MoDOT has announced a public open house on Tuesday, April 10th in downtown to view displays and converse with MoDOT representatives regarding planned improvements to the Arch grounds. This likely comes as welcome news to a public long hungry for information about the region’s largest, most iconic project. An iconic project they recently discovered they’d be asked to help pay for, yet still know relatively little about.

This public event follows the other lone example of public engagement, the NPS Environmental Assessment (EA) in which 119 of 123 written submissions called for at least studying replacing the highway with a boulevard and reconnected street grid. These comments were dismissed from the NPS EA as out of scope, although they would be perfectly relevant were it not for the fragmentation that results from independent environmental reviews for the same overall project.

Because this event is being used to fulfill the minimum requirements for public participation as required by federal law, this may be the only opportunity to voice your opinion on the proposal that will likely direct the inertia at heart of our city for the foreseeable future. While it falls during the unfortunate afternoon hours of 3:00-5:00 PM, the open house style, informal nature of the event is conducive to quick pop-ins. So, stop by, ask questions and let MoDOT know what you think of the current proposal.

MoDOT St. Louis District Press Releases Page

Prepared by Andrew Gates 314/453-1808

April 02, 2012
MoDOT to hold public meeting on Park over the Highway alternatives
ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Transportation will hold an open-house style public meeting to allow the public to discuss MoDOT’s portion of the CityArchRiver 2015 project.

The public meeting is scheduled April 10, between 3 and 5 p.m. in the St. Louis City Hall Board of Aldermen boardroom (on the second floor), 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri, 63103.

During the meeting, MoDOT engineers will be on hand to discuss several proposed alternatives for the Park over the Highway portion of the CAR2015 project, to include what the department believes is the preferred alternative. Engineers will also be able to discuss potential impacts of each alternative.

This meeting will allow the public to provide input, and comments, either directly to the engineers or in written comments, on the alternatives presented. This meeting is part of the process to complete necessary Federal requirements for the project.

Since there are no formal presentations during the public meeting, participants may attend at any time during the open house.

first public revision by MVVA following selection as project designer

the most recent revisions to museum entry made public so far by project organizers

the City to River vision of a 'lid' and boulevard working together - newly developable land shown in orange

City to River has long championed the idea of converting a portion of I-70 in downtown St. Louis to an urban boulevard. The vision has garnered support in the business community, from civic organizations and the public. But to-date had not received political support and had not moved forward in the region’s official planning process. That’s changed with the inclusion of I-70 removal in the Downtown Multimodal Access RFP issued by the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC).

The RFP asks that focused consideration be given to short-term connectivity (0 to 5 years), specifically the CityArchRiver plans to remove Washington Avenue adjacent to the Eads Bridge and portions of Memorial Drive next to the Arch grounds, and long-term connectivity (5+ years). The RFP states: In particular, address the potential removal of the elevated sections of I-70 fromnorth of Pine St. to O’Fallon St, to determine feasibility and traffic impacts should the elevatedsections be completely removed, brought to grade, and what various alternatives might beconsidered for this scenario to occur long-term.

The new Mississippi River Bridge will re-route I-70 north of downtown.

You can find more regarding the City to River vision here: Our Proposal: A New Front Door for St. Louis. Visit our Media page to catch up on more news regarding City to River and the boulevard concept. Converting I-70 to an urban Interstate would give St. Louis a new front door. The concept has been shown to create more than $1.1B in new development opportunities and increase the value of existing developments. The majority of traffic using this section of I-70 is entering and exiting downtown St. Louis, a process made significantly easier with a boulevard that utilizes the efficient street grid. Through traffic would drive approximately one mile at an average speed of 20mph instead of the current 50mph average on I-70, resulting in less than two additional minutes in drive time.