2024 HOPE (Highway Opportunities through Professional Engineering) Award Winner

MoDOT and St. Louis County Safety Improvements Project

From 2016-2020, there were 5,321 fatal and serious injury crashes in the City of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jefferson County. The $52 million Safety Improvement Project in the St. Louis region delivers treatments that save lives through innovative infrastructure upgrades and community partnerships. Launched in April, it is a collaboration with St. Louis County Transportation that will significantly enhance safety and reduce fatalities on area roadways, benefitting pedestrians and other roadway users at more than 230 locations. Most of the work will be done without disruption to traffic, and while some treatments such as new retroreflective backplates or curb extensions may seem small, they make a major difference in roadway safety. Some other treatments throughout the area include offset left turn lanes, improved right turn angles, bump outs, pedestrian countdown timers and high visibility crosswalks.

One unique feature of this project is its’ breadth -- covering St. Louis and Jefferson counties, and the City of St. Louis -- meaning the multiple locations include city streets, county, and rural roads.

To educate the public about these enhancements, the team executed a robust communication plan that includes media releases, social media, videos, presentation, a newsletter update, virtual public meetings, stakeholder and public officials’ meetings and a printed and online interactive booklet detailing treatment at all the 230 locations. These can be indexed by treatment or route. Booklets have been distributed at libraries and other public venues throughout the region.

MoDOT's collaborative approach with local authorities, transportation agencies, and community organizations are a cornerstone of this life-saving initiative. By fostering strong partnerships and engaging with stakeholders at every level, the project is implementing tailored solutions that address specific safety concerns in the region. The project is estimated to reduce over 170 fatal and serious crashes over a 10-year period. The project completion date is June 2026.

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