Local trails to close for Daniel Boone Bridge construction

To accommodate the construction of the new Daniel Boone Missouri River Bridge, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will close a portion of the Chesterfield-Monarch Levee Trail, approximately 1,000 feet on either side of the bridge, as early as March 11. The trail will reopen no later than Dec. 31, 2015, and possibly sooner as deemed appropriate by MoDOT.

Chesterfield’s Parks and Recreation Division, in partnership with Great Rivers Greenway, will place closure signs on the trail.

Intermittent closures will also be necessary on the Katy Trail for up to a month, as MoDOT conducts rock blasting along Interstate 64 at the St. Charles County end of the Boone Bridge. The blasting is scheduled to take place Monday through Friday for approximately five to 10 minutes at 2 p.m.

At the time of the blast, local law enforcement vehicles and construction vehicles will slow I-64 traffic.  Eastbound traffic will be slowed starting at the Route 94 interchange. Westbound traffic will be slowed starting at the Boone’s Crossing interchange. Entrance ramps at Missouri Research Park and Chesterfield Airport Road will be momentarily closed during the daily blasting operations.

The blasting work is necessary to build the new shared use path from the end of the new eastbound bridge down to the Katy Trail in St. Charles County.

Once the new east-bound bridge is completed and the existing west-bound bridge is demolished, the Levee Trail will then connect to the Katy Trail on the St. Charles County side of the Missouri River.  A bicycle and pedestrian pathway will be part of the new bridge construction.

Even during the closure, users may access the Levee Trail at three locations: behind the Hardee’s Iceplex, at the west end of the Chesterfield Valley Athletic Complex and at the Long Road/Edison Road trailhead.