2017 Midwest Vacation - St. Louis Roads and Busch Stadium

During our two days in St. Louis, much of our driving would take place on Missouri Route 364, Interstate 270, 170, 64 and Page Avenue (County Route D). For photos from the road in St. Louis, head here on flickr.

Missouri 364:

Maggie's cousins live off of Missouri 364 so we were on this road the most. Though, our exposure was of the highway from Harvester Road east to Interstate 270, I was impressed at what I saw of the route.

One of the standout features of Missouri 364 are the twin arch Veterans Memorial Bridges. A bike and pedestrian path also share the bridge.

From what I saw, Missouri 364 certainly appears to be Interstate standard, and there seems to be some inclination that it will or can become Interstate 364 whenever MODOT petitions for it. The MO 364 freeway was built over three phases from the early-2000s to 2014. The route runs just over 21 miles from Interstate 64 in Lake St. Louis to Interstate 270 in Maryland Heights. East of I-270, it continues as Page Avenue.

We get an advance warning for the end of Missouri 364.

Missouri 364 ends at Interstate 270. Page Avenue continues straight ahead.

Page Avenue (County Road D):

Missouri 364 continues east towards Interstate 170 and eventually St. Louis as Page Avenue/County Road D. Just east of I-270, the road has some expressway features before turning into an arterial east of Lindbergh Blvd. Below are some shots along Page Avenue.

Missouri 364 will begin at the I-270 Interchange.

Interstate 270:

Of everything I saw along I-270, I thought the interchange with MO 340 (Olive. Blvd.) was the most unique. The interchange here is a SPUI (Single Point Urban Interchange) but the overpass that carries Olive Blvd at the interchange includes a small well landscaped parklet on both sides.

Interstate 170:

We weren't on Interstate 170 much - just from Page Avenue to Clayton where we visited Charles A. Shaw Park on Saturday morning.

The Olive Blvd. interchange on I-170 is rather basic compared to Interstate 270.

Interstate 64:

I-64 was what we were on the most on the way to the Zoo and to the Cardinals game. Traffic was much heavier on this highway than the other St. Louis freeways.

Overhead sign assemblies on I-64 East approaching Interstate 170.

Downtown St. Louis and Busch Stadium:

For the entire set from the Nats/Cards game click here.

On Friday evening, we went to Busch Stadium for the Cardinals/Nationals game. This was my first time to Busch Stadium (it is one of four major league stadiums I have been to). The view from behind home plate gives an awesome view of downtown and of the Gateway Arch. One of the things I love about downtown ballparks are the various angles of a city's skyscrapers and other noteworthy buildings.

One of my favorite things about Busch Stadiums is the neon clock and cardinals in right field.

Busch Stadium is a great venue and the Cardinals won 8-1. It was a promotional give away night celebrating the 1967 World Series Champions and the team was giving away promotional beer steins.

All in all, a very good night at the ballpark. Unfortunately, we didn't get to explore downtown St. Louis as much as we had originally anticipated. The 4th of July parade downtown would make for it to be difficult to get downtown and also get to the arch, so we made alternate plans for the next morning. That's ok though, we plan on going back in a few years. The boys will be older and we'll be able to go to other places in the area. We really enjoyed our time in St. Louis and the next blog entry will cover our drive from St. Louis to Indianapolis.

New River Gorge National River Area To Become A National Park

Great news for those that enjoy National Parks, West Virginia's New River Gorge Region, or West Virginia tourism. Included within the Fiscal Year 2021 Omnibus Appropriations Bill signed by President Trump last night (December 27th) is the New River Gorge Park and Preserve Designation Act. The act will designate the existing New River National River and over 72,000 acres of land within it as a National Park and Preserve. The New River Gorge Bridge will continue to be the centerpiece of the new New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. (Adam Prince, 2007) The river and surrounding land, which was added to the National Park System in 1978, will be our 63rd National Park. The designation preserves over 7,000 acres as a National Park. This area will not allow any hunting. The remaining 65,000 acres of the existing park will be designated as a preserve allowing hunting and fishing. The main attractions to the New River Gorge - whitewater rafting, camping, hiking, mountain bikin

The Great PA 48 Clearance Sale

It's not often that any department of transportation sells land it purchased. They are usually in the business of acquiring land for right-of-way. But in 1982, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation did exactly that. Offering to buyers land it purchased just 15 years earlier for the never-built Route 48 Expressway. Background: The sale was a result of the 1970s cash crunch the PennDOT experienced. Many projects were cut back, shelved, or eliminated. The 'New 48', or the North-South Parkway, which was touted for nearly 20 years as a connection from the industrial Mon Valley to the Turnpike and Monroeville was one of the casualties. In the mid-late 1960s, movement to construct the new highway began with targeting a two-mile stretch of highway from the Route 48 intersection at Lincoln Way in White Oak to US 30 in North Versailles. The plan was then to continue the highway northwards to Monroeville. Extension south across the Youghiogheny River and to PA 51 would

Legend of the Ridge Route; a history of crossing the mountains between the Los Angeles Basin and San Joaquin Valley from wagon trails to Interstates

Over the past two decades I've crossed the Interstate 5 corridor from Los Angeles north over the Sierra Pelona Mountains and Tehachapi Range to San Joaquin Valley what seems to be an immeasurable number of times. While Interstate 5 from Castaic Junction to Grapevine via Tejon Pass today is known to most as "The Grapevine" it occupies a corridor which has been traversed by numerous historic highways. The most notable of these highways is known as the "Ridge Route." This article is dedicated to the Ridge Route and the various highways that preceded it. The Ridge Route is a 44 mile section of highway which was completed in 1915. The Ridge Route originally stretched from Castaic Junction north over Liebre Summit and Tejon Pass to the tiny community of Grapevine. In spite of a roadway that once utilized nearly 700 curves the Ridge Route is generally considered far ahead of it's time and one of the first modern highways in California constructed for auto

Gribblenation

Search This Blog