MoDOT is changing the speed limits on their portion of the 270/255 loop again, given in the news that came out today. They are switching to variable advisory speeds, from the variable speed limits, as this video shows. You can read their results here.
This news came on the same day that a nasty crash shut down 270 at 367 for 2+ hours during the morning rush hour. 367 leads up to the Clark Bridge, which is a major alternate to the COR.
If and when MoDOT starts that new study being rumored, they better do it right this time. The section from 367 to the COR may only get a third of the average amount of traffic that 270 sees in West County, but that 5 mile section of 270 is where if anything goes wrong the entire area is screwed over with total lack of alternate routes. The incident this morning was a classic example of the nightmare that happened when it hits the fan. The December 8, 2010 incident displayed the classic aftermath of when something really does go wrong. Both those incidents got major news coverage as they happened. Looking back at news archives, anything major that happened on 270 between 170 to 255 got major news coverage, ranging from the TV news stations to the local newspapers. (If the Internet had been around during the early part of the 1990s, the incidents that happened in 1992 and 1994 would have been major stories as well.)
Last but not least, there was an incident at the Route 203 exit last week that had a tractor trailer breaking down in the middle of the eastbound lanes of 270. 4 mile backup during the afternoon rush as traffic was reduced to one lane to clear that incident. This, too, made the news. Something needs to be done to fix that section of 270 in North County and in Madison County, and it needs to be done now.
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