Blanchette Bridge Lane Closure Set for Sunday

Also: A bypass for drivers on South Main Street will be in use beginning on Monday.

Ongoing work on the Blanchette Bridge over the Missouri River will alter traffic this weekend and next week. Maintenance work will close a lane of the Blanchette Bridge on Saturday. From 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., crews will close the right lane westbound to perform some maintenance work. When the work is finished, crews will then close the right lane eastbound. The work is expected to be finished by noon.  Starting Monday, Dec. 17, drivers on South Main Street under the Blanchette Bridge will be detoured onto a bypass located adjacent to existing S. Main Street. Crew will be removing the old bridge deck directly over Main Street. Motorists are being advised to slow down as speeds will be reduced through the area. The bypass will be used off and …

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Hundreds Turn Out for Blanchette Bridge Blast

St. Charles County Area Engineer Tom Evers said blast was successful with only superficial damage to one of the piers.

Contractors for the Missouri Department of Transportation blasted the westbound span of the Blanchette Bridge Tuesday morning while a crowd of hundreds watched from the riverfront in St. Charles.  The steel in the top of the bridge was blasted while the piers will be rehabbed. St. Charles County Area Engineer Tom Evers said it appeared one center piers had superficial damage to it.  Crews have 24 hours to remove the section closest to St. Louis County from the river and 48 hours to remove the rest of the steel.  Crowds gathered on the riverfront near Bishop's Landing wondered what would happen to the birds during the blast.  "We set charges to scare the fish away before we do the real blast," Evers said. "We do environmental screenings of …

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MoDOT Plans Second Blanchette Bridge Blast for Dec. 4

Interstate 70 at the bridge will be closed for one hour for safety.

More closures are coming next week to the Blanchette Bridge.  Weather permitting, portions of Interstate 70 over the Missouri River will close Tuesday, Dec. 4. The closure is expected to be for one hour. Missouri Department of Transportation crews will be blasting the remaining two sections of the steel truss on the closed westbound I-70 Blanchette Bridge. Sections of the bridge were blown up earlier in November.  Road crews will close one lane of I-70 in both directions at 9 a.m. An hour later, at 10 a.m., all eastbound I-70 traffic will be detoured off the highway at Route 94 and directed to Route 364 where they can proceed eastbound on Route 364 to Interstate 270 and back north to I-70. Westbound traffic will be detoured off the highway…

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Blanchette Bridge Blast Planned for Sunday

Interstate 70 will be closed Sunday from 10 to 11 a.m. Vehicles will be detoured to Interstate 364 and Interstate 270.

Interstate 70 will shut down entirely near the Blanchette Bridge on Sunday around 10 a.m. while crews blast part of the truss on the westbound span, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. Traffic will close for about an hour to allow crews time to clear the area, remove the debris and inspect the eastbound span of the bridge for safety. In addition, the KATY Trail near the bridge, Bangert Island Conservation Area and parts of Riverwoods Trail will be closed near the bridge. A portion of Ameristar Casino will be evacuated near the trail and the casino plans to restrict portions of the parking garage close to the bridge. Eastbound traffic on I-70 will be detoured off of the highway at 94 to 364. Drivers can then head back …

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Ameristar, Local Businesses Ready for Blanchette Bridge Construction

Shutdown of westbound span of the bridge will begin Nov. 2.

St. Charles business owners are ready for the upcoming closure of the westbound span of the Blanchette Bridge and are prepared for a possible impact to sales this winter.  Teresa Wapelhorst got out the Christmas decor and gifts weeks earlier than normal at her shop, Friperie, on South Main Street, just in case people don't make it back across the bridge before the end of the year. "Really, it's weather down here rather than (construction)," that impacts the number of shoppers who come to Christmas Traditions, the annual holiday festival that spans several weeks, Wapelhorst said.  "There's other ways to get here," she said.  The City of St. Charles is anticipating a decline in sales tax and a $2 million decrease in gaming revenue next year …

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MoDOT Closing Three Westbound I-70 Lanes Starting Friday

In an effort to get work done to prepare for the closure of the Blanchette Bridge the first weekend of November, MoDOT crews will be shutting down three lanes starting at 8 p.m. on Friday.

MoDOT Closing Three Westbound I-70 Lanes this Weekend

In an effort to get work done to prepare for the closure of the Blanchette Bridge the first weekend of November, MoDOT crews will be shutting down three lanes starting at 8 p.m. on Friday.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is making a final push toward the Nov. 2 closure of the westbound Blanchette Bridge in St. Charles.  Just a week after the eastbound lanes were closed, MoDOT crews will be doing significant work this weekend to on the westbound lanes. To prepare for the bridge closure, three lanes on westbound Interstate 70 at Earth City Expressway/Route 141 will be closed from 8 p.m. Friday, Oct 26 until 5 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 28. Even with the closures, at least two westbound lanes will remain open to traffic throughout the weekend. In addition to the lane closures, the ramps at Earth City Expressway/Route 141 and westbound I-70 will also be shut down. The ramps will be closed from 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26 until 8 a.m…

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Drivers: Avoid Blanchette Bridge Construction Traffic, Find New Routes

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is encouraging drivers to find alternate routes to avoid traffic delays during the 12-month construction of the Blanchette Bridge.

Drivers may want to find alternate routes to avoid traffic delays during the upcoming 12-month construction of the Blanchette Bridge. In two weeks, crews will begin repair work closing the westbound lanes of the bridge. Starting that first weekend of November, westbound I-70 traffic will be detoured to the eastbound I-70 bridge lanes for 12 months, with three lanes for eastbound and three lanes for westbound traffic. Immediately off the end of the bridge, there will be pavement in the median to move the three westbound lanes back over to the normal westbound pavement. The entire bridge and parts of I-70 will be closed for an hour during bridge blasts on three different days in November and early December.  MoDOT suggests drivers flex work …

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