnell.

The worst time to travel in the p.m. rush before and after the lane reduction on I-70 on the four Missouri River Crossings are as follows:

Route	Before I-70 Bridge Closure	Nov 7 PM Peak
I-70 WB	4:30 - 5:30 p.m. / 6,977 vehicles	4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. / 4,898 vehicles
Route 370 WB	4:30 - 5:30 p.m. / 4,378 vehicles	4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. / 5,240 vehicles
Route 364 WB	4:45 - 5:45 p.m. / 6,004 vehicles	4:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. / 8,474 vehicles
I-64 WB	4:00 - 5:00 p.m. / 4,425 vehicles	3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. / 4,452 vehicles

The westbound I-70 Blanchette Missouri River Bridge was closed November 4, 2012, and both directions of I-70 were placed on the eastbound bridge. The work zone has reduced I-70 from 10 lanes total to 6 lanes (3 for each direction) until Fall 2013. MoDOT will be performing $63 million in major rehabilitation to the 54-year-old westbound bridge.

For more information on the project, visit www.modot.org/blanchettebridge.

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