Major Highway Systems of St Louis
If you want to visit the city of St. Louis by road, I can suggest to you, certain roads that you can take in order to have a somewhat hassle-free trip to the city, as well as why you should take some of these in higher regard over other ones. The first ones we shall be talking about are the Interstate roads. More specifically, I-70, 55, 64, and 44. Please note we shall talk about each one in no particular order. The next kinds of roads we shall be discussing are US Routes and local State Routes, again, to be discussed in no particular order. Now, without further ado, let’s start.
First off, we shall talk about I-70, which is a good route to take in order to access the insides of the city. The freeway enters from the northwest, near the suburb of Pine Lawn, it then intersects and forms an interchange with SR 367 (SR: State Route). Then, near O’Fallon Park, it begins to go southward, about a kilometer later, it interchanges with SR 115, and a bit later, it forms an interchange with the beginning of I-44, and goes east, crossing the Mississippi River on the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, and entering the nearby suburb of East St. Louis.
Then there’s I-64, which enters the city of St. Louis from Richmond Heights in a concurrency with US Route 40. The concurrent road of I-64/US 40 passes through all of the southern side of St. Louis Forest Park. It then goes through much of the neighborhood of Midtown. It then cuts through the downtown of the city, forming an interchange with I-44 and I-55, forming a concurrency with the latter. The road of I-64/US 40/I-55 then exits the city of St. Louis and the state as a whole on the Poplar Street Bridge, forming a massive interchange with I-70 further down the road in East St. Louis. This road is a good one to take due it splitting the city of St. Louis in half, allowing you to access much of the city’s attractions.
Now we shall talk about a road that has been discussed about earlier, I-44. The freeway starts off at an interchange with I-70, and goes through much of the city’s downtown zones. Temporarily forming a concurrency with I-55, and forming an interchange with it further down the road. Passing through the neighborhood of Lafayette Square, the road keeps on going towards the west, passing by the neighborhoods of The Hill and Lindenwood Park, before exiting the city limits, crossing the River Des Peres into the neighboring town of Shrewsbury.
Last but not least, there’s I-55, coming from the south, from the suburb of Bella Vita. The freeway passes through much of southern St. Louis, and passing by Carondelet Park, as well as the neighborhood of the same name. It also passes through the neighborhoods of Mount Pleasant, Marine Villa, Benton Park, Soulard, and McKinley Heights. It forms an interchange and becomes temporarily concurrent with I-44, then interchanges with I-64, exiting with it along with US Route 40 into the state of Illinois on the Poplar St. Bridge.