Major Chesterfield Valley Road Project Nearly Finished

A major St. Louis County road project will be coming to an end on Monday and should provide some welcome relief to drivers in Chesterfield Valley

It involves the total reconfiguration of the intersections of Long, Kehrs Mill and Wild Horse Creek roads with a new signal and new bridge. County Road Department spokesman David Rome told Patch Tuesday that he expects they will shift all traffic to new pavement on Monday. 

“The roads in their original configuration had terrible site distance issues,” he said. “This project realigns all three of those roads so that motorists have a much better sight distance. The transition from one road to the next is safer and is much smoother.”

Work began on the improvements last spring and Rome said the county is on track to finish by its original estimated completion date, which was June 2013. All that will remain are the "incidentals," such as pavement striping. 

The “considerable logistics” of the project contributed to the year-plus time-frame, Rome said.

“Anytime you are rebuilding three new roads and a new bridge while maintaining traffic … it’s not something that can be accomplished overnight,” Rome said, adding that the three roads typically see about 35,000 vehicles per day.

The upgraded interchange is just in time for the Chesterfield Valley to see an influx of traffic when the two new outlet malls both open in August. Rome said the area is already heavily traveled and will likely “only get worse.”

The county has also expanded the original scope of the project following a request from the city of Chesterfield. Later this year, county crews will also straighten out a dangerous, steep curve on Wildhorse Creek Road just south of Kehrs Mill.

Rome said it’s expected to cost an additional $1 million and will be paid for by the city of Chesterfield. The bill for the original project is $8.3 million and is funded by St. Louis County.