The "New I-64" - St. Louis' Rebuilt Urban Interstate - Part II: I-170 Interchange East to Hanley Road
The I-170/I-64 interchange is the most substantial change made by the "New I-64" project. Vehicles wishing to connect from one to the other from any direction can now do so without exiting and re-entering the Interstate. This eliminates pass-through traffic on surrounding roads and, at least in theory, mean less traffic congestion. The Hanley Road intersection was redesigned and Laclede Station Road exit removed as well.
The I-170/I-64 interchange had been unfinished since the completion of I-170. It was thought that I-170 may some day continue south of I-64 and that the interchange would be addressed at that point. The idea was eventually scrapped by local municipalities and tax-generating retail center now occupy the area. So, was a new interchange needed?
Brentwood Boulevard would have been a great place for the eastern terminus of the the Interstate and its transformation into an urban boulevard. With properly timed traffic lights and appropriate infrastructure the average speed of vehicles could have been maintained at 50 MPH, not much less than on an urban Interstate, and provided immeasurable benefits to the community fabric that is town apart by the presence of an Interstate.
Of course that's not what happened. The I-170 interchange exemplifies the MODOT mission and its shortcomings. I don't doubt that the interchanges themselves are easier to navigate, allow drivers to drive faster and are generally safer. But achieving these three items came at a cost.
Dozens of home were demolished to make way for southbound I-170 traffic going eastbound on I-64 and vice-versa. The flyovers ramps themselves are enormously outsized, something I would have loved as an 8-year-old and the sound walls, support columns and structural walls are just ugly. What would it have cost to redesign these components? Nothing? Maybe $5-10M? I wish they would have done it.
Roads speak to drivers. Although some traffic connections have been improved, the net affect of the new I-170/I-64 interchange says, "this isn't a place where people live or even where you may want to slow down and take a look around and spend time. This is an area dominated by a monstrous Interstate or two, and built solely to accommodate cars." And some may not object to this. As near as I can tell, this is MODOT's mission.
Moving east the Hanley Avenue interchange has a completely new configuration. Most significant, Hanley Avenue will now have a direct connection with Brentwood Boulevard, allowing eastbound vehicles to bypass Eager Road on the south side of I-64 and providing a dedicated lane for Hanley Avenue traffic to connect to Brentwood or I-170 on the north side of I-64. It is this configuration that necessitated the taking of homes, but which may provide the most significant impact along the project other than the I-170/I-64 interchange itself.
Additionally, the Eager and Hanley Road intersection was reconfigured as a "jug handle." I covered the opening of this intersection here. This reconfiguration will relieve congestion on Eager Road by eliminating the need for traffic entering eastbound I-64 or proceeding northbound on Hanley from crossing Hanley. This is a great improvement.
Further east, the single Laclede Station exit no longer exists. Personally I'll miss it as coming from the City I would often take this exit if I were shopping at Maplewood Commons. It was a great way to avoid Hanley Road congestion. That said, I also mistakenly took this exit a few times as the Hanley exit sign preceded it and the two exits came in very quick succession.
{a view of the now gone Laclede Station exit}
In "Part III" I will be looking at the "New I-64" project's impact at Big Bend Avenue, McCauland, Hampton and Kingshighway as well as rebuilt pedestrian connections and their affect on access to Forest Park and other places.
Gentrification: "... welcome by some and feared and loathed by others, and even dreaded and welcomed at the same time by the same people." Lance Freeman's pursuit of this duality makes the book strong-he's willing to admit that gentrification is both a pleasure and a problem, rather than setting up camp on one side.
There are plenty of missed opportunities in the project, to be sure. As for design cues, they certainly missed the boat there and the opportunity to create something distinctive for St. Louis, even for those just "passing through." A look at Milwaukee's massive (and recently completed) highway interchange project shows the kind of thing we might have gained, though that project wasn't perfect either.
Boy did you really miss the story here too (nothing new though). The new design of the 170-64 intersection achieved the following;
1. Destruction of green spaces (over 75 old growth trees used to exist in this area and MoDOT failed as promised to replace these needed trees).
2. Home destruction (over 70 homes torn down to expand the width of the highway in this area).
3. The on-off ramps on the south side of the 170-Galleria Pkwy were permanently removed which lowers connectivity for auto drivers and delays the ability of EMC vehicles to serve the area.
4. Destroyed connectivity for north-south travel for cyclists and pedestrians (imagine living on Everett, Buck or any of the other numerous streets where over 150 homes are located). Over 100 destinations are within 1000 feet of these residents but accessing these destinations now requires travel of over 1.8 miles each way
5. Permanent elimination of pedestrian bridge over 170 next to 64 increasing walking distances by 1 mile roundtrip to destinations on the west side of 170.
6. The addition of high profiled lights ruin the once quiet and peaceful living arrangements ... light pollution matters.
7. A highway that once was unfriendly to noisy, high polluting, dangerous and fuel inefficient truckers has been made usable to large trucks. The sound effects are amplified by the large and elevated ramps.
8. Laclede St ramps removed as noted which creates more auto mileage-pollution problems for local residents and more traffic for the Hanley intersection.
9. Speed limits increased on Big Bend and on 64.
10. Neighbors complained to Hoffarth, Hassinger, and others at MoDOT to live up to their written representations but MoDOT was more concerned about saving money for PR purposes and failed to live up to their representations.
11. Sound walls incomplete and in poorly designed as the flyover ramps are above the height of the walls... definitely a concrete jungle of immense proportions.
12. Pedestrian access to the Galleria Metro station have yet to be made pedestrian friendly as promised by MoDOT.
Overall the New 64 was designed to facilitate greater dependencies on private motorized travel and to facilitate larger trucks than could previously use 64. The project was also about saving money by lowering standards to get the project done quickly and not for an integrated efficient transportation system.
It is quite unfortunate that the region decided to spend limited funds to ruin neighborhoods in order to facilitate larger trucks and more private motorized traffic. The failure to complete 170 has serious long term negative implications for both financial and social costs to the region.
MoDOT's most important promises to many of the neighborhoods along this project were never realized. The most significant ones concerned pedestrian-cycling access issues and MoDOT eliminated the direct links at its website regarding priorities/citizens' expectations on these matters when the project began... they also fired the bike-pedestrian manager just before closing their web pages on these issues.
These are all excellent points (except the assertion that I generally "miss the story" - that hurts). Anyway, I really appreciate you adding your perspective. I did note that what was built "exemplifies MODOT's mission and shortcomings" and that dozens of homes were needlessly demolished. I appreciate the perspective from someone who (seemingly) lives and bikes in the area. Is obvious and sad that the #1 (2 and 3) priority with this project was to save money. It offers an interesting counterpoint to the MetroLink Cross-County Extension (in my opinion). I have no desire to rehash all the complaints about the line, but in many cases no expense was spared. In fact stations along the extension are overbuilt, but very, very nice (Big Bend, Skinker and Forsyth to name three). Simply put, we're in an era where "taxpayers" rule the public discourse and any measure that saves money (aesthetic or otherwise) will likely be popular.