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UPDATE: Kingshighway Viaduct Now Closed for Reconstruction
Detours in Place
This article is 9 years old. It was published on July 7, 2015.
Update 7/7/2015
Construction crews have closed the Kingshighway bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks between Southwest/Vandeventer and Shaw Boulevard in order to begin reconstructing the 75-year-old bridge.
Ahead of the closure, contractor Kozeny-Wagner, Inc. restriped Shaw to provide an extra travel lane, installed signage, and initiated new signal timing to help ease traffic congestion.
Over the next two years, the bridge, which carried more than 40,000 vehicles every day, will be demolished and rebuilt. The total cost of the project is $21 million in design, land acquisition, and construction, which is funded by the Federal Highway Administration and Union Pacific Railroad. The new bridge will be 90 feet wide instead of the current 66 feet, allowing for three wider lanes of traffic in each direction and wider sidewalks, creating a safer roadway for drivers and pedestrians.
Cyclists should continue to use Macklind and Tower Grove Avenues. Drivers should look for detour signs for the following routes:
- Southbound Kingshighway to use eastbound Shaw to Vandeventer
- Northbound Kingshighway to use Vandeventer to westbound McRee
To ease traffic congestion as much as possible during the construction:
- Traffic signal timing has been adjusted;
- Additional lanes have been added to Vandeventer;
- Additional turn lanes have been added to the Vandeventer/McRee and Vandeventer/Shaw intersections; and
- Shaw will remain open at all times.
Further improvements will be made to the adjoining streets. Shaw, east of Kingshighway, will move farther south than its present location, eliminating the current zigzag across Kingshighway. And, a dedicated left turn lane also will be provided from southbound Kingshighway to allow left turns onto eastbound Shaw, where previously no left turns had been allowed.
Kozeny-Wagner, Inc. must perform work around Union Pacific Railroad's schedule so as not to disrupt major cargo transportation throughout the region. The bridge will be removed in small sections and hauled away from the project area over the coming weeks. Doing so also will allow continued access to businesses and neighborhoods.
Images of the redesigned intersection and detours can be found on theCity's website.
6/22/2015
To prepare for the upcoming Kinghighway Viaduct reconstruction, Shaw Blvd. will close between Kingshighway and Vandeventer for 10 days beginning Tuesday, June 23, 2015, following the morning rush hour.
Crews will lay a new sewer line for future construction, disconnect old utility lines, and demolish a City-owned property at 4640 Shaw Blvd, which is needed to realign Shaw from its current zigzag pattern.
Work will be completed in the stretch of roadway from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks to the north-south alley east of Kingshighway. O'Connell's Restaurant and the Missouri Botanical Garden facility at Kingshighway and Shaw will remain open. Detour signs will be posted on Vandeventer Avenue and McRee Avenue to route traffic around the work.
These tasks must be completed before the Viaduct is scheduled to close on Monday, July 6, 2015, following the holiday weekend and Fair Saint Louis in Forest Park.
The 75-year-old bridge, which carries more than 40,000 vehicles every day, will be demolished and reconstructed by Kozeny-Wagner, Inc. over a two-year period. The total cost of the project is $21 million in design, land acquisition, and construction, which is funded by the Federal Highway Administration and Union Pacific Railroad. The new bridge will be 90 feet wide instead of the current 66 feet, allowing for three wider lanes of traffic in each direction and wider sidewalks, creating a safer roadway for drivers and pedestrians.
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Department:
Office of the Mayor
Department of Streets
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Topic:
Construction, Maintenance, and Improvements
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