Poplar Street Bridge lane closures add to travel headaches around I-55/64 this weekend
Commuting this weekend around the Poplar Street Bridge will be difficult.
The Missouri Department of Transportation and the Illinois Department of Transportation plan to close the three of the five eastbound lanes of the bridge this weekend to carry out repairs needed after a recent trailer crash on the Illinois side.
Joel Cumby, a construction engineer for IDOT said the work is necessary because the crash cushion where the road splits was destroyed in the fatal crash last week.
“It’s critical we get that (safety feature) fixed with a permanent repair,” Cumby said.
Work is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Friday and be completed by 3 p.m. Monday, MoDOT said in a news release.
This lane closure is coupled with a westbound closure of I-55/64 so workers could put into place beams for the new Martin Luther King Bridge approach project. Westbound I-55/64 is set to be closed from Friday evening to Monday morning at the I-55/I-64/I-70 interchange, starting at 7 p.m. Friday.
Cumby said closing lanes helps the work get done more quickly and is less confusing for motorists.
“It’s safer not only for motorists, but for workers,” Cumby said. “We can get in and out and it saves taxpayers dollars.”
MoDOT and IDOT encouraged people to use public transportation or the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, Jefferson Barracks Bridge, Chain of Rocks Bridge or McKinley Bridge as alternate routes.
