The Missouri Dept. of Transportation has announced that the Interstate 70 Blanchette Missouri River Bridge westbound closure and detouring will start in less than two months, but drivers can anticipate significant traffic impacts beginning this week when one lane will close on the bridge in each direction from Friday, Sept. 14 through Tuesday, Oct. 9.
On Friday, Sept. 14, crews will begin closing one lane in each direction of I-70 at 8 p.m. There will be times on Friday night and during the day on Saturday that two lanes will be closed for short periods. The lane closure will be from approximately Fifth Street in St. Charles to Earth City Expressway in St. Louis County. By Sunday, Sept. 16, the lane closure will shorten up a little and will be from the middle of the bridge to Earth City Expressway while the work focuses on constructing the median pavement at the St. Louis end of the bridge.
MoDOT advises motorists to consider alternate routes to I-70 during morning and evening rush hours. Route 370 provides a direct connection from I-270 in St. Louis County to I-70 in St. Charles County west of the bridge project. Route 370 is only five miles longer than staying on I-70. Route 364 (Page Avenue Extension) also provides an alternate for commuters living in the mid-section of St. Charles County.
“With only one lane closed in each direction, we don’t expect significant delays to I-70 during these three weeks,” said MoDOT St Charles Area Engineer Tom Evers. “However, this work will cause some delay, and we encourage people to use this time to try the alternate routes in preparation for the major detour that begins the first of November.”
The work being done is in preparation for the closure of the westbound I-70 Blanchette Bridge the first weekend of November. The bridge will remain closed for less than one year. The eastbound I-70 bridge will be used to carry three lanes of traffic in each direction. Immediately off the end of the bridge there will be pavement in the median to move the three westbound lanes back over to the normal westbound pavement.
