Construction has begun as the Missouri Department of Transportation, in partnership with Washington University Medical Center and BJC Healthcare, has teamed up with contractor Fred Weber Inc. to construct an interchange at Interstate 64 and Tower Grove Avenue which will improve traffic around Kingshighway and the medical campus.
The $17.9 million project, when completed, will enhance the area, meet current Federal interstate standards and will also improve access to Washington University’s campus, but will likely cause difficulties for drivers during construction.
The project will begin with the Taylor Avenue and Newstead bridges, which will close Monday, January 21, 2013 through November 2013 while crews rebuild the roadway and bridges. Over the next few weeks, MoDOT will be preparing the bridges for demolition and moving utilities. The demolition will take place the weekend of January 26-27th and will include closures on eastbound I-64 at Kingshighway through Boyle Avenue and westbound I-64 at Forest Park Avenue through Kingshighway.
During construction, a detour will be necessary for the 84 and 14 bus lines. Temporary bus stops on this detour will be at Clayton and Tower Grove, Clayton and Taylor, and Tower Grove and Chouteau.
You can find specific detour maps here:
The completed enhancement means changes for bicyclists as well. At this time, MoDot is urging bicyclists to use Taylor Avenue to cross the interstate, as it is currently the safest path. Both Taylor Avenue and Tower Grove Avenue will be striped as shared traffic lanes as they are both part of bicycle networks.
During construction, MoDOT will keep three lanes open on I-64 in both directions weekdays between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. At least one lane will remain open at all times. See January closure maps below.
Once the bridges at Taylor and Newstead are completed and open, Tower Grove and Boyle across I-64 will be closed while MoDot demolishes and rebuilds these bridges, likely in fall of 2013. During this phase, the westbound ramp at Boyle will be closed for three weeks with short-term closures at the Vandeventer ramps. See closures below.
| Roadway | Impact | Projected change |
| I-64 eastbound | All lanes open | Mid-January |
| I-64 westbound | All lanes open | Mid-January |
| Taylor over I-64 | All lanes open | Early January |
| Newstead over I-64 | All lanes open | Early January |
| Tower Grove over I-64 | All lanes open | November 2013 |
| Boyle over I-64 | All lanes open | November 2013 |
| Westbound I-64 ramp at Boyle | Open | November 2013 |
| Vandeventer entrance ramp at I-64 | Open | |
| Vandeventer exit ramp at I-64 | Open |
Other improvements that will be made to the area include, new bridges at Taylor, Newstead, Tower Grove, and Boyle Avenues above I-64, the addition of two new ramps at Tower Grove and Boyle to support existing ramps, re-striping of I-64, and a new roundabout south of Tower Grove and I-64.
Signals will be installed at the westbound entrance and exit ramps at Boyle as well as at the intersection of Boyle and Papin. Clayton Avenue will also be receiving new signals and signal realignments at Tower Grove and Boyle to coordinate interchange traffic.
New pavement will also be put down on I-64 between Kingshighway and Newstead while resurfacing will be done between Newstead and Sarah.
Please drive safely and pay attention while driving as lanes will shift and be reduced to 10 feet in the work zone throughout the project.
The project is scheduled to be completed by June 1, 2014.
We will continue to share construction updates as they become available. To receive updates in a timely manner from WUMCRC, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
More information and detailed displays on the project may be found here on MoDot’s website. You can request to join the e-mail list by emailing MoDot Community Relations Specialist, Andrew Gates, at andrew.gates@modot.mo.gov to get updates and news releases on the Tower Grove project.
