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 should happen in spring 2022.
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 2023. 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 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 2023. Drivers can expect regular lane shifts and ramp closures as crews continue working on the various bridges along the corridor.
The portion between Pestalozzi and Potomac gets resurfaced.
The southern section of the project gets resurfaced.
The Daycare Overpass will be removed.
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 14 bridges along the I-55 corridor between U.S. Route 50/61/67 (Lindbergh) and Arsenal in the city.
Project news
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MoDOT to close, shift northbound I-55 lanes in city next week
ST. LOUIS – Drivers heading north on Interstate 55 into the city of St. Louis should be aware of increased congestion as crews shift traffic as part of on-going bridge maintenance.
Crews will close an additional northbound lane on I-55 between...
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MoDOT to accelerate closure of southbound I-55 lanes in city
ST. LOUIS – Due to anticipated rain early next week, the Missouri Department of Transportation will accelerate the planned closure of two southbound Interstate 55 lanes between Interstate 44 and Potomac.
Crews will close two lanes on southbound I...
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MoDOT to close two southbound I-55 lanes in city to start project
ST. LOUIS – Drivers on Interstate 55 heading into or leaving the city of St. Louis should be prepared for increased congestion as work begins on a three-year project.
This project, replaces or renovates 13 interstate bridges in both directions...
Project media
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 the deck (the driving surface and concrete barrier ) removed and replaced.
The bridges at Bayless, Koeln Avenue, Virginia, Bates, 4500 S. Broadway, Gasconade, Potomac, and 3200 S. Broadway will have concrete on the bridge removed and repaved.
The Daycare Overpass pedestrian bridge, between Reavis Barracks and the Union overpass, will be removed. The bridge has been closed for almost two years due to safety, and got minimal use before it closed.
What will the impacts be?
Generally speaking, traffic lanes will be reduced and shifted in each direction. For the first year crews will start on the north end of the project, with northbound traffic moved to the southbound lanes between Pestalozzi and Potomac with two lanes of traffic in each direction. When the northbound traffic is shifted, the northbound exit ramps at 3200 Broadway (Exit 206B) and Arsenal (Exit 206C) will be closed. When the southbound traffic is shifted in 2023, traffic from Arsenal and Cherokee will not be able to get to southbound I-55. In addition, there will be reduced lanes on other sections of I-55 in both directions between Virginia and Gasconade for other bridge maintenance during 2022.
In late 2022, crews will work on the sections of roadway between Virginia and Gravois Creek Bridge, just south of Green Park Road – with two places where traffic will shift. One shift is between Virginia and River Des Peres and the second is between Green Park and Gravois. When traffic is shifted to the southbound lanes, the northbound ramp to Loughborough (Exit 202C) and the ramps from Loughborough and from Germania to the northbound interstate will be closed. When traffic is moved to the northbound lanes , the southbound ramps to Loughborough (Exit 202C) and Germania (Exit 202B) will be closed, as will the ramp from Germania to the northbound interstate. Again, there will also be reduced lanes on other sections of I-55 between Virginia and the bridge at Gravois Creek, as crews maintain other bridges in that area.
There may also be some impacts to three bike trails that run along the corridor in 2023. 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 for much of 2023 as crews bring equipment in and out of the area to work on the bridge 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 to eliminate any lane markings caused by the traffic shifts. This will provide a clean surface to put down the final lane striping. Most likely, the first part of the resurfacing work in the northern section will take place in 2023, with the remainder taking place in early 2024. 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.
Will this impact detour routes for the I-255 project on the Jefferson Barracks Bridge?
The Jefferson Barracks bridge will be worked on at the same time as this project. Crews will work to minimize the impacts of construction, although I-55 will be an alternate route for drivers attempting to avoid the construction.
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.
What is the timeline?
Plans complete |
Fall 2021 |
Public informational meeting |
Fall 2021 |
Project start |
Spring 2022 |
Shift to southbound I-55 (north) | Spring 2022 |
Shift to southbound I-55 (RDP) | Fall 2022 |
Shift to northbound I-55 (north) | Spring 2023 |
Shift to northbound I-55 (RDP) |
Fall 2023 |
Construction complete | Fall 2024 |