St. Louis - Easy To Get Around In (Houston, Atlanta: house, travel)

[Bobster]

I moved from Oakville to north of Florissant...which is to say from one side of the planet to the other and outside of the rush hours, it would take me 30 - 40 minutes to make the trip from the one house to the other. My girlfriend who had to commute from her job at 270 and McDonald to Oakville had to sit in her car for as long as 1.5 hours, but generally got home in less than an hour.....which explained why we moved north! ;-)

[WestCoDude]

Originally Posted by Bobster

Thanks for the comments...when they get 40/64 back up and running, it's going to be all the better! I do wish that they had included at least a right of way for future light rail expansion though!

I live right along highway 40 in west county. And I was freaking out about my commute post-shut down. But other than a few detours it hasn't really been a big deal at all.

That said....it still does suck not having highway 40 to get into the city and I think it's insane that a state would shut down a major artery for TWO YEARS in the middle of a major US city.

[WalnutPark829]

Originally Posted by Bobster

I moved from Oakville to north of Florissant...which is to say from one side of the planet to the other and outside of the rush hours, it would take me 30 - 40 minutes to make the trip from the one house to the other. My girlfriend who had to commute from her job at 270 and McDonald to Oakville had to sit in her car for as long as 1.5 hours, but generally got home in less than an hour.....which explained why we moved north! ;-)

do you live by the river? up by Jamestown? I love that area, its still pretty rural with many large lots. theres some houses up there that people dont even know about worth a million or more.

that area is really exploding though with pretty bland mcmansions. i was very dissapointed when the old 70+ acre Behlman farm and mansion was torn down for 400+ boring vinyl houses. and then a few years ago they tore down an apple orchard to build a bunch of houses, i wish it would stop. It seems Lindbergh just keeps growing I liked when 10 years ago after you passed cross keys it was mostly wooded all the way to jamestown.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by WestCoDude

That said....it still does suck not having highway 40 to get into the city and I think it's insane that a state would shut down a major artery for TWO YEARS in the middle of a major US city.

Honestly I'd rather it be closed for two years than under constant construction for the better part of a decade! Even you admit it's been a fairly minor inconvenience, so I'd personally rather just have it be done with all the quicker!

Then again, I'm not there, so it's not fair of me to tell you it's not that bad, but we have a highway under construction here and it probably will be until my as yet nonexistent child leaves for college haha!

[MoNative34]

Originally Posted by WestCoDude

I live right along highway 40 in west county. And I was freaking out about my commute post-shut down. But other than a few detours it hasn't really been a big deal at all.

That said....it still does suck not having highway 40 to get into the city and I think it's insane that a state would shut down a major artery for TWO YEARS in the middle of a major US city.

It's an outdated highway. Those old, concrete overpass bridges were crumbling and have fairly low clearance.

When 40 was redone between 270 and Clarkson, it improved the traffic flow drastically.

I'm starting to feel old remembering when 270 had a grass median and 2-3 lanes each way and a standard cloverleaf interchange at 40.

[chitownwarrior]

so i was doing some math, and realize that around its hey day, st. louis was 856,000 people in 1950, and the city limits were 66 square miles...

that's almost 13,000/square mile!!!! woow.

And now its +5000/square mile which is still in the top for most dense cities...

[aragx6]

That is pretty amazing!

[la_missourienne]

My commute is longer than the average--35-40mn (on good days), but I know this is nothing compared to other big cities. I actually think traffic flow is better here than in Springfield (MO)! The only time I get annoyed is when it rains for the way home; commute home suddenly becomes a bit too long (1 1/2 to 2 hours).
One other thing I do want to add is that STL rush hour drivers, for the most part, are more courteous than I have ever experienced elsewhere. I am still incredibly thankful that on the day my car decided to simply stop working (alternator quit) in the middle of rush hour on I-270S (in a middle lane, of course), no one honked at me (wow!) and even more impressive was that a complete stranger stopped in front of me, and stopped traffic, to help me get my vehicle off the road before motorist assist had the chance to arrive!

[Bobster]

To answer Walnutparks question, yeah, I'm on Robbins Mill, just off of Sinks road. We have over an acre and in the summer when the trees are in bloom, we can barely see our neighbors...pretty cool! It sucks getting to the highway, but it's nice being as secluded as we are.

I do have another question regarding this posting....does anybody know if they even CONSIDERED putting in a right of way for light rail expansion when they designed the new hwy 40/64?

[northbayeric]

Originally Posted by MoNative34

It's an outdated highway. Those old, concrete overpass bridges were crumbling and have fairly low clearance.

When 40 was redone between 270 and Clarkson, it improved the traffic flow drastically.

I'm starting to feel old remembering when 270 had a grass median and 2-3 lanes each way and a standard cloverleaf interchange at 40.

Boy, me too! It never had a grass median up in Florissant, but when you got past I-70 and headed toward Dorsett Rd. and Page Ave., it had 3 lanes each way and a grass median.

I can remember when they were building I-170 (the Innerbelt) and you had to get in the LEFT lane on westbound 270 to go south on 170 once they finished it. Getting off on 170 to go east on 270 would put you in the far left lane too, and then my dad would try to shoot across three or four lanes to get off on Florissant Rd. to get back home. Yikes!! Now it is finally the way it should be. We were already out here in California when the monster accident occured--someone trying to cross a bunch of traffic lanes either trying to get on 170 or having just gotten off 170.

Back to Highway 40--it's too critical a highway to not be fully brought up to interstate standards. Good for MoDOT on this one. This new stretch will need to get through most of the 21st century, and it needs to be safe for all vehicles, including big rigs. Get 'er done.