Interstate 170 (I-170), also known as the Inner Belt Expressway, is an north–south

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. I-170 connects to

I-270 I-270 may refer to: * Interstate 270 (disambiguation), one of several highways * Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 (Design Ж ("Zh") under Mikoyan-Gurevich's in-house designation sequence, USAF/DoD designation: Type 12) was a ...

at its northern terminus and

I-64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...

at its southern terminus. I-170 crosses its parent,

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...

, near

St. Louis Lambert International Airport St. Louis Lambert International Airport is the primary commercial airport serving metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Commonly referred to as Lambert Field or simply Lambert, it is the largest and busiest airport in the state o ...

Route description

History

I-170 was originally intended to provide an inner beltway within I-270 through St. Louis County extending to

I-55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

in the southern part of the county, commonly called South County; however, the portion of the route south of I-64/ U.S. Route 40 (US 40) was canceled due to local opposition. The portion of MetroLink's Cross County Extension south of I-64 runs roughly along the proposed alignment. The southern portion of I-170 was built using St. Louis County funds in the 1960s through a shallow valley. It was signed as Route 725.

Recent construction

The southern two interchanges on I-170 (at I-64/US 40 and Galleria Parkway) were reconstructed as part of the first phase of the New I-64 project. Most notably, the new interchange includes direct access to I-170 from eastbound I-64; however, access to Galleria Parkway from northbound I-170 was eliminated. Eager Road access to and from I-170 was also revised in the New I-64 project.

Southern extension

Because I-170 terminates at

/ US 40, a direct access from I-170 and I-64 (US 40) to

, and

I-44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Fa ...

are lacked. Also, towns such as Richmond Heights, Brentwood, Maplewood, and Marlbourough lack access to the Interstates, the

, South County, and to each other. Because of this, commuters either have to take indirect surface streets as bypasses, such as Hanley Road or River Des Peres Boulevard, which would result in a much higher mileage and time due to

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...

s and a longer route. For example, if one is in Richmond Heights and wants to get to South County, they have to take Brentwood Boulevard to Eager Road to Hanley Road to Murdoch Avenue to I-44 and then to I-270 toward South County. This also results in higher traffic in residential streets and towns such as Shrewsbury. Proposals had been made to solve this problem, such as a new freeway for faster commute or "South County Connector" to connect Richmond Heights to South County, but these proposals had been postponed due to lack of funding.

Exit list

References

External links

Kurumi.com: Interstate 170
{{3di, 70 1 70-1 70-1 Transportation in St. Louis County, Missouri