VELDA CITY • Jackie Shelby has lived in this north St. Louis County town for more than four decades and has driven Lucas & Hunt Road countless times.
So you will pardon her confusion about why the pristine new layer of pavement from West Florissant Avenue to Woodrow Avenue gives way to a driving surface she described as a “total trainwreck” the rest of the way to St. Charles Rock Road.
“They just stopped right there,” she said.
Shelby is fully aware that maintaining Lucas & Hunt — or state Highway U — is a responsibility shared by the Missouri Department of Transportation and St. Louis County. The trouble in her mind was that the two entities weren’t exactly on the same page during the latest round of resurfacing work that wrapped up over the summer. Normally, the work is all done at once.
The Ride Guy found the abrupt transition of mismatched pavement was just as Shelby described it in our phone conversation.
“We get a high volume of traffic there,” Shelby said. “Major truck lines come through there to get to Interstate 70. It is a main thoroughfare.”
Typically, St. Louis County tries to coordinate its paving work with MoDOT in cases like these, officials told the Ride Guy last week. But that kind of coordination was not on the table this time around, because funds were scarce.
St. Louis County will resurface and repair sections of Lucas & Hunt from St. Charles Rock Road to Woodrow and from West Florissant to the intersection with Huiskamp and Hord avenues starting in late 2017, said David Wrone, spokesman for the St. Louis County Department of Highways and Traffic. The work should be completed sometime in 2018.
The county, Wrone said, also will seek money to finish the remaining section of Lucas & Hunt to Halls Ferry Road.
Repaving the entirety of Lucas & Hunt won’t come soon enough for motorists such as Shelby.
HANLEY DELAYS
St. Louis County traffic officials are warning of slowdowns on stretches of Hanley Road that will be torn up over the next five to seven months to replace a water main.
Work on the Missouri American Water Co. pipeline between Clayton Road and Forsyth Boulevard begins this week. The new water main will replace a deteriorated, 100-year-old pipe that was prone to breaks.
“This project will eliminate that chronic problem,” said David Wrone, the county traffic spokesman.
But not without a short-term price, Wrone added. People who drive the stretch of Hanley should expect traffic to be squeezed into one lane in each direction at times.
The contractor will be mindful of the heaviest traffic flows when closing lanes, he added. All five lanes are supposed to reopen to traffic each weekday after 6 p.m.
The stretch of Hanley carries more than 26,000 vehicles during an average weekday. Construction will begin at Forsyth and work its way south to Clayton Road.
BIKE SHARING CONSIDERED
St. Louisans may someday be able to pedal through certain parts of the city as part of a bike-share program being weighed by the Great Rivers Greenway and other agencies.
Bike sharing allows participants to rent a bicycle for short point-to-point trips within an established network of stations, or kiosks. Advocates describe it as a cost-effective option for trips that are too far to walk but not long enough to warrant use of a car.
Ride originally reported on this concept in August 2013 after the bike share networks began to pop up in such cities as Boston, Minneapolis, Kansas City, New York and Fort Worth, Texas. Planners said earlier this year that such a network could cost $3.5 million to get off the ground in St. Louis.
A final open house on the issue is scheduled for Nov. 13 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Schlafly Branch Library, 225 North Euclid Avenue in St. Louis.
As part of the Great Rivers Greenway study, the agency has gathered comments from more than 1,200 people. During this latest round, planners will ask for feedback on possible service areas, fees and likely use.
For more information, go to stlbikeshare.org.
So you will pardon her confusion about why the pristine new layer of pavement from West Florissant Avenue to Woodrow Avenue gives way to a driving surface she described as a “total trainwreck” the rest of the way to St. Charles Rock Road.
“They just stopped right there,” she said.
Shelby is fully aware that maintaining Lucas & Hunt — or state Highway U — is a responsibility shared by the Missouri Department of Transportation and St. Louis County. The trouble in her mind was that the two entities weren’t exactly on the same page during the latest round of resurfacing work that wrapped up over the summer. Normally, the work is all done at once.
The Ride Guy found the abrupt transition of mismatched pavement was just as Shelby described it in our phone conversation.
“We get a high volume of traffic there,” Shelby said. “Major truck lines come through there to get to Interstate 70. It is a main thoroughfare.”
Typically, St. Louis County tries to coordinate its paving work with MoDOT in cases like these, officials told the Ride Guy last week. But that kind of coordination was not on the table this time around, because funds were scarce.
St. Louis County will resurface and repair sections of Lucas & Hunt from St. Charles Rock Road to Woodrow and from West Florissant to the intersection with Huiskamp and Hord avenues starting in late 2017, said David Wrone, spokesman for the St. Louis County Department of Highways and Traffic. The work should be completed sometime in 2018.
The county, Wrone said, also will seek money to finish the remaining section of Lucas & Hunt to Halls Ferry Road.
Repaving the entirety of Lucas & Hunt won’t come soon enough for motorists such as Shelby.
HANLEY DELAYS
St. Louis County traffic officials are warning of slowdowns on stretches of Hanley Road that will be torn up over the next five to seven months to replace a water main.
Work on the Missouri American Water Co. pipeline between Clayton Road and Forsyth Boulevard begins this week. The new water main will replace a deteriorated, 100-year-old pipe that was prone to breaks.
“This project will eliminate that chronic problem,” said David Wrone, the county traffic spokesman.
But not without a short-term price, Wrone added. People who drive the stretch of Hanley should expect traffic to be squeezed into one lane in each direction at times.
The contractor will be mindful of the heaviest traffic flows when closing lanes, he added. All five lanes are supposed to reopen to traffic each weekday after 6 p.m.
The stretch of Hanley carries more than 26,000 vehicles during an average weekday. Construction will begin at Forsyth and work its way south to Clayton Road.
BIKE SHARING CONSIDERED
St. Louisans may someday be able to pedal through certain parts of the city as part of a bike-share program being weighed by the Great Rivers Greenway and other agencies.
Bike sharing allows participants to rent a bicycle for short point-to-point trips within an established network of stations, or kiosks. Advocates describe it as a cost-effective option for trips that are too far to walk but not long enough to warrant use of a car.
Ride originally reported on this concept in August 2013 after the bike share networks began to pop up in such cities as Boston, Minneapolis, Kansas City, New York and Fort Worth, Texas. Planners said earlier this year that such a network could cost $3.5 million to get off the ground in St. Louis.
A final open house on the issue is scheduled for Nov. 13 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Schlafly Branch Library, 225 North Euclid Avenue in St. Louis.
As part of the Great Rivers Greenway study, the agency has gathered comments from more than 1,200 people. During this latest round, planners will ask for feedback on possible service areas, fees and likely use.
For more information, go to stlbikeshare.org.
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