Sarah Bryan Miller: I have two questions: First, I accept that federal regulations force the installations of sound walls along the newly redone sections of I-64. But who decided to paint them Soviet Bloc Gray? It's ugly and depressing, and all that's needed to make the effect complete is some razor wire on top. Other sound walls in the area are a light tan. Why can't these be, too?

Second, there's a house at the northwest corner of Lindbergh and I-64; it can never have been a great location, but now its backyard light is completely cut off by a soundwall -- as is much of the backyard itself. It must be horrible to live there, and even with the appeal of the Ladue schools, it won't be easy to resell. Couldn't MoDOT have given those poor folks a buyout?

Thanks!

Bryan

Linda Wilson, Todd Waelterman and David Wrone: Well, we weren't really going for the Soviet Block look, although we have had the comment a lot. The aesthetic overall design was based on Art Deco to carry the historic nature of the old highway. The old bridges were built in the 1930s and 1940s and had a lot of art deco detailing to them. We had an aesthetic committee many years ago to help with the design. The walls are stained to provide a consistent color so we don't have variations of concrete color and to provide graffiti protection. Any graffiti can easily be stained over and covered.

For the house on Lindbergh, we could not buy it. Many homes along the project are close if not closer. We cannot spend tax dollars to buy out a house unless we need that property for the construction of the highway. We did not buy any property from that owner. In fact where you see the wall is the state property line. The property is very valuable as the lot is very large. Many of the homes in this area have been sold, removed and new houses built on the lot. There is a lot of space on this property for someone to do that in the future if the owner decides to sell.

Linda Wilson

fpalazzo: I am afraid I already can guess the answer, but is the plan to cut the traffic lanes on the flyover from EB 64 to NB 170 from the current two lanes to only one? Certainly in the morning having two lanes is a great help and there hasn't seemed to be any problems with accidents while using the two lanes.

I have the same question regarding the southbound I-170 ramp to both East and West bound I-64. It would seem that once the full load of traffic arrives when the eastern half of I-64 opens, having only one lane on the ramps after the split would cause a bottleneck reminescent of the old I-170 to WB 40 you're trying to cure.

Linda Wilson, Todd Waelterman and David Wrone: You are right. The two lane ramps at I-170 are temporary to help the traffic flow to the detour while I-64 is closed. When I-64 is completely open, all of the ramps to and from I-64 and I-170 will be one lane. Keep in mind that I-170 is only three lanes wide. So if you think about it, only three lanes can easily merge into it. We will have one lane from eastbound 64 to northbound I-170, one lane from westbound 64 to I-170 and one lane from Eager Road. That will make the three lanes of northbound I-170. The same will be true going southbound I-170. One lane will go west, one lane will go east and one lane will go to Eager.

Linda Wilson

ted: I saw on the 64 website a link to facebook but it did not take me to a facebook profile. I tried searching on facebook and couldn't find it either. Also, do you send out twitter updates with closures or traffic reports?

Linda Wilson, Todd Waelterman and David Wrone: The link on the I-64 website takes you to Facebook's home page. If you have a profile on Facebook and you are logged in, you can then type the new i-64 in the search box and it should take you right to our page. The I-64 project is not doing Twitter at this time. We do post some closure information on our Facebook page.

Linda Wilson

Rob McFarland: As you know Forest Park Parkway is carrying a very heavy load of traffic especially on the afternoon commute. The left arrow light for traffic making a left turn from west bound Forest Park Parkway onto southbound Big Bend is very fast i.e. only on for about 5 seconds. At rush hour traffic backs up on Forest Park Parkway in the left hand turn lane for southbound Big Bend.

Please extend the length of time for the left hand turn arrow from west bound Forest Park Parkway to Southbound Big Bend. 5 seconds is simply not realistic. It seems like this left arrow should be on for at least 30 seconds!

Thank you
Robert McFarland

Linda Wilson, Todd Waelterman and David Wrone: The signal at Forest Park Parkway and Big Bend is maintained by the County. I will pass along your concerns and suggestions. They have a delicate balance at this intersection with demands in all directions. A typical intersection is about 2 minutes or 3 at most total time for all movements. We typically don't have turn lanes with 30 seconds. The major traffic movement is east west through traffic on Forest Park Parkway. I will see what they can do.

Linda Wilson

Frank Palazzo: I attempted to send this question a few days ago but it may not have gotten through.

I am curious to know if the plan is to convert the SB I-170 ramp to WB I-64 to only one traffic lane upon completion of EB I-64. I have a similar question regarding the EB I-64 ramp to NB I-170.

Having two traffic lanes on each ramp seems to be working pretty well and I am concerned that reducing the number of lanes at a time when there will henceforth be a significant increase in volume sounds like something that may need reconsideration.

Linda Wilson, Todd Waelterman and David Wrone: See the previous answer on this one.