September 4, 2015
Contact: Colene McEntee, Public Affairs Coordinator, 636-949-1864, cmcentee@sccmo.org
St. Charles County, Missouri – The public is invited to learn more about the Fifth Street Interchange Project at an open house on Thursday, Sept. 10, from 4-6 p.m. at the St. Charles County Administration Building, 201 N. Second Street, St. Charles. The project is a cooperative effort funded by St. Charles County, City of St. Charles, Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration to improve traffic flow and stimulate economic development. Open house attendees will be able to view large scale maps of the project plan and John Greifzu, director of transportation for St. Charles County; Kevin Corwin, city engineer for the City of St. Charles; and Jim Wright, St. Charles area engineer for MoDOT will be in attendance to answer questions. For more information about the open house, please call the St. Charles County Transportation Department at 636-949-3074.
This project is separate from the City of St. Charles current Fifth Street reconstruction and includes the following improvements:
• Converting the existing partial cloverleaf configuration at Fifth Street to a Diverging Diamond Interchange.
• Constructing a new one-way outer road for westbound traffic between Fifth Street and Fairgrounds Road.
• Converting Veterans Memorial Parkway to one-way eastbound traffic between Fairgrounds Road and Fifth Street.
• Replacing the traffic signal at Fairgrounds Road and Veterans Memorial Parkway with a roundabout.
• Constructing new slip ramps on and off I-70 between Fifth Street and First Capitol Drive along Veterans Memorial Parkway and the new northern one-way outer road to provide access to I-70 and nearby businesses.
• Constructing a fourth lane on westbound I-70 under the Route 94/First Capitol Drive interchange to provide additional capacity on westbound I-70 and improve the weaving condition between the Fifth Street on-ramp and Route 94/First Capitol Drive off-ramp.
• Constructing a fourth lane on eastbound I-70 under the Route 94/First Capitol Drive interchange to provide additional capacity on eastbound I-70 and improve the weaving condition between the Route 94/First Capitol Drive on-ramp and Fifth Street off-ramp.
• Constructing sidewalks along Fifth Street, Veterans Memorial Parkway, and Fairgrounds Road to connect with existing facilities and destinations, as well as bike lanes at the Fairgrounds Road Bridge.
MoDOT will manage construction on this $18 million project, which will start in spring 2016. The new interchange and outer roads will be open to traffic by Thanksgiving 2016; however, work will continue into spring and summer 2017 on striping, signage, planting, and other enhancements.
For more information about the Fifth Street Interchange Project, please visit the I-70 Traffic Flow Improvements Plan page at http://www.sccmo.org/1488/I-70-Traffic-Flow-Improvement-Plan.
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