HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION REPORT For more information on road construction call 1-888-ASK MODOT. "If it's happening in St. Louis, it's on Saint Louis Front Page." St. Louis News Community Info St. Louis Job News St. Louis CitySide Business News St. Charles News Southwest, IL News Art Gallery News Hotel News Restaurant News Style St. Louis Not Just For Kids   Downtown Map America's Center Busch Stadium Gateway Arch Scottrade Center Laclede's Landing Old Courthouse Union Station   Metropolitan Map Casinos Central West End Clayton, MO Grand Center Grant's Farm Forest Park Kimmswick, MO MO Botanical Garden Soulard St. Charles, MO West Port Plaza Transportation Lambert Airport How To Reach Us: St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com

UPDATE: At the beginning of rush hour traffic Wednesday afternoon, MoDOT workers unveiled the first of 300 new attractions signage, at I-64 at the Chestnut Exit, which are designed to help visitors and residents find their way throughout the St. Louis region. CVC President Kathleen "Kitty" Ratcliffe described the new wayfinding signage program during a press conference held at Turtle Park, located across from the St. Louis Zoo. St. Louis Unveils New Regional Signage to Help Tourists by Betty Moore, SLFP.com ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), June 23, 2010 - St. Louis has often been recognized for its beautiful attractions and neighborhoods. However, when it came to locating these regional amenities, residents and visitors often ended up frustrated and at a loss finding their way to the hidden 'jewels.' Officials with St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (CVC) took their concerns to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). The result was a partnership with Grand Center, Laclede's Landing, Pinnacle Entertainment, City of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Forest Park Forever to develop a new comprehensive signage program to help visitors navigate to their destinations throughout the region. The new "Welcome to St. Louis" signage program was unveiled today during a press conference at Turtle Park, located across from the St. Louis Zoo. As rush hour traffic roared by on I-64, CVC President Kathleen "Kitty" Ratcliffe described how the program was going to help improve visitors' experience. "We have created a wayfinding program to give visitors easily recognizable signs to help them explore St. Louis," stated Ratcliffe. "The new signs with eye-catching red accents, reflect St. Louis' French heritage, but are contemporary in design." Ratcliffe said that the highway signs are all funded by MoDOT. The street level and pedestrian signs are being funded by more than 50 neighborhoods, organizations and institutions named on the signs. "I realized that when we began the design/build I-64 project two and a half years ago, we were going to be taking down the majority of attraction signage. It was a unique opportunity to correct the problem of what not to do with signage," said MoDOT District Engineer Ed Hassinger. "The new program will simplify the signs on the highways, eliminating the clutter of too many signs on the highway and improving the ease for motorists to find area attractions." It's very difficult to find your way around St. Louis," stated St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay. "Most people come in by car and are unfamiliar with the wonderful place we have. We've never had an organized wayfinding plan to find the attractions and our hidden gems. Yes, you can see the Arch and downtown. Everybody knows where Busch Stadium and the Dome are, but there are a lot places like City Museum, Missouri Botanical Garden, Soulard and Central West End that are harder to find." The Mayor noted that the program will include new "Attractions Corridors" at Kingshighway Boulevard, Broadway, and Grand Avenue to help visitors and residents navigate to popular attractions and neighborhoods. "When we work together as a community, we can really make things happen," St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley commented enthusiastically. "These signs are not only for visitors but for people who actually live right here in the St. Louis Metropolitan area." MoDOT will begin installing the highway signs this week, with the balance of the 300 signs being installed by the end of 2010 throughout St. Louis City and St. Louis County. St. Louis Avenue Bridge to Be Demolished ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), June 19, 2010 - The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and its contractor Fred Weber, Inc., has scheduled a June 25-28 weekend closure of Interstate 70 in St. Louis City to demolish the St. Louis Avenue bridge. MoDOT currently plans to close all lanes of I-70, in both directions, at St. Louis Avenue at 8 p.m. Friday, June 25. The interstate will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, June 28. The work is being done in conjunction with constructing the New Mississippi River Bridge to relocate I-70 across the Mississippi River. The department will close St. Louis Avenue at the bridge on June 24. Crews will also close the I-70 reversible lanes on June 23 for two months to construct the middle portion of the St. Louis Avenue bridge over the interstate. The detour for eastbound I-70 will be up and over the St. Louis Avenue exit ramps (Exit 248C). Drivers on westbound I-70 will take the Madison Street exit ramp (Exit 249A), turn right onto N. Market Street, turn left on N. 9th Street and re-enter the interstate after Salisbury Street. Although the detour for this closure is not as extensive as the one to remove the Cass Avenue and Madison Street bridges earlier this year, Mississippi River Bridge officials still encourage avoiding the location during the closure, if possible. "We still average about 70,000 vehicles through this area daily. If people don't use alternate routes to travel to downtown, the detour for the I-70 work, especially westbound I-70, could take a long time," said Gregory Horn, P.E., project director for the Mississippi River Bridge project. "If possible, people can use I-64 and I-170 to get around the closure downtown." Archived News: Mississippi River Bridge Projected as Bridge to the Future of the Region Broadway Bridge Over Interstate 70 Reopens MoDOT Ramps Up Bridge Work Throughout Area Removal of Madison Avenue Overpass Begins Process for Construction of New Mississippi River Bridge Removal of Cass Avenue Overpass Begins Process for Construction of New Mississippi River Bridge Missouri Highway Fatalities Lowest Since 1950 Can St. Louis Become the Bridge to Somewhere? Increases in Rest Areas and Truck Parking Keeps Drivers Safe Snow Brings Out Road Crews on Holiday Traffic Congestion Increases As Motorists Navigate New I-64 Interchanges New I-64 Reconstruction Is a 'Winner' for Motorists Hanley Road Bridge Reopens to Traffic One Month Early MoDOT using Twitter for Traffic Updates in St. Louis, Kansas City and along I-70 New Entrance to Forest Park Opens for Summer Season MoDOT Reveals Top 10 Work Zones To Look Out For Hanley Road Overpass at I-64 Taking Shape New State Transportation Program Presents Uncertain Future Railroad Side Track to Add Capacity for Amtrack Trains Missouri Has First-In-Nation Economic Recovery Project Grand Party Celebrated Opening of West Half of I-64 Reconstruction of Interstate 64 Is Ahead of Schedule YouTube Video Shows How Dedicated Truck Lanes Could Work Drivers Reminded Not to Barrel Through Work Zones Missouri, Illinois Reach Agreement on New $640 Million Mississippi River Bridge MoDOT To Launch Origin/Destination Web Tool The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2010 Moore Design Group.

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