ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Department of Transportation is gearing up for an $80 million project to improve Interstate 44 from St. Louis city to the county.
More than two dozen bridges and overpasses either need to be rehabilitated or replaced altogether and engineers want to hear from you.
State officials say many bridges along I-44 between Nebraska Avenue in St. Louis and Fox Creek, west of Six Flags, in St. Louis County, are old and outdated and need to be overhauled.
Before getting to work, MoDOT wants you to sound off on the best way forward.
Interstates get us from Point A to Point B when we need to get to our destination. Some of the bridges in the St. Louis area have been around half a century, and MoDOT said it's time to give them an upgrade.
"I saw the sign that they were going to do some changes and wanted to see what they were planning to do and give my two cents if I had it," said Jim Zavist of Crestwood.
He came out to an open house at St. Louis Community College Tuesday to learn about the state's plan to either rehabilitate or replace bridges from St. Louis to Eureka.
"Some of the issues at Laclede Station and I-44... What are the options there to improve traffic flow?" he asked. "It backs up because of the traffic light. If you put in a traffic circle, it might make it better."
Engineers said no feedback is too small.
"This isn't a giant intersection. The scope is not to rebuild. We're building bridges but we're not completely changing intersections or designs. That's out the means of this project but maybe there are some small items we can tack on to some of the work we're doing," said Ryan Pearcy with MoDOT.
He said knowing your driving habits will help guide planners as they get to work.
"How do they get around here? How do they live? What are some problems they might see?" he said. "This is just us coming out getting a bunch of additional information from people that live in these communities."
"It's important. You don't want to see anything fall down. We've seen bridges fall down in the past...It's good that they're listening. The question is are they hearing?" Zavist added.
Construction isn't expected to get underway for a couple more years but the feedback deadline is Nov. 1. There will be another public open house Thursday at the Missouri Foundation for Health at 4254 Vista Avenue in St. Louis. The public can stop in anytime between 4-6 p.m.
There is an online survey in case you can't make it out in person.
You can learn more about the project here.