Work continues as crews construct the new westbound bridge over the Meramec River, as well as the new, higher, westbound pavement east and west of the new Interstate 44 bridge. Crews will continue to work on that new pavement, as weather permits, right up until the planned shift of the eastbound lanes to the new westbound bridge and lanes. At this point, we are still looking at moving eastbound traffic sometime before January 2020.
What that means for daily commuting traffic, though, is that the current left lane closure on eastbound I-44 will remain in place until we shift the eastbound traffic to the new lanes at the end of this year.
Once we shift the eastbound traffic to the new bridge, crews will spend the remaining winter months – from the shift until about March – removing the old eastbound bridge. The only long-term lane closure during the winter months should be the current westbound lane closure (one lane closed between roughly I-270 and Bowles). There may be off-peak lane closures for pavement work on the westbound side during this time, but most of it should be scheduled during the day (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.), overnight, or on weekends.