MLM Counties News. Notices. Need-to-know Information.
Mark Lang of St. Charles listens to the discussion about the upcoming Blanchette Bridge project at the St. Charles Convention Center. KAREN ELSHOUT/photo
Business leaders appear to be taking the upcoming closure of Blanchette Bridge’s westbound span in stride. That includes Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles, which may have to curtail its hours because of demolition work on the bridge.
The Blanchette Bridge over the Missouri River carries more traffic than any bridge in the metro area, averaging more than 160,000 vehicles daily, according to MoDOT. That is more than the combined total of two nearby bridges — the Discovery Bridge (which carries Highway 370 traffic) and the Veterans Memorial Bridge (which carries Highway 364 traffic).
Approximately 100 people, many of whom represented businesses, attended a briefing Friday to get updated information about the project. Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Transportation and the city, the briefing took place the St. Charles Convention Center.
Tom Evers Jr., MoDOT’s area engineer, said there could be times when demolition work on the span would require nearby buildings, including Ameristar’s casino complex, to be vacated as a safety precaution. However, “we don’t know at this time” whether that will be necessary, he added.
“We’re in a wait-and-see approach,” Ameristar spokesman Reggie Dotson said about possible vacation of the complex. “Right now it’s just speculation.”
When demolition of parts of the westbound span occurs, the eastbound span will be completely shut down as a safety precaution, Evers said. That closure should not last for long, he added.
Dotson said the casino operator will do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of its patrons and employees. The company employs about 1,000 people locally.
The bridge project also could impact the Harrah’s casino in Maryland Heights, although perhaps not as much as Ameristar’s operation. Attempts to reach casino officials were unsuccessful.
Another large employer that doesn’t seem overly concerned is SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles. More than 70 percent of the health center’s employees now live in St. Charles, said Mary Enger, a spokeswoman for the hospital. As of now, the healthcare provider doesn’t plan any major changes, such as changing employees’ hours, once the closure takes place, she said.
SSM Health Care, which operates seven hospitals and a number of smaller medical facilities in the area, may do more teleconferencing while the bridge repairs take place, Enger added. SSM employs more than 11,000 in the region.
Plans call for the five-lane westbound span of the bridge, which carries Interstate 70 traffic into St. Charles, to close in November. MoDOT says the project will last two years, but the work on the span—which will most impact traffic—is expected to take about one year. During those 12 months the five-lane eastbound span will be reconfigured so that it will carry three lanes of traffic in each direction.
The project will begin at the start of the holiday shopping season. This worries some small retailers in St. Charles’ historical districts who have told officials that most of their business comes during this time.
Carol Felzien, a spokeswoman for the city, said the city will make available to businesses online maps that show alternative routes to the historical areas. The maps can be modified to show the location of a particular business.
Also, the city is looking at buying billboard advertising and road signage to help guide shoppers to St. Charles, she said.
While most of the $63 million project involves rehabilitating the westbound span, the entire work zone will run from Interstate 270 in the east to Highway 94 in the west. Walsh Construction Co. is the contractor. All of the I-70 entrance and exit ramps in St. Charles will remain open except for one. The northbound Fifth Street entrance ramp will close because there is no safe way to merge traffic into eastbound interstate from there, Evers said.
Motorists will get a little taste this summer of what they are in for when Walsh begins repair work to the I-70 bridges over the Earth City Expressway. MoDOT said that work will occur during off-peak hours and on weekends, but will be timed with the schedule at the Verizon Amphitheater in Maryland Heights.
