Interstate 64 (I-64) passes through the

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 ...

area in the US state of

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 ...

. The entire route overlaps U.S. Route 40 (US 40). Because the road was a main thoroughfare in the St. Louis area before the development of the

Interstate Highway System 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 ...

, it is not uncommon for locals to refer to the stretch of highway as "Highway 40" rather than "I-64". On December 6, 2009, the portion of the highway running through the city of St. Louis was named the Jack Buck Memorial Highway in honor of the late sportscaster.

Route description

I-64 begins at an interchange with

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 ...

, US 40, and US 61 in

St. Charles County St. Charles County is in the central eastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 405,262, making it Missouri's third-most populous county. Its county seat is St. Charles. The county was organized Oct ...

and heads south. Previously, the freeway was a divided highway signed only as US 40 with at-grade intersections, which were slowly converted to limited-access exits. The final intersection at Callahan Road was removed on October 14, 2009. The next major exit is for Route N and the western terminus of Route 364. Route 364 was completed and opened on November 2, 2014. From here, I-64 continues past interchanges with Route DD/Winghaven Boulevard, Route 94, and Research Park Circle and then crosses the Missouri River via the

Daniel Boone Bridge The Daniel Boone Bridge is the name for two bridges carrying Interstate 64, U.S. Route 40 and U.S. Route 61 across the Missouri River between St. Louis County and St. Charles County, Missouri. The older bridge, which carries westbound traffic, ...

and enters St. Louis County. The freeway travels through the congested Chesterfield Valley, where it gains a fourth lane and then meets

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 a flyover interchange built in the early 1990s in the city of Town and Country. Continuing east, I-64 remains four lanes and travels through the affluent areas of Frontenac and

Ladue Ladue is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 8,989. Ladue has the highest median household income of any city in Missouri with a population over 1,000. Ge ...

. The next major interchange is I-170 in the city of Richmond Heights. This stretch, located between Ballas Road and I-170, was closed in 2008 for a complete reconstruction, at which point substandard exits were upgraded and the fourth lane was added. The interchange with I-170 was also overhauled, creating a full interchange with highspeed ramps in all directions. The reconstructed expressway opened to traffic on the morning of December 15, 2008. East of the interchange with I-170, I-64 drops a lane and stays at three throughlanes to Clayton Road. Through here, the expressway passes through older neighborhoods and enters into the city of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. After readding a fourth lane, the freeway skirts the southern edge of

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

. In this area, one finds both the

Saint Louis Science Center The Saint Louis Science Center, founded as a planetarium in 1963, is a collection of buildings including a science museum and planetarium in St. Louis, Missouri, on the southeastern corner of Forest Park. With over 750 exhibits in a complex of ov ...

and

Saint Louis Zoo The Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by the ...

. Kingshighway marks the end of the completely reconstructed eastern half, where again outdated exits were updated and shoulders widened. The eastern half was closed from December 15, 2008, to December 7, 2009. I-64's speed limit drops from east of Kingshighway and drops a lane at Vandeventer Avenue (the opposite of the westbound lanes). Passing by

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

, the freeway becomes double-decked for the first time (eastbound lanes at a lower level; westbound lanes at an upper one), gaining back a fourth lane east of Compton Avenue. Another lane drop occurs at the Chestnut and 20th Street exit, where the canceled Route 755 was to interchange. The freeway passes just south of the

Enterprise Center The Enterprise Center is an 18,096-seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Its primary tenant is the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, but it is also used for other functions, such as NCAA basketball, NC ...

and again becomes double-decked in the same arrangement, passing within of the

New Busch Stadium Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. The stadium serves as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) ...

. The route becomes two lanes as it approaches the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and the

Poplar Street Bridge The Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge, formerly known as the Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge and popularly as the Poplar Street Bridge or PSB, completed in 1967, is a deck girder bridge across the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, ...

, where it is intersects

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 ...

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 ...

at an incomplete interchange; it was also at this interchange that

joined I-55 and I-64 to cross the Poplar Street Bridge, but its former downtown route is now an extension of I-44. Eastbound I-64 cannot directly access either one of the other routes, but westbound I-64, however, can directly access both. I-64 continues into

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

concurrent with I-55; until 2014, it also ran concurrent with I-70, which has since been rerouted onto the

Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge (known as the New Mississippi River Bridge until its formal naming in 2013 and informally known as the "Stan Span") is a bridge across the Mississippi River in the United States between St. Clair County, ...

further upstream.

History

Initial construction

Before the Interstate Highway System, US 40 was a main thoroughfare through St. Louis and Kansas City. From each state line, there were signs saying "Future I-55/I-64 Corridor" and "Future I-70 Corridor".

Reconstruction

The

Missouri Department of Transportation The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT, ) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri under the guidance of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. MoDOT designs, ...

(MoDOT) rebuilt the stretch of I-64 from Spoede Road to Kingshighway Boulevard between 2008 and 2009. The project included new concrete pavement on the highway; approximately 25 rebuilt bridges; and several reconfigured interchanges, including a new freeway-to-freeway interchange at I-170. The section between Spoede Road and I-170 was closed for reconstruction on January 2, 2008, and opened to traffic on December 15, 2008. The section between I-170 and Kingshighway Boulevard was closed on December 15, 2008, and reopened to traffic on December 7, 2009. The project was completed with a dedication and opening day ceremony on Sunday, December 6. In 2020, exits 39 and 38B were closed and demolished to make way for the

St. Louis MLS Stadium CityPark, stylized as CITYPARK, is a 22,500-seat soccer-specific stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the home of St. Louis City SC, the city's Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. The stadium is next to Union Station in the city's Downtown ...

on the site. The ramps were the remnants of a north–south distributor highway that was never built.

Exit list

References

External links

Missouri Department of Transportation: The New I-64
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interstate 64 In Missouri 64 Roads in Greater St. Louis Transportation in St. Charles County, Missouri Transportation in St. Louis County, Missouri 1956 establishments in Missouri Missouri