MISSOURI ROUTE 364

'Route 364', known locally as the 'Page Avenue Extension', is a freeway that connects Saint Louis County with Saint Charles County via the Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River.

Contents

Route

History

Phase I

Phase II

Phase III

Controversy

Trivia

Exits

See also

References

External links

Route

The current termini are at an interchange with Interstate 270 to the east and at the intersection of Route 94 and Harvester Rd. to the west. The freeway will eventually be extended another 12 miles westward to U.S. Route 40/U.S. Route 61 (future Interstate 64).
The opening of the freeway increases the number of lanes across the Missouri River in the St. Louis metropolitan area from 23 to 33. It provides an alternate route to the Daniel Boone Bridge, Blanchette Memorial Bridge, and Discovery Bridge crossings.

History

The East-West Gateway Council of Governments determined there was a need for the freeway in 1969. However, little progress was made until the commissioning of the Page Avenue Bridge Committee in the fall of 1984. Earlier proposals, whose alignments took the freeway to Interstate 70, could no longer be considered due to the rapid growth of the city of St. Peters. The committee proposed a new alignment called the Red Line and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) authorized the project in the fall of 1986. In the spring of 1987 Missouri voters approved a fuel tax increase which included funding for the project. MoDOT held numerous meetings since then, but the alignment was not approved until June 1990. The United States Congress passed legislation in October 1992 authorizing the project as part of the Pipeline Safety Act of 1992.^[1] The environmental impact study was completed in November 1992, but just before the project was to received final clearance from the federal government Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt took office and ordered more environmental studies resulting in more land mitigation for intrusion into Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park. In the fall of 1995 the federal government gave the final clearance for the project 11 years after active planning began. For nearly 27 years the roadway was simply referred to as the Page Avenue Extension, but in February 1996 MoDOT gave the freeway an official designation of SR-364. Construction on the freeway is divided into 3 separate phases and began with the first project in 1997.^[2][3]

Phase I

Phase I included work from Interstate 270 to Route 94 through the Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park, but due to concerns with traffic congestion at the proposed terminus with SR-94 it was decided to extended the freeway further west along its concurrency with SR-94 to Harvester Rd. Two major bridge structures were required. They include the Veterans Memorial Bridge and Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park Bridge which cost $79 million and $74 million respectively. Both structures are designed to withstand seismic activity from the nearby New Madrid Fault.^[4]
This phase also included improvements to the Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park. The park nearly doubled in size and an existing bike trail there was linked to the Katy Trail in Saint Charles County via the Veterans Memorial Bridge. The Creve Coeur Lake was dredged and a siltation lake was added to eliminate the need for future dredging.
A ribbon cutting ceremony occurred on December 13, 2003. The ceremony was held on the east bound lanes of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Dignitaries that spoke included then Governor Bob Holden and Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond. Following the various speeches and ribbon cutting, a ceremonial first drive occurred between Upper Bottom Rd/Arena Pkwy and Maryland Heights Expwy. Due to inclement weather MoDOT opted to use December 13, 2003 to clear snow off the freeway and delayed opening the freeway until around 10:00 am on December 14, 2003 after the roadway was cleared.
The section of the freeway in Saint Louis County has been dedicated the ''Buzz Westfall Memorial Highway'' after former Saint Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall who helped get the freeway built. Westfall died in 2003, months before the freeway opened.
In November 2005 MoDOT presented plans for upgrading the interchange at Interstate 270. A two lane flyover ramp will be constructed from northbound I-270 to westbound SR-364 to replace a cumbersome cloverleaf movement. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2009.^[5]

Phase II

Phase II work will extend the freeway along its concurrency with Route 94 to Route N/Mid Rivers Mall Dr including a one way outer road system. Work along SR-94 from Portwest Dr to Harvester Rd was completed as part of the Phase I.
Funding has been secured to extend the freeway further along SR-94 from west of Jungs Station Rd to west of Harvester Rd. Construction on the project began in the fall of 2006 and includes bridges at Harvester Rd and Woodstone Dr and a one way outer road system. The project is scheduled to be completed by late 2008. The total cost to complete the project is estimated at $32.5 million.^[6][7].
Some funding has been secured to extend the freeway from west of Harvester Rd to west of Jungermann Rd.^[8]
The remaining Phase II projects are unfunded.

Phase III

Phase III work will extend the freeway from Mid Rivers Mall Dr/Pitman Hill Rd to U.S. 40/U.S. 61 (future Interstate 64) paralleling, but not overtaking the existing Route N. The interchange at US-40/US-61 and Route N, which opened in October, 2005, will become the western terminus of the freeway upon its completion. The south service road from Bates Rd to Route K has been completed from funding provided by the city of O'Fallon, Missouri. The city will be reimbursed when the project is officially funded.
The remaining Phase III projects are unfunded.

Controversy

Controversy over the construction of the freeway came from several sources. The freeway's alignment would take it through the Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park and the floodplain of the Missouri River drawing opposition from environmental groups including the Sierra Club^[9] and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.^[10] Its high cost and debate over urban sprawl forced many St. Louis County municipalities to pass resolutions opposing the freeway.^[11] A petition to put the freeway up for referendum was submitted in 1998, and enough signatures were collected to force a vote. On November 3, 1998, voters approved right-of-way for the freeway by a 61% margin, and construction continued.^[12] In exchange, Saint Louis County accepted 1005 acres of land adjacent to the park.^[4]

Trivia

★ The freeway is 10 lanes from Interstate 270 to Route 94.

★ It took nearly 35 years from its inception to complete Phase I.

★ Phase I cost approximately $350 million.

Exits

County	Location	Mile	#	Destination	Notes
Continue on Route 94
St. Charles	St. Peters		11A	Jungermann Rd	Construction began in the fall of 2006 and is scheduled to be completed by late 2008.
			11B	Harvester Rd
			12	Heritage Crossing / Jungs Station Rd	Access is provided to south outer road from EB exit or north outer road from WB exit.
	St. Charles		13	Route 94 EAST / Muegge Rd-St. Charles	Access is provided to Muegge Rd from WB exit only.
	Unincorporated		14	Upper Bottom Rd / Arena Pkwy
St. Louis	Maryland Heights		17	Maryland Heights Expwy
			19	Bennington Place
			20A	I-270 SOUTH-Memphis	Construction on interchange improvements is schedule to begin by 2009.
			20B	I-270 NORTH-Chicago
Continue on SSR-D / Page Ave

See also

★ Missouri Route 94

★ Interstate 270 (Illinois-Missouri)

★ Interstate 64

★ Veterans Memorial Bridge (St. Louis)

References

1. Pipeline Safety Act of 1992
2. Chronology of the Page Avenue Extension
3. St. Charles County Focus (Winter 2003)
4.
5. Rte. 364 & I-270 Interchange Improvements
6. Transportation Improvement Program
7. Workers begin extending Highway 364
8. Page Avenue Updates
9. 1998 Sierra Club Sprawl Report
10. Road to Ruin: Page Avenue Extension
11. Progress on Stopping the Page Avenue Freeway
12. Page Avenue Extension is Approved By Wide Margin
13.

External links

★ Page Avenue Updates (Missouri Department of Transportation)