By Antonio D. French
Filed Tuesday, November 15 at 3:15 PM
The following rather long statement comes from Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay:
Many, if not all St. Louis area residents, will feel the effect of the upcoming highway construction project planned for Interstate 64-Highway 40. The important decision whether to close Highway 40 between I-270 and Kingshighway should not be left to MODOT and a design build team; we need input from all public and private stakeholders. Before we agree and concede to the resulting massive disruption and displacement that is sure to follow, I think it is important to consider all of the implications of this unprecedented choice, as well as other alternatives and possible solutions.
There are many important issues to consider when looking at a massive highway construction project such as rebuilding Highway 40. What I hope to do here is to raise some issues and ask some questions that other elected officials and constituents have brought to my attention concerning this undertaking. Hopefully, a full, active and inclusive discussion can lead to areawide consensus on the subject.
1. What is the real economic cost of closing down Highway 40? According to some rough calculations by members of my staff, if we triple the travel time of 150,000 daily travelers on Highway 40, the value of time spent in travel delay will be more than $8 billion lost over a two-year period. This presumes a volume of 150,000 travelers per day on the highway and a conservative value of the traveler’s time at $50 an hour. Transportation planners use the gross delay calculation to measure economic loss to the traveler. It does not begin to presume or calculate the secondary or other indirect economic losses to the business community.
There are many economic and quality of life issues to consider in any proposal to close Highway 40. On a personal level, residents who have pre-programmed a 1½ hour (45 minutes each direction) commute everyday, will have to adjust to spending 4 ½ hours (nearly 1/3 of their day) in travel. They face the new and unhappy challenge of compressing the rest of the day’s activities (children’s needs, shopping, cleaners, etc…) in an already tight and challenging schedule.
What is the effect on the business community? There are businesses and citizens directly impacted in St. Louis, Richmond Heights, Ladue, Clayton and Brentwood. Many trips along this corridor are linked trips with multiple destinations. What do these cities have to say jointly and individually? The overall impact in these communities and around the metropolitan area should be examined.
2. How are these highway projects completed in other cities around the United States? Do other cities close major interstate highways when they undergo repairs? My office surveyed 10 major metropolitan areas. None of them have closed a major interstate highway for construction. Should crews work 24 hours a day when possible to shorten construction time? Do we need to have two lanes in each direction open at all times? Should one lane in each direction be restricted to car pool and high occupancy vehicles? Should we make the firms that bid for this project come up with alternatives as part of the selection process, or will MODOT issue a request for proposal without these competitive considerations?
3. If traffic is redirected to local streets, how will the neighborhood residents get access to these thoroughfares for their daily local trips? Are we going to give MODOT total control for the right of way for these arterial roads passing traffic through residential communities? There are several municipalities that would have to synchronize their traffic signals to insure smooth movement through their city. How would these cities respond to local pressure to make conditions better for their residents at the expense of the overall traffic flow? If you redistribute traffic, what is the effect on parents who are late picking up their children from school or the babysitter everyday? Many foresee vast arterial traffic jams that will alter daily routine in various ways. What about school schedules? Increases in local traffic bring more accidents, increased air pollution, increased fuel costs and a myriad of other considerations that require input from more entities than just MODOT and the design build team.
4. There are some institutions that deserve special consideration in this discussion. Life and safety issues come to mind immediately. Emergency vehicles use this corridor continually for the Barnes-Jewish Hospital, SSM Hospital and St. John’s Hospital complexes. Twenty or 30 extra minutes could make the difference in many life and death ambulance trips in a two- or three-year period. Many other important medical, governmental and cultural facilities (Forest Park for instance) line the Highway 40 corridor and could be negatively impacted by a highway closure.
To paraphrase famous St. Louis native Yogi Berra, we don’t want people to say, “No one goes to the central part of the St. Louis area anymore. It’s always too crowded.”
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