WEST ALTON – The Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) has announced plans to raise the southbound lanes of Highway 67, just across the Clark Bridge.
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The $3 million project will be officially awarded in 2020 and construction could begin around then or in early 2021, MODOT Engineer for the North St. Louis County Area, Betherny Williams said Monday morning. Currently, MODOT is speaking with local stakeholders and evaluating the needs of park-goers, anglers, walkers, bikers, businesses and motorists alike while designing a project that best meets everyone's needs. No permanent plan has yet been approved, but Williams said, “something will be done there.”
MODOT has recently closed the southbound lanes of 67 due to flooding for the first time in William's two years as North St. Louis engineer, but for the third or fourth time since she began working in that department. When those lower lanes are closed, traffic on the upper – usually northbound only – lanes begins moving head-to-head, which is not good for traffic or commuters.
“We were lucky this time,” Williams said regarding the recent closure of the southbound lanes of 67. “We only had one minor accident, nothing major happened. Any time there is a traffic switch, it has the potential to increase accidents in the area. We lowered the speed limit and made use of our traffic control devices. We also alerted everyone ahead of time that they needed to slow down.”
When asked why the current design is the way it is with southbound lanes being much lower in elevation compared to the northbound lanes, Williams said that decision was made “before her time,” adding there were most likely reasons for it when it was constructed as such, saying it may have been the best MODOT could have done at the time.
Ultimately, the goal of the future project would be to raise those southbound lanes to the same elevation as the northbound lanes, which would ensure both lanes of traffic could stay open to traffic regardless of flooding contingencies on the Mississippi River.
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