Interstate 64 in Missouri
Interstate 64 (I-64) passes through the Greater St. Louis area in the U.S. state of Missouri. The entire route overlaps U.S. Route 40 (US 40). Because the road was a main thoroughfare in the St. Louis area before the development of the Interstate Highway System, it is not uncommon for locals to refer to the stretch of highway as "Highway 40" rather than "I-64". On December 6, 2009, the portion of the highway running through the city of St. Louis was named the Jack Buck Memorial Highway in honor of the late sportscaster.[2]
Interstate 64 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
I-64 highlighted in red | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by MoDOT | ||||
Length | 40.817 mi[1] (65.689 km) | |||
Existed | 1987–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | I-70 / US 40 / US 61 in Wentzville | |||
| ||||
East end | I-55 / I-64 / US 40 in St. Louis | |||
Location | ||||
Counties | St. Charles, St. Louis, City of St. Louis | |||
Highway system | ||||
|
Route description
I-64 begins at an interchange with Interstate 70, U.S. Routes 40 and 61 in St. Charles County and heads south. Previously, the freeway was a divided highway signed only as U.S. 40 with at-grade intersections, which were slowly converted to limited-access exits. The final intersection at Callahan Road was removed on October 14, 2009.[3] The next major exit is for Route N and the western terminus of Missouri Route 364. Route 364 was completed and opened on November 2, 2014.[4] From here, I-64 continues past interchanges with Winghaven Boulevard / Route DD, Route 94 and Research Park Circle, and then crosses the Missouri River via the Daniel Boone Bridge and enters St. Louis County.
The freeway travels through the congested Chesterfield Valley, where it gains a fourth lane and then meets Interstate 270 at a flyover interchange built in the early 1990s in the city of Town and Country. Continuing east, I-64 remains four lanes and travels through the affluent areas of Frontenac and Ladue. The next major interchange is Interstate 170 in the city of Richmond Heights. This stretch, located between Ballas Road and I-170, was closed in 2008 for a complete reconstruction, at which point substandard exits were upgraded and the fourth lane was added. The interchange with I-170 was also overhauled, creating a full interchange with high speed ramps in all directions. The reconstructed expressway opened to traffic on the morning of December 15, 2008.
East of the interchange with I-170, I-64 drops a lane and stays at three through lanes to Clayton Road. Through here, the expressway passes through older neighborhoods and enters into the city of St. Louis. After re-adding a fourth lane, the freeway skirts the southern edge of Forest Park. In this area, one finds both the St. Louis Science Center and St. Louis Zoo. Kingshighway marks the end of the completely reconstructed eastern half, where again outdated exits were updated and shoulders widened. The eastern half was closed from December 15, 2008 to December 7, 2009.[5] I-64's speed limit drops from 60 to 55 miles per hour east of Kingshighway and drops a lane at Vandeventer Avenue (the opposite of the westbound lanes). Passing by St. Louis University, the freeway becomes double-decked for the first time (eastbound lanes at a lower level, westbound lanes an upper one), gaining back a fourth lane east of Compton Avenue. Another lane drop occurs at the Chestnut and 20th Street exit, where the cancelled Missouri Route 755 was to interchange. The freeway passes just south of the Enterprise Center and again becomes double-decked in the same arrangement, passing within 50 feet of the New Busch Stadium. The route becomes two lanes as it approaches the Mississippi River and the Poplar Street Bridge, where it is intersects Interstates 55 and 44 at an incomplete interchange; it was also at this interchange that I-70 joined I-55 and I-64 to cross the Poplar Street Bridge, but its former downtown route is now an extension of I-44. Eastbound I-64 cannot directly access either one of the other routes but westbound I-64, however, can directly access both. I-64 continues into Illinois concurrent with I-55; until 2014, it also ran concurrent with I-70, which has since been rerouted onto the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge further upstream.
History
Initial construction
Before the interstate highway system, US 40 was a main thoroughfare through St. Louis and Kansas City. From each state line, there were signs saying "Future I-55/I-64 Corridor" and "Future I-70 Corridor".
Reconstruction
The Missouri Department of Transportation rebuilt the stretch of I-64 from Spoede Road to Kingshighway Boulevard between 2008 and 2009. The project included new concrete pavement on the highway; approximately 25 rebuilt bridges; and several reconfigured interchanges, including a new freeway-to-freeway interchange at Interstate 170.
The section between Spoede Road and I-170 was closed for reconstruction on January 2, 2008 and opened to traffic on December 15, 2008. The section between I-170 and Kingshighway Boulevard was closed on December 15, 2008 and reopened to traffic on December 7, 2009.[6] The project was completed with a dedication and opening day ceremony on Sunday, December 6.[2] In 2020, exits 39 and 38B were closed and demolished to make way for the St. Louis MLS Stadium on the site.[7] The ramps were the remnants of a 3.3-mile-long North-South Distributor Highway that was never built.[8]
Exit list
County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Charles | Wentzville | 0.000– 0.305 | 0.000– 0.491 | – | US 61 north (Avenue of the Saints) – Hannibal | Western terminus of concurrency with US-61/AOTS, national western end of I-64 |
1 | I-70 / US 40 west – Kansas City, St. Louis | Signed as exits 1A (west) and 1B (east); exit 210 on I-70; western terminus of concurrency with US 40; cloverleaf interchange | ||||
Lake St. Louis | 1.433 | 2.306 | 1C | Prospect Road | ||
3.038 | 4.889 | 2 | Lake Saint Louis Boulevard | |||
3.926 | 6.318 | 4A | Route N (Hawk Ridge Trail) | |||
4.326 | 6.962 | 4B | Route 364 – Dardenne Prairie | Exits 1A-B on SR 364; cloverleaf interchange | ||
O'Fallon | 6.275 | 10.099 | 6 | Route DD (Winghaven Boulevard) | ||
9.995 | 16.085 | 9 | Route K – O'Fallon | |||
Weldon Spring | 10.726 | 17.262 | 10 | Route 94 – St. Charles | Eastbound exit is via exit 9 | |
11.928 | 19.196 | 11 | Research Park Circle | No westbound entrance | ||
Missouri River | 13.186 | 21.221 | Daniel Boone Bridge | |||
St. Louis | Chesterfield | 13.757– 14.043 | 22.140– 22.600 | 14 | Chesterfield Airport Road | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
14.651 | 23.578 | Spirit of Saint Louis Boulevard | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |||
14.917– 16.204 | 24.007– 26.078 | 16 | Long Road / Chesterfield Airport Road | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
17.150 | 27.600 | 17 | Boone's Crossing | |||
19.221 | 30.933 | 19A | Chesterfield Parkway West | |||
19.848 | 31.942 | 19B | Route 340 (Olive Boulevard / Clarkson Road) | |||
20.50 | 32.99 | 20 | Chesterfield Parkway East | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
20.316 | 32.695 | 21 | Timberlake Manor Parkway | |||
Town and Country | 22.553 | 36.296 | 22 | Route 141 (Woods Mill Road) | ||
23.231 | 37.387 | 23 | Maryville Centre Road | No eastbound exit | ||
24.186 | 38.924 | 24 | Mason Road | |||
25.886 | 41.659 | 25 | I-270 – Chicago, Memphis | Exit 12 on I-270 | ||
26.207 | 42.176 | 26 | Route JJ (Ballas Road) | |||
Frontenac | 27.745 | 44.651 | 27 | Spoede Road | ||
28.267 | 45.491 | 28A | US 61 south / US 67 (Lindbergh Boulevard) | Eastern terminus of concurrency with US-61; national southern terminus of the Avenue of the Saints | ||
Ladue | 28.862 | 46.449 | 28B | Clayton Road | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |
30.735 | 49.463 | 30 | McKnight Road | |||
Richmond Heights | 31.770 | 51.129 | 31A | I-170 north – Clayton, Lambert–St. Louis Airport | Exit 1 on I-170; southern terminus of I-170 | |
32.249 | 51.900 | 31B | Brentwood Boulevard / Hanley Road | Roads connected via one way collector road | ||
33.071 | 53.223 | 33A | Big Bend Boulevard | |||
33.462 | 53.852 | 33B | Bellevue Avenue | Eastbound exit; westbound entrance via collector road connected to exit 33A | ||
City of St. Louis | 33.807 | 54.407 | 33C | McCausland Avenue | ||
34.042 | 54.785 | 34A | Clayton Road / Skinker Boulevard | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
34.949 | 56.245 | 34B | Hampton Avenue – Forest Park, Saint Louis Zoo | Eastbound slip ramp exit to Oakland Avenue eastbound | ||
36.111 | 58.115 | 36A | Kingshighway Boulevard – Tower Grove Park, Barnes-Jewish Hospital | |||
36.722– 36.800 | 59.098– 59.224 | 36B | Boyle Avenue / Tower Grove Avenue | Boyle Avenue only westbound | ||
37.361 | 60.127 | 36C | Vandeventer Avenue – Missouri Botanical Garden | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
37.750 | 60.753 | 37A | Market Street / Bernard Street | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
37.825 | 60.873 | 37B | Grand Boulevard — Saint Louis University Hospital | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
38.000– 38.262 | 61.155– 61.577 | 38A | Forest Park Avenue / Grand Boulevard — Forest Park, Washington University | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
38.793 | 62.431 | 38C | Jefferson Avenue | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
39.646 | 63.804 | 39B | 14th Street— Downtown St. Louis, Enterprise Center | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
39.806 | 64.062 | 39C | 11th Street— Downtown St. Louis, Busch Stadium | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
40.011 | 64.391 | 40B | 6th Street— Downtown St. Louis | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
40.140 | 64.599 | 40A | 9th Street / Tucker Boulevard— Downtown St. Louis, Busch Stadium | Westbound exit only; eastbound entrance via 6th Street | ||
40.369 | 64.968 | 40C | I-55 south / I-44 west – Memphis, Tulsa | Western terminus of concurrency with I-55; westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
40.407 | 65.029 | 40 | I-44 east to I-70 west – Kansas City | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
Mississippi River | 40.817 | 65.689 | Poplar Street Bridge | |||
– | I-55 north / I-64 east / US 40 east to I-70 east – Illinois | Continuation into Illinois | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
|
See also
- U.S. Roads portal
References
- Missouri Department of Transportation (October 16, 2018). MoDOT HPMAPS (Map). Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- "Public Invited to I-64 'Fun on the Freeway'" (Press release). Missouri Department of Transportation. November 30, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
- "MoDOT to celebrate completion of Route 40/61 work" (Press release). Missouri Department of Transportation. October 7, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
- "Route 364 upgrade - Phase 3". Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- "The New I-64". Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- Leiser, Ken. "Highway 40 to reopen Dec. 7". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
- reports, From staff. "Five Highway 40 (I-64) ramps to close permanently on Feb. 3 for new soccer stadium". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
- O'Malley, Beth. "Those soon-to-close Highway 40 ramps are remnants of a never-built north-south highway". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2020-03-06.