Highway Madness

Everyone knows it's coming. What they don't know is what exactly life will be like once the old Highway 40 starts shutting down, not to be fully functioning again until 2010, from whence it shall be called....The NEW I-64.

Whatever, right?

I have been scoping out the official website from MO-Dot on the whole shebang, and it seems like a whole hell of a lot to get done. I will be holding my breath, that's for sure. Oh wait, I live almost entirely east of the project. And if things go as planned, I'll be completely out of it's reaches before they even think of closing my dearly beloved Oakland Ave. access ramps.

If you commute on 44 and you think you will be in the clear, well think again. Obviously this is the best alternate route for most people. And thanks to all those additional cars (and semis!) anticipated, they will be restriping the highway in both directions from Grand to 270 in order to add a fifth lane. AND the speed limit will be reduced to 55 MPH. 44 is already a speed trap is some places, so I imagine it will only get worse. It will all get worse, but just sayin...

My advice

1. MOVE. Eastward. There are many wonderful neighborhoods in the STL city limits. Check out the crime map if you don't think it's really safe. It IS. Besides, most crimes are those of opportunity, meaning don't be stupid and give a bad guy an easy break. This moving option would be especially smart if you either work from home or work somewhere far from where you live in an eastward direction. Like Clayton or Downtown. Next week when I start my new job I will be using 40 to commute, but that's just because I live right next to it. I could just as easily skip the highways, shoot down Manchester/Chouteau and be at the riverfront in no time.

2. WALK. If your car is already going to be in overuse mode because you have to go a wacky way to work, then think about just letting it sit awhile when you do get home and walk or bike to where you need to go around town. Clearly not a good plan when going on a grocery trip for a family of 7's weekly stockup but if you are just going to the bank and the post office or something, I think it would be a good idea to consider a nice calorie burning method of transport instead of the fossil fuel burning type.

3. Public Transportation. That's right folks, I bring it on again. I am even more excited about this method now because my new office is RIGHT NEXT to the Landing Metro stop. Which means I can hop on a bus up the block from my apartment, shoot over to the CWE Metro stop, and be at work in a relatively short amount of time. And during my commute I will have burned no gasoline, read a chapter in a book, listened to my ipod, burned a few calories walking to/from the stops, not gotten road rage/speeding tickets/stuck in a traffic jam, etc. If you live anywhere remotely close to a stop, I encourage you to use the trip finder at Metro's website just to see how long it would take you to commute this way. Even if you do it just a couple times a week, it could make a big difference.

4. At least just think about what you are going to do/how you will get along without a quick access to the Galleria/Crate and Barrel/Whole Foods/Trader Joes/Cardinals Games/Work/Grandma's House. It might still seem a long way away, and I hate being an alarmist, but I do think that most people are going to be pooping in their pants when it finally happens, and it's not that far away. I guess I worry about it a lot since I do live so close to the heart of action on 40 and I see the daily crush, I mean near standstill traffic that backs up rain or shine for hours every day. All those people are going to have to go somewhere else. It ain't gonna be pretty.