Counties Impacted
St. Louis
St. Louis City
Route Impacted
55
Work Type
Bridge Rehabilitation
In Progress

Project Milestones

Complete
Final design plans developed

The plans for the bridge maintenance and how traffic will move through the work zone during construction  get determined during this process. This is expected to be complete in fall 2021

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Complete
Public meeting

Since this project will impact several of the trails along the interstate for short periods of time as part of maintenance, MoDOT is planning to hold an informational public meeting on this project.  The virtual public meeting was June 10, 2021.

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Complete
Construction begins

Once the project has been put out for bid, and the qualified contractor with the lowest bid is selected, the project will start.  This should happen in spring 2022.

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Complete
Daycare overpass removed

The Daycare Overpass will be removed. 

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Complete
Construction begins

Work starts on the north end of the project,  mainly on the northbound side between Broadway and Potomac. Barrier wall replacement will start south of Virgina. Traffic will be narrowed and shifted to the southbound lanes of I-55 (two lanes of traffic in each direction) from late April to the end of 2022.  Near the end of 2022, crews will shift traffic on the south end of the project through fall 2024. Drivers can expect regular lane shifts and ramp closures as crews continue working on the various bridges along the corridor. 

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Complete
2023 construction impacts

Work starts on the north end of the project,  mainly on the northbound side between Broadway and Potomac. Barrier wall replacement will start south of Virgina. Traffic will be narrowed and shifted to the northbound lanes of I-55 (two lanes of traffic in each direction) from March 2023 to the end of the year.   Work continues in the central and south portion of the corridor around the River Des Peres and around  Gravois Creek. Drivers can expect regular lane shifts and ramp closures as crews continue working on the various bridges along the corridor. Cyclists can expect day closures at the River Des Peres and Grants Trail bike trails, and extended closures at the Carondelet Connector, as crews work overhead.

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In Progress
2024 construction

Work continues in the central and south portion of the corridor around the River Des Peres and around  Gravois Creek. Drivers can expect regular lane shifts and ramp closures as crews continue working on the various bridges along the corridor.  Drivers can continue to expect to have three lanes northbound and two lanes southbound near Green Park Road and two lanes in each direction between River Des Peres and Loughborough.  Cyclists can expect day closures at the River Des Peres and Grants Trail bike trails, and extended closures at the Carondelet Connector, as crews work overhead. Work also includes resurfacing on various portions of the interstate and interchange roadways.

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Not Started
2025 Construction

Construction continues around the Union Pacific Railroad bridges. Work also includes resurfacing on various portions of the interstate and interchange roadways.

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Not Started
2026 Construction

Paving work is expected to continue into 2026.

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Not Started
Project complete
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What is the problem?

Many of the bridges along the Interstate 55 corridor between Lindbergh and the Interstate 44/Interstate 55 interchange in the city of St. Louis are between 55 and 60 years old and need to have significant maintenance or reconstruction to ensure that they remain operational and safe to use for the future.

Many of the bridges along the corridor need work, and in this case, it is more efficient to do several of them at a time to minimize the overall impact to commuters and to give the contractor doing the work the ability to efficiently manage the equipment and construction teams needed to complete the project.

This project will address bridges in 14 locations along the I-55 corridor between U.S. Route 50/61/67 (Lindbergh) and Arsenal in the city.  In 2024 and 2025, crews will resurface the interstate and portions of the roadway under the rehabilitated bridges.

What is the timeline?

In November 2023, MoDOT announced that the project would be delayed due to damage to the steel support beams, or girders, on the bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad.   You can read the release for that announcement here: MoDOT announces delays to bridge work on northbound I-55 between River Des Peres, Loughborough. The department is still determining the amount of delay for the project, but at this time, work on the bridge rehabilitation is expected to continue through 2025.  Engineers are completing design work for the damaged girders on the bridge, and the replacement girders should be delivered in fall 2024.  MoDOT is currently working through the necessary agreements with the railroad to install those girders over the track once they arrive. 

 

Plans complete

Fall 2021

Public informational meeting

Fall 2021

Project start

Spring 2022

Construction complete Mid-2026

Project news

  • MoDOT to close two ramps to southbound I-55 next week

    03/22/2024

     

    ST. LOUIS – Drivers who use southbound I-55 should be aware of two ramp closures coming up next week, weather permitting.

    Crews will close the ramp from Carondelet to southbound I-55 and the ramp from 4500 South Broadway to southbound I-55...

  • MoDOT to close Germania under Interstate 55 in city for month

    03/11/2024

     

    ST. LOUIS – Drivers who use Germania near I-55 in the city of St. Louis should be aware of a long-term closure starting this week.

    Crews will close Germania under the interstate, starting Wednesday, March 13 at 9 a.m. to remove the deck from the...

  • MoDOT to close northbound Interstate 55 next weekend

    02/23/2024

    ST. LOUIS – Drivers who use northbound I-55 in the city of St. Louis should be aware of two upcoming closures on the interstate next week – one overnight closure and one weekend closure.

    The closures will allow crews to construct a place where...

Which bridges are being worked on?

The bridges at Gravois Creek, Green Park, River Des Peres, northbound and southbound Union Pacific Railroad, and over South 2nd Street will have all the concrete on the deck removed and replaced. 

The bridges at Bayless, Koeln Avenue, Virginia, Bates, 4500 S. Broadway, Gasconade, Potomac, and 3200 S. Broadway will have the top layer of concrete on the bridge (the driving surface) removed and repaved.

The Daycare Overpass pedestrian bridge, between Reavis Barracks and the Union overpass, has been removed.  The bridge was closed for almost two years before removal, and got minimal use before it closed.

What will the impacts be?

During this project, drivers can expect narrow and shifted traffic lanes in each direction.  

Currently, on northbound I-55, drivers have three shifted lanes between Lindbergh and Bayless and two shifted lanes between Bayless and Virginia.  The remainder of northbound I-55 north of Virginia is fully open to traffic. On southbound I-55, drivers have three lanes between I-44 and Virginia and two lanes between Virginia and Lindbergh.  Opening up the fourth southbound lane before Virginia would create significant backups and congestions as those four lanes merged into two to enter the work zone. 

There may also be some impacts to three bike trails that run along the corridor.  The River Des Peres trail and the Grant’s Trail are expected to have minimal closures (one or two day closures) as crews work remove concrete and set formwork overhead.  The Carondelet Trail will have some significant impacts as crews work on the railroad bridge near the trail. The trail will be closed when crews are working on the bridges over the railroad. The department is looking at various ways to reduce those impacts as much as possible. To get information on trail closures, and other updates along the project, please sign up for the I-55 corridor e-update list.

At the end of the project, the entire corridor will be resurfaced and all lane markings caused by the traffic shifts will be removed. This will provide a clean surface to put down the final lane striping.  Much of the resurfacing will take place in 2024 and 2025, but some may last into early 2026. However, until that resurfacing is complete, drivers may experience a slight bump between the existing pavement and the new bridges – that will be more level once the final layer of asphalt is added.

Ramp closures

Southbound I-55 Ramps

Exit

Status

Duration

Lafayette to 55   Closed Into 2025
Cherokee Ramp to 55   Closed Permanently closed
All ramps between Gravois and Virginia 206C, 205
204, 203
Open  
55 to Loughborough 202C Open Next closure expected late 2024
Loughborough to 55   Open Next closure expected late 2024
55 to Germania 202B Open  
All ramps between Weber and Lindbergh 210B, 201A,
200, 199,
197
Open  
       

Northbound I-55 Ramps

Exit

Status

Duration

All ramps between Lindbergh and 
River Des Peres

 
199, 201A, 
202
Open  
Germania to 55   Closed Into 2025
55 to Loughborough 202C Closed Expected open in late 2024
Loughborough to 55   Closed Expected open in late 2024
All ramps between Virginia and 44 203, 204
206A, 206B,
206C, 207A,
Open  

Why doesn’t MoDOT close the entire corridor to work on the bridges?

Although closing the corridor (similar to that done for I-64) might get the construction completed quicker, overall, the impacts to travel in the region would be significantly impacted, and much of the work is less extensive.  Many of the bridges along the I-64 corridor needed to be completely rebuilt (instead of simply getting a deck or driving surface repair) and unlike the I-64 corridor there are not good options for alternate travel to give people other options to travel between the city of St. Louis, Illinois, south St. Louis County and Jefferson County.