By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, Mo. – An ambitious plan to rebuild a busy, 12- mile stretch of I-64/Route 40 was on display yesterday at the St. Louis Science Center.
MO-DOT wants to rip up 12 miles of I-64 from Spoede to Sarah Road, just east of Kingshighway, and rebuild the road and exits for better traffic flow.
Spokeswoman Linda Wilson says even though construction couldn't begin until at least 2008, right now is the time for people to speak up with ideas. "We have to identify what this project could do to the existing environment," Wilson said. "And that's not just the natural environment, it's also the built environment - historic properties, historic districts."
The current proposal would mean removing more than 250 homes and apartments. Its projected cost ranges from $500-700 million dollars, depending on when funding becomes available.
Wilson says everyone agrees I-64 needs improvements but says there will be differences on how to fix the road. "The difficulty with this project is that in order for us to make any kind of improvements, we almost have to take some homes, some property because the houses are so close to the highway already."
The I-64 project will be the subject of this morning's St. Louis on the Air, here on 90.7, KWMU. That show starts at 11.