Three WB I-70 lanes to close this weekend

The I-70 Blanchette Missouri River Bridge westbound closure and detouring will start the weekend of Nov. 2 through Nov. 4, but significant impacts to motorists will occur this weekend. The Missouri Department of Transportation will close three lanes on westbound I-70 at Earth City Expressway/Route 141 from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. At least two westbound lanes will remain open to traffic throughout the weekend.

The ramps at Earth City Expressway/Route 141 and westbound I-70 will also be closed. Motorists should use I-270 to either Route 370 or Route 364 to access Earth City Expressway/Route 141.

Crews will be restriping the westbound I-70 lanes and putting in a barrier wall to separate the through lanes of I-70 with the exit lanes of Earth City in preparation for the Missouri River bridge closure starting the first weekend in November.

On Monday, Oct. 29, motorists using westbound I-70 will see the newly installed barrier wall separating three lanes on the left from one lane on the right.  Westbound I-70 will be reduced from five lanes to four lanes and motorists should consider using Route 370 or Route 364 as alternate westbound Missouri River crossings.

The work is done in preparation for the closure of the westbound I-70 Blanchette Bridge the weekend of Nov. 2.  The bridge will remain closed until Fall 2013.  The eastbound I-70 bridge will be used to carry three lanes of traffic in each direction.  Immediately off the end of the bridge there will be pavement in the median to move the three westbound lanes back over to the normal westbound pavement.

MoDOT asks motorists to slow down and watch for workers present in work zones.