Memorial Drive runs north–south in
Downtown St. Louis, Missouri
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 ...
. It is between the city's central business district and the grounds of the
Gateway Arch
The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources consider ...
and
Gateway Arch National Park
Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The memorial was established to commemorate:
*the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mo ...
. It has an intimate relationship with
Interstate 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 Fal ...
(formerly
Interstate 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 ...
); for most of its length it runs above the sunken highway, but north of
Washington Avenue Washington Avenue may refer to:
United States
* Washington Avenue (Miami Beach) in Miami Beach, Florida
* Washington Avenue (Milford Mill, Maryland)
* Washington Avenue (Towson, Maryland)
* Washington Avenue (Minneapolis), a major street in Minne ...
it goes under it as the highway ramps up above the city.
For years, Memorial Drive was a source of connection problems between the Gateway Mall and the Arch Grounds. Imagined by the winners of the 2009 international design competition, Framing a Modern Masterpiece, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates corrected this issue by designing a "lid" to be placed over the depressed highway with a landscaped plaza acting as a median. The park over the highway was completed in November 2015 as the first component of the CityArchRiver project.
History
In the 1930s, work began on Gateway Arch National Park (which was then known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) and the section of 3rd street running along the western border of the memorial was renamed. The memorial construction continued to 1965, when the Gateway Arch was completed. In the years that followed, Memorial Drive was slowly integrated into the then-Interstate 70, which opened in 1970.
In the years that followed, citizens and urbanists complained of the city being cut off from the memorial by the highway and Memorial Drive. Various calls were made for placing a lid over the sunken highway, and designs were drawn up by the large, locally based firm
HOK. The
Missouri Department of Transportation did several studies to research the impact of closing the road and diverting traffic along other routes. So far nothing has happened, but in 2009 MoDOT applied for stimulus funds for repairs on Memorial Drive which would keep it more or less as it i
In December 2009, the National Park Service announced an international competition to improve the memorial and has included Memorial Drive in its plans.
The
:Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge which opened in 2014, rerouted I-70 north of downtown, and its former route through downtown and under Memorial Drive was redesignated as I-44.
Gallery
File:Memorial Drive overpass face east St Louis.jpg
File:I-70 St Louis Missouri.jpg
Image:MemorialDrivecat.jpg
File:Memorial Drive overpass face west St Louis.jpg
Image:Jefferson National Expansion Memorial 2.jpg
Image:I-70 in downtown St. Louis.jpg
References
External links
City to River Website
{{Streets of Greater St. Louis
Streets in St. Louis