By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, Mo. – The big I-64 reconstruction project in St. Louis City and County is about to yield its first new onramp.
The new ramp from westbound I-64 to northbound I-170 will open on Monday. It will initially have one lane, but MO-DOT spokeswoman Linda Wilson says that will change next year when all of 64 closes west of that interchange.
"When you get to that ramp to northbound 170, it will be re-striped for two lanes so that the westbound 40 traffic will simply turn and go northbound 170," she said Wednesday. In other words, westbound traffic will have no choice but to go north on I-170, come January.
Another ramp - from southbound 170 to eastbound 64 - should open in the next few weeks, as well. These two ramps are needed before crews can close I-64 west of the interchange, added Wilson. The rest of the 64/170 interchange will be finished over the next two years, when various parts of the highway are closed.
TAMM AVENUE Also this weekend, the Tamm Avenue bridge near the zoo will reopen. It was the first bridge to be torn down as part of the half-billion dollar project.
Wilson says the opening will include a party, of sorts, to incorporate the highway's neighbors in Forest Park. For example, an animal from the zoo will be brought out as part of the festivities.