MoDOT is replacing 3 bridges on I-70. The bridge replacement includes redesigning the streets underneath. MoDOT used a ‘Design-Build’ bid process which is unusual. The advantage is we can get a much better result for the money, but the disadvantage is the lack of opportunity for public input. The stated goals of the project are 1) to replace the 3 bridges, and 2) disrupt traffic as little as possible during the construction period.

The problem is that MoDOT and the winning team interpreted “traffic” as “motor vehicle traffic”, and the disruption to pedestrian traffic during this project is severe. If there had been a chance for public input, we would have championed preserving pedestrian as well as motor vehicle traffic.

Rangeline has 6 traffic lanes under the bridge, including 2 left-turn lanes (one on each side). These 6 traffic lanes will be preserved although narrowed during nearly the entire construction period. However, the bike lanes and the sidewalk are already shut down entirely.

That’s right– there’s enough space for six 9-foot lanes of traffic but not for a single 4-foot sidewalk. For what will probably be the better part of a year.

So what is a pedestrian to do? MoDOT says: walk half a mile over to Providence, cross there, and then walk half a mile back. That’s three times the distance of the closed sidewalk.

I tried out the detour for myself. I walked west on Vandiver, a hilly street. One rationale for not allowing pedestrians under the bridge during construction is ADA accessibility. I wondered how a wheelchair would handle the steep slopes of Vandiver or some broken pavement.

I drained my water bottle as I waited at the stoplight to walk south along Providence. The sidewalk on Providence was new and wide with a pedestrian bridge over the highway. At a side street, a driver waiting to make a right turn was intent on watching traffic to his left, waiting for an opening. When he went, my wariness pays off– he never had looked to his right and would have hit me if I had walked in front of him in the crosswalk. I waited again for a car turning onto the same side street that also never saw me.

At Bus Loop, I had some shade. It was late afternoon and after school activities were winding down, with students lined up trying to get out of the parking lots. The front car of each queue poked out across my path and the driver inside may or may not have seen me. I took my chances and crossed in front of them.

After I passed the high school, the sidewalk ended abruptly! I caught a glimpse of what might be a sidewalk underneath used cars for sale.

Finishing the detour, I walked the “closed” sidewalk for comparison.

There is a “goatpath” in the grass around the barrier at the construction zone. Concrete barriers turn the bike lane into an effective sidewalk– but one barred at both ends to pedestrian traffic. It is a path intended for construction workers. In the absence of active construction, pedestrians are using it. I saw one go around the barrier.

“It’s for the safety of the pedestrians,” one engineer told me, alluding to the danger of something falling from construction equipment. How does this compare to the increased risk in exposure to traffic, the increased risk at conflict points like the side streets and parking lot entrances?

I believe that the engineers who came up with the innovative and clever designs for the bridges are smart enough to come up with a better solution than the 1.5-mile pedestrian detour. The City stepped in and offered free bus rides to anyone needing to get through the intersection.

I want to recognize, appreciate, and laud the progress MoDOT has made in accommodating non-motorized traffic. As I walk through a so-called detour like this, or the 3-legged crosswalk I inspected the other day, and I see how far they have to go, my faith is tested. However, when I spoke to another engineer, he was amazed that a pedestrian detour was offered at all. Now that I know that, I’m pleased that they did make the attempt. They can learn from the experience, and I hope they’ll do better on their next pedestrian detour.