Districts Impacted
Project Milestones
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
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.
Once the project has been put out for bid, and the qualified contractor with the lowest bid is selected, the project will start. This was awarded in spring 2022 for roughly $63 million. The resurfacing portion of the project was awarded in early 2024 for nearly $28 million.
The Daycare Overpass will be removed.
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.
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.
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.
Construction continues around the Union Pacific Railroad bridges. Cyclists can expect extended closures at the Carondelet Connector, as crews work overhead. Work also includes resurfacing on various portions of the interstate and interchange roadways.
Paving work is expected to continue into 2026.
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. During that resurfacing, crews will remove the entrance ramp from Cherokee Street to southbound Interstate 55. You can read more about that plan, and the reasoning, here: Cherokee Street Ramp removal
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 replacement girders have been designed, ordered and replaced, and the contractor is currently working on the originally contracted bridge rehabilitation on the northbound I-55 bridge over Union Pacific Railroad.
| Plans complete | Fall 2021 |
| Public informational meeting | Fall 2021 |
| Project start | Spring 2022 |
| Construction complete | Mid-2026 |
Project news
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MoDOT to shift traffic to NB I-55 lanes in city of St. Louis to work on last two southbound bridges
ST. LOUIS – Residents who use I-55 between Virginia and River Des Peres should be prepared for new traffic patterns, starting next week, after MoDOT shifts all interstate traffic from the southbound lanes to the northbound lanes in two stages.
Crews...
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MoDOT to close northbound Interstate 55 overnight during this weekend
ST. LOUIS – Drivers who use northbound I-55 in the city of St. Louis should be aware of an upcoming overnight closure on the interstate this weekend.
The closures will allow crews to place concrete for the driving surface of the new bridge over the...
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MoDOT to close northbound Interstate 55 overnight during this weekend
ST. LOUIS – Drivers who use northbound I-55 in the city of St. Louis should be aware of on upcoming overnight closure on the interstate this weekend.
The closures will allow crews to place concrete for the driving surface of the new bridge over the...
Project media
An updated map of the work along I-55 between Lindbergh in St. Louis County and I-44 in the city of St. Louis. For a larger, pdf view, please click this link: New I-55 crossover map.
A zoomed in view of the planned work along I-55 between Potomac and I-44. For a larger pdf view, please click the link here: I-55 Potomac zoomed-in view.
A zoomed in map of the work along I-55 between River Des Peres and Loughborough. For a larger, pdf of the map, please click this link: Zoomed in map, I-55 Loughborough to River Des Peres.
A zoomed in view of the planned work along I-55 over Green Park Road and Gravois Creek. For a larger, zoomed in view, please click the link: Zoomed in view, I-55 near Gravois Creek.
The detour map for the Carondelet Connector closure. For a larger, printable pdf, please click here.
Crews work on removing the concrete along one of the bridges being rehabilitated as part of the three-year project along I-55 between I-44 in the city of St. Louis and Lindbergh. For more photos of the work, please visit our Flickr link.
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 Bayless and Weber and two shifted lanes between Weber 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 River Des Peres. Northbound I-55 between Lindbergh and Bayless and between Virginia and I-44 is currently fully open. Southbound I-55 between River Des Peres and Lindbergh is fully open.
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 spring 2025 |
| Loughborough to 55 | Open | Next closure expected spring 2025 | |
| 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 to open spring 2025 |
| Loughborough to 55 | Closed | Expected to open spring 2025 | |
| 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.