January 16, 2004
More Information: David Wrone at 314-615-8173

A January 22 public hearing will be held in Richmond Heights' "The Heights" on a multi-governmental agency investigation launched to solve existing and projected traffic flow issues on a 1.8-mile length of Hanley Road.

The hearing, which is open to the public, begins at 5 p.m. and is scheduled to conclude by 8 p.m. Attendees will be given the latest update on progress made by on the Hanley Road Corridor Study.

Formed last summer at the request of the late Saint Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall, and with the agreement of officials from Brentwood, Maplewood and Richmond Heights, the Hanley Road Corridor Study steering committee is working closely with an engineering consultant to develop solutions to motor vehicle congestion on the section of Hanley that runs from just north of I-64/40 southerly to just south of where Hanley turns into Laclede Station Road. More than 45,000 drivers use this segment of Hanley every day - in and of itself an extremely heavy level of usage. Those numbers are expected to increase with new commercial development and MetroLink's extension slated to open along Hanley within the next two years.

The steering committee consists of Saint Louis County's Department of Highways and Traffic (which maintains most of this portion of Hanley) and the three cities through which the road runs: Maplewood, Brentwood and Richmond Heights. Cooperation between these four entities has been and will continue to be crucial to the successful implementation of traffic flow solutions that will benefit the optimum number of people.

After exhaustive research, Steering Committee members have identified two especially problematic traffic "choke points" on Hanley that must be addressed: Hanley's intersection with Manchester and Hanley's tie-in to Eager Road just south of I-64. Potential remedies suggested by the study group include carrying Hanley Road traffic over the vehicle-teeming intersection with Manchester Road by means of a bridge. At the Hanley/Eager 'choke point,' a tunnel has been proposed to separate northbound motorists who wish to access Eager Road.

Committee members have begun exploring funding options by which to finance these projects.

The public can also learn more about the study by accessing www.stlouisco.com. Click on "Highways and Traffic" and then on "Hanley Corridor Study." Names and phone numbers of all Committee members are listed here. The site also includes a "public comment" feature.