St Louis Speed Limits

Like most major American urban centers, the city of St. Louis, Missouri, is a place of heavy vehicle traffic, massive 10-lane freeways, a blizzard of exit ramps and entrance ramps, confusing signage – in short, any traveler not familiar with the St. Louis freeway system is in for a driving challenge.

If you’re coming from Illinois, Ohio or Indiana, you will probably access St. Louis via I-70  or I-64W. St. Louis is approached from the south on I-15N, I-55S or I-44E. Those approaching from Kansas City usually come  on I-70E.

One of the most important freeways for you to know about is I-270, which is I-255 on the Illinois side. This is the massive 10-lane loop that circumnavigates St. Louis.  It’s the way you “get  around” the city if you are just passing through, or it is the freeway that will intersect with the important exits you might want to take going into St. Louis.

For those unfamiliar with the St. Louis freeway system, navigating it can be a frightening experience, especially during rush hour traffic. Your first rule for safe driving is to maintain a safe speed! This is not always easy to do because the drivers around you, and those who ply the freeways of this city every day, tend to drive way too fast. This puts pressure on you to “go with the flow,’ and indeed, going too slow can seem more hazardous because other drivers will tailgate you impatiently, cut you off, or commit any number of rude and dangerous traffic maneuvers. Stay calm!

What is confusing for many about the I-270/255 loop is the recent program of “variable speed limits” on the road. Two years ago, St. Louis traffic authorities began posting lighted signs at various locations along the freeway which displayed an “advisory speed limit.” For example, during times of heavy snow, the advisory speed could be as low as 10 mph. Motorists violating this speed limit could be ticketed. But after public outcry, the variable speed postings were made not mandatory, but merely “advisory”. Whatever the case, it is a good idea to adopt the speed suggested by the lighted postings – they are designed to help you choose the safest speed.

The I-270/255 loop is also undergoing major, long term construction, so don’t be surprised if 10 lanes turn into 8 lanes, where traffic snarls tend to develop. Patience and safe speed is your best strategy for navigating these occasional bottle necks.

If you really want to feel safe on your journey through the St. Louis freeway system take some time to study the layout of the freeways on a map before you plunge in. It is difficult to anticipate lane changes or the exits “in real time” if you don’t know what to expect next. But if you take the time to get at least a preliminary picture, the lay of the land, you can drive with more confidence because you will better be able to anticipate lane changes, recognize road sign numbers and names, and have an overall better idea of where you are. A more confident, informed driver is a safer driver.

Finally, avoid rush-hour traffic at all costs! If you are not familiar with St. Louis freeways, tackling them during times of heavy traffic only increases the difficulty factor by many times. Very late at night or very early in the morning are the best times to navigate the St. Louis freeway system.

Arrive Alive is a program that is aiming to reduce the number of deaths caused by dangerous driving to under 850 in 2012.  This program has introduced different methods of helping people to avoid having accidents and as a result of this there was a reduction in fatalities for 5 years in a row, and in 2010 they reached the goal of under 850 which was two years earlier than they were aiming for.   The fatalities for past years are as follows:

2005 – 1257
2006 – 1096
2007 – 992
2008 – 960
2009 – 878
2010 – 821

Hopefully by continuing with the program in the future the numbers can drop even further.

The program aimed to change a range of things to make the improvement. The first is to change the seat belt law, as at the moment you can only be charged with not wearing a seatbelt if you have broken another law.  If the change is made it is predicted that another 63 lives would be saved each year and also 759 serious injuries would not occur.  A campaign to make people more aware of needing to wear seat belts included advertisements on TV and the radio and articles in print.  Currently nationwide 85% of people wear seatbelts but in Missouri it is only 79% and these are more likely to be teens or truck drivers. The statistics show that 7 out of the 10 people killed in crashes in this state aren’t wearing a seatbelt.

Focus was also drawn to motocycle riders.  They must all wear a DOT approved helmet by law but some still don’t wear them. The main focus was on drivers of other vehicles to warn them to keep an eye out for motorcycles as half of the fatal crashes involving motorcycles were caused by them colliding with another vehicle.  So it was pointed out that motocycles need a full lane and should be treated the same as any other vehicle on the road.

Keeping an eye out for bikes was another warning given to car drivers. But pedestrians and cyclists were also given directions on how to be safe on the roads by being aware of traffic and assuming it won’t stop for them as well as wearing bright colours so they can be seen on the road.

Drivers were reminded that children should be in a safety seat or on a booster until the are 80lbs or 4’9″.  Many road accidents involve children and they have a far better chance of surviving if they are correctly strapped into a car.

Older drivers have been reminded that they need to make sure that they are in good enough health to handle a car. If family or friends are worried then they should encourage them to have a health check up.

One of the other main focuses of the Arrive Alive program is school buses.  It is safer to travel on the bus than in a car, but children need to be aware of traffic when they are getting on and off the bus as they can be hit if they don’t look for traffic carefully enough.

If you are taking a trip or a holiday in St Louis you will need to know what the speed limits on major roads in St Louis are.  When driving there you need to be careful to stick to the set limits as you can be stopped by the police if you don’t follow the law.  On Interstate roads in the St Louis area the speed limits are between 55 and 75 miles per hour. You will need to keep your eye out for signs which tell you when the limit changes, so that you can slow down where it is appropriate.  When traffic is busy these speed limits can quickly change so you need to stay aware.  The speeds may also change if there is a crash on the road, if there are bad weather conditions such as fog or rain, or if there is a crash above.  They may also reduce the speed limit if there is work being done on the road and you need to slow down because of the workers, or if there is a danger to the cars. There are sign posts along the sides of all roads telling you about the limits, so there is no excuse not to follow them.  In St Louis itself the speed limits are around 45 miles an hour.  The police can fine you on the spot if you are going faster than this, so you need to take care.

There is about one thousand five hundred miles of state highway in the St Louis district so if  you are driving through this area you must be sure that you know the rules of the roads that you are on.  Claiming you don’t know the rules, or understand the signs or the speed limits is not a defence.  If you are intelligent enough to pass your driving test then the police will know that you are able to follow a road sign.  If you aren’t sure about the rules in a new place that you are visiting then you will need to do the research before you go.  Ignorance is not a defence when you are faced with an officer of the law.

When you are driving you also need to make sure you follow the other rules in the area.  You need to wear a seat belt as if you do get stopped for a driving offence you can also be fined for a seat belt violation if you aren’t wearing one. The other major law covers drink driving.  It is common sense that it isn’t a good idea to drive if you have had a lot of alcohol, but drinking also clouds your judgement and a lot of people think that it is still safe. If you have been drinking before you drive in St Louis you can be fined or even sent to prison.  You will also find that your car insurance is no longer valid so any costs involved in the accident will have to be funded by yourself.

The I-270 is the major highway through St Louis. It has been designed to cope with heavy traffic volumes, but there are still times of the day when it can get very congested. This time tends to be in the morning and evening when people are driving to and from work.  During this time sections of this highway can get very busy and the traffic will flow very slowly. There is now a solution that has been put into place to try to help prevent this from happening.

Normally when traffic approaches a congested area it will slow down as it approaches and then go very slow or stop when it moves through there. However, if the traffic remains at a constant speed they will move faster through the congested areas and the traffic won’t build up so much.  This means that everyone will eventually reach their destination faster because the overall speed is faster than if you drive at a faster speed for a while  and then slow right down when you hit heavy traffic.

During busy times the traffic speeds will vary to try and reduce congestion. Therefore you will need to take note of the signs.  It may seem that there is no reason to be slowing down, but if you do take notice of the signs you will be less likely to get caught in the busy traffic and get to your destination faster.  The speed limits are now an advisory speed. This is because a lot of drivers didn’t like the idea of a variable speed limit as they couldn’t see an immediate change in the way people were driving and they didn’t believe it would cause them to end up going faster. However, the variable speed limit did reduce some of the congestion and help with road traffic accidents.  So now the speed has been changed to specify it is advisory. This will warn drivers that there is congestion ahead and it would be a good idea to slow down now. The congestion could be due to road works, land closures, bad weather or stopped traffic for any reason.  These are put on ramps and curves as well as other parts of the road.   The road signs will tell drivers why the speed limits have been reduced so that they are more likely to slow down.

When there is a speed limit sign you need to make sure that you follow that speed limit or else you can get stopped by the police and receive fines.  If there is an advisory speed limit you will need to be careful with your driving but you won’t be fined if you don’t follow it.  Be sure that you can tell the difference and if you aren’t sure if it is a set speed limit or an advisory one, then slow down anyway to prevent getting caught out, as the police won’t take not knowing as a reason not to fine you for driving too fast on the highway.

The Saint Louis county in Missouri has been placing a strong emphasis on improving the driving conditions in the county. The highways, the city and town roads, etc are being re-evaluated and repaired in order to provide clean and safe roads to citizens so that loss of lives in traffic accidents may be reduced and hopefully controlled. Full scale short and long term plans are in effect and are being diligently enforced so that the statistics of accidents across the county may look different the next time around. Essentially, these plans have been developed by engineers in conjunction with reports from the police department, the city council and even citizens.

There were several key changes and developments made on the freeways in the county. The I-270 which is an extremely busy expressway now has mechanisms and guard rails in order to stop vehicles from crossing over and moving into opposing lanes of traffic. Also, the enforcing of advisories in the matter of variable speed limits and such has made the entire highway much safer. There are several key plans that have been introduced by the city council in St.Louis. These plans are long and short term plans and are directly connected to the quality, surfacing and symmetry of roads along with traffic control and flow and advisories along the highway. Large scale traffic congestion and safety in mind, these roadwork programs are helping build safer driving environments.

Mostly, these changes are connected to the nature of the roads, their directions and their effect on the traffic flow. Some measures may require that the road be closed for a few days and some measures may call for more roadwork and lane increasing in order to avoid bottlenecks. Several safe driving campaigns and strict punishments for traffic violators have also ensured greater rule adherence and therefore a much safer road. Any person found guilty of driving in an intoxicated condition is liable to pay heavy fines and his/her license is instantly suspended in the case of ages below 21yrs.

The roadwork projects such as issuance of guard rails and upgrade of all old roads helps exponentially in making the highway not only safe but also beautiful. There are several key projects that involve citizens and such, which aim at spreading an awareness of the benefits of not littering the sides of roads. This causes the highways to be clean and neat and therefore all the more appealing. During the upgrade of the roads, traffic may be limited to using only one lane or the road may be completely closed down. As such it is important to remember that any inconvenience caused is largely a matter of a few weeks and the benefits of this exercise can be felt for whole lifetimes. As such, all old roads and potholed roads, are being upgraded constantly at the cost of millions of dollars in order for the people of the county and the visitors to have a safe and pleasant driving atmosphere which has controlled and systematic roads that can cut down journey times and exponentially cut down any hazards due to collisions.

Any motorist in St. Louis knows that there is a tough road situation in the area. There is need of programs to support motoring in St Louis to facilitate the easy movement of motorists around the town. Most of the people using the road complain that there are traffic haul ups sometimes and this can be time consuming if they are rushing somewhere. Some of the reasons why it is facing a road crisis is because there has been a severe decline in funding and lack of personnel. This has led to a tough situation of closing down some roads to pave way for their repair into something that is user friendly for motorists.

Some of the programs that are largely being put in place to ease the condition are the increasing of more roads and the maintaining of roads by doing repairs. All the roads in St. Louis are very important because they are interconnected to a main road. The other road situation is the speeding of motorists. It has been noted that there are some motorists who over speed and in this way can cause the risk of several carnages on the roads.

Those are some of the reasons that have made the I-270 to be necessary. There have been changes on the I-270 in that the variable speed limit regulation has been made advisory. This change has been received with much excitement because the speeds of the I-270 usually change abruptly. This step up is an advantage to the motorists because there were times when they had to slow down to almost 15-20 mph and there were some serious cases that even made them to abruptly step on the gas because of the drastic changes. This has been a very important program to support motoring in St. Louis very well. This enforcement has been brought about by the fact that there was feedback from the enforcers of the law regarding the opinion that varying speed limits did not help so much in the prevention of traffic and neither did it enhance the compliance of the drivers to the traffic rules.

A reason for the implementation of this program is that there was a reduction in the number of lanes of the I-270, which creates a grid lock in the long run. Before the implementation of this there has been a number of obstinate traffic tie ups in some major roads. When these programs were put in effect the issue of variable speed limits were to help in the easing of traffic bottlenecks when the drivers were forced to go slowly well ahead of the gridlock. There has been a mixed reaction by different motorists because some of them felt that changing the speed limit did not make much difference and the majority of motorists even some cops were of the idea that those rules should just be done away with completely.
These are some of the programs to support motoring in St. Louis that have been put in place. They should be appreciated because they are helpful and can save lives.

There are several projects coming up that will affect your highway travels in and around St. Louis this fall and winter. Here’s a quick rundown on them, with lane closures, times, and length of construction time noted. One reminder -  the ramp from I-70 East to 10th Street closed October 10 permanently – please find alternate routes.

I-64 is undergoing massive construction this season – we’ll start off with I-64 in downtown St. Louis. Starting this weekend, all lanes on eastbound I-64 from Jefferson to 6th Street will be closed this weekend. This work will also affect two lanes on Poplar Street Bridge. Work is contingent upon the World Series results – if the Cards win, then there’ll be no work this weekend. In the sad and unlikely event that they lose, work will start at 8 pm Friday and continue through Monday morning at 5 am.

Further along on I-64 East, both lanes on the Chestnut/20th Street exit ramp will close for three weeks. Crews will be doing routine maintenance starting Monday, October 31, 2011 from 9:30 a.m., to 4:30 p.m. One lane on the Chestnut exit ramp will be opened by the work crews during off-peak travel hours. The eastbound 11th Street exit ramp will be closed weekdays from 9 am to 3 pm. Again, we’ll provide you with more updates as we find out about them.

On I-70 East, the right lane is closed closed from St. Louis to Broadway for retaining wall construction due to the Mississippi River Bridge project.

Continuing with I-70 construction work, the right lane on East I-70 is closed from St. Louis to Broadway until the summer of 2012, construction schedule and weather permitting.  The express lanes within St. Louis City proper will be closed ’til the end of the year (2011).  One reminder -  the ramp from I-70 East to 10th Street closed October 10 permanently – please find alternate routes.

Moving on to  I-44 in St. Louis, the  Jamieson Bridge that passes over the interstate is closed. We’ll let you know when we have more information on that.

On West I-270, one lane on the exit ramp to West 370 is still closed this week due to emergency pavement repairs. It should be wrapped up by Monday, but due to the weather, it may run late. The other lane remains open for drivers, but MoDot is warning of traffic delays.

Starting Monday, October 31, there are several lane closures affecting East I-64. These are mainly during the day and only affect one or two lanes. Expect traffic delays. MoDot is trying to finish up I-70 construction work, so there are intermittent ramp and lane closures lasting a day or two. I-270 will also have lane closures next week from  I-70 to 340 – be prepared.

As with all construction projects, times and dates are approximate. Double check before you leave to get the latest lane closures on your route.  Be flexible – have alternate routes in mind if traffic backs up too much. Put a good map in your car to find alternate routes in unfamiliar areas. Keep tabs on our site and we’ll keep you up to date with the latest road construction projects and delays.

St Louis has about 1500 miles of state highway running through it. Some of the major routes are 29, 35, 44, 55, 57, 70, 72, 155, 170, and 229.

Interstate 29 is a major highway which runs north to south.  It starts at Interstate 70 in Kansas City in the same places as it follows Interstate 35 and the US Route 71.  The road goes over the Bond Bridge to cross the Missouri River  and St Joseph and here it separates from I-35.  When it gets to northern Kansas City it turns north west still adjacent with US 71.  They pass near the Airport where it runs alongside Interstate 435 and then exits the Kansas City area and moves into the eastern part of St Joseph. It then separates from US 71 and goes through rural areas of north west Missouri working on a south east to north west round and then leaves the state and moves into Iowa at a point that is north of Rock Port.  Most of this highway is in an area called the Platte Purchase which wasn’t originally part of Missouri.

Interstate 35 stretches from the north to south of the United States from Texas in the south to the Minnesota Highway 61 in the north which can then take you on up to Canada.

Interstate 44 stretches from the north east in Illinois at the state line on Poplar Street Bridge which is over the Mississippi River in St Louis.  It was built to bypass route 66 and goes all the way down to Oklahoma City.  Most of the route was once US 66 but has now been upgraded to four lanes. The only part that isn’t is the section west of Springfield which was moved farther south to connect the section is Missouri with the Will Rogers Turnpike.

Interstate 55 is a north south highway (as its odd number indicates) It goes from Laplace in Louisiana to Chicago where it joins US Route 41.  This highway is nicknamed double nickel.

Interstate 57 is a highway that parallels the old Illinois central rail line.  It starts in Miner, Missouri at Interstate 55 and goes right to Chicago Illinois.  It is used as a short-cut route for travellers moving between the South areas of Memphis and New Orleans going towards Chicago and bypasses St Louis. It is 386 miles long and is the longest two digit highway which doesn’t have an auxiliary route.

Interstate 70 runs from Interstate 15 in Utah to near Baltimore Maryland and was the first interstate Highway project in the US. It traces the path of the old US route 40.

Interstate 72 runs from Hannibal Missouri to Champaign Illinois.

Interstate 155 is the north south spur of Interstate 55 connecting Peoria and Lincoln.

Interstate 170 is a route in St Louis known as the Inner Belt Expressway, It is just over 11 miles long and goes right through the city from Interstate 270 to Interstate 64.

Interstate 229 is a spur which is designed to speed up traffic from Interstate 29 to Saint Joseph and was intended to revive business in St Joseph’s downtown.

If you’re planning a trip or excursion to the city of St. Louis at any point in the future then it will be of the utmost importance for you to be aware of the speed limit laws. That being said, now would be a great time to make you aware of the posted speed limits as well as some of the new interstate rules. First of all on certain interstates it has been determined that variable speed limits would be in the best interest of the drivers, and these will be based upon weather, traffic conditions, as well as road construction.

Set Speeds

Missouri law states that no individual may operate a motor vehicle in a way that would impede or prevent the normal flow of traffic. In other words a minimum speed limit  has been established and it is one based largely on common sense. For instance it has been found that the minimum speed can be declared by the Highway Commission or Traffic and Transportation Administration at any time. The minimum speed will be posted on fixed signs throughout the city for the convenience of motorists.

Alley Speed Limits

Within alleyways, individuals are not allowed to travel in excess of 15 miles per hour unless the alley is privately owned. In the case of a privately owned alleyway, an individual will be permitted to travel at the speed limit set by the individual who owns that particular property.

School ZonesWhen you find yourself in a school zone you will need to make sure that you follow the posted speed limit which is typically going to be enforced during school hours, though not at any other time. Pay attention to the time and note that most school zones will feature flashing lights when the speed limit is actually being enforced.
Understand that the laws are subject to change at any time, and with that being the case you should always be prepared to check for information on update laws, traffic updates, and even weather conditions in the area. Even if you are only planning to pass through the area, this is vital information, and information you will need if you plan to experience a relatively uneventful trip.
On the majority of freeways St. Louis does follow the standard of invoking a 70 mph speed limit unlike a few of the east coast states that enforce a limit of 65. Keep in mind that this does change from area to area, and you should always confer with the road administration of each and every area that you drive into. You may be far from home, but the existence of the internet makes it so that we can be far from ignorant of the rules!