respublica

Yesterday I drove over to Collinsville for the first time since IDOT closed two lanes on the east end of the Poplar. I've driven since they've started, but it's always been on a Sunday or Saturday when no work was being done. The traffic was jammed up from the middle of the bridge to the east end of downtown East St. Louis. There were only two open lanes and they were on the left side of the bridge so I got into the left most lane along the separation wall.  The lane to my right was filled with big semi's.

This jam eventually had to move into just one lane (the left) where the actual work was being done at the east end of ESTL. I was so glad I chose the left lane on the bridge so I didn't have to deal with all the big trucks trying to move over at the end.

However, I have to say, for whatever reason the traffic moved through that area. Not fast, it was a slow crawl but it was moving. IDOT has a way of doing highway work so much better than MoDOT. The difference between how the two do things is very obvious.

Boxing Day

Not a mattress or ladder today, but this was unexpected enough to mention. A big Amazon box fell on to route 364 and Highway K.

Also, St. Louis is weird in its name some highways with just a letter.

Tally update

There has been a rash of mattresses hitting our highways in the past week. Must be moving season.

Mattresses 61

Ladders 57

Also a wheelbarrow last week on 255 near Horseshoe Lake Road, but this is just an add on, not part of any tally.

Now its IDOT closing the bridge

After two years of Poplar Street Bridge lane closures and backups, MoDOT finally completed the work of adding a new lane this past December. There are still backups going west due to whatever is going on in lanes heading toward 44 and 70 but all in all it was finally possible to get across the bridge without a lot of waiting.

Now we learn that IDOT is going to shut down two eastbound lanes of the bridge for at least a month in order to do "critical repairs". You just knew this was going to happen, it's always something on that bridge. But what are the 'critical repairs' exactly? It's just so frustrating. It's a constant thing.

A couple updates

There have been a number of mattresses and ladders which fell on St. Louis highways since I last posted. The tally now is:

Mattresses 58

Ladders 57

Crashes

Every morning there are crashes on St. Louis highways and I've driven most of them frequently enough that I can picture how these accidents occurred. Living on this side of the river for almost 15 years I've been on 64/40, 44, 170, 270 more times than I can count and the most common feature of these roads is the short space between exits and entrances, not to mention lack of a shoulder in many spots.

Adding to the mix are any number of sudden "exit only" lanes which cause crashes when a car does not want to exit but has no where to go because of heavy traffic. Trying to move over at the last minute is an accident waiting to happen. On 170 southbound if you want to get off at the Forest Park expressway, you find yourself in a very narrow space in which to do this. You have to slow down to make that curving small ramp which causes traffic behind you to slam on their brakes.

One of the nastiest places right now is the entrance to eastbound 64/40 from Hanley. The traffic is heavy at all times of day and when you get on the interstate at that point, you are in a lane that very quickly is exit only at Big Bend. It's a trick to get over one lane. MoDOT is not helping with there orange cones blocking part of that entrance with orange cones.

This morning there was a crash on westbound 64/40 between Boyle and Kingshighway. Huge traffic WB all day and this is a good example of entrances too close together. Drivers getting onto 64 from Boyle have to squeeze into cars in the right lane wanting to get off at Kingshighway. Then there is the huge amount of cars exiting onto 64 from Kingshighway and shortly Hampton with little room to slip in. Waiting just beyond that is the exit only right lane to Clayton/Skinker. So many drivers seem not to realize they cannot be in the right lane after Hampton. It's a crap shoot each day.

270 is just a  total nightmare always with its various exits and entrances along with access to other major interstates.

Don't get me started on 170 with its very short merging lengths. Getting onto northbound from almost any exit gives you very little space to get into a driving lane before the merging lane ends.

You really don't see as much mention of crashes on the Illinois side except for the occasional bridge area or overturned tracker trailer. Illinois has wide shoulders and ample room between various exits.

Here us a Rodger Brand KMOX traffic guy's photo of a crash today on eastbound 64/40 near Kingshighway at Tower Grove. You can see the exit only sign just ahead.

Advice from the state police

This information was put out by the Illinois State Police:

"If you’re traveling on the roadway and you see a large object in the lane that may cause a crash, you can call 911 to report it. For instance, a pallet in the middle of the lane of the roadway.

Or a hot tub.
Or a refrigerator.
Or a ladder.
Or a couch.
Or a patio furniture set.

If it is a large object that can cause a huge crash, call 911. If it’s a dead squirrel, let it be and don’t call it in....a dead squirrel is not an emergency."

I was glad to see this even with the bit about a squirrel because it will hopefully have drives alert to things that could turn up in their driving lane. Also, the comments to this on Facebook were interesting and scary at the same time, making me not want to drive at all. Here are some of the things those commenting came across while driving the interstates.

A full size wooden swing set standing upright in the middle of the expressway

Tires...of course

A five inch wide full length fire hose in the left lane

A window air conditioner

An open suitcase with its stuff flying all over

Wood pallets

A dishwasher

A hot tub

A recliner

And on and on including endless mattresses and ladders.

Be wary out there everyone.

Same old same old beginning of the work week

Memorial Day may have made this work week which began on a Tuesday, but that didn't stop the ladders from falling. Two went down on local St. Louis roads, one on 70 at Goodfellow and a second over in Illinois on 55/70.

Mattresses 56

Ladders 53

Ladders are catching up big time, must be because of all the construction projects going on these days.

End of the week count

We end the week like we began, mattresses and ladders on the highways

Mattresses 55

Ladders 51

Two road things this morning

There is a shovel in one of the lanes of 255 near Collinsville road and another ladder hit the highway on 270. The normal tallies take into account only mattresses and ladders since they are the most common items to fall. But it's often interesting to hear about other things which could be just as detrimental to your vehicle if you run into them.

Mattresses 54

Ladders 49