| Blanchette Memorial Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Carries | 10 lanes of Interstate 70 |
| Crosses | Missouri River |
| Locale | St. Louis County and St. Charles County in Missouri |
| Maintained by | Missouri Department of Transportation |
| Design | Cantilever |
| Total length | 1,244 m (4,083 ft) |
| Width | WB: 18.3 m (60 ft) EB: 20.7 m (68 ft) |
| Longest span | 146.3 m (480 ft) |
| Opened | WB: 1958 EB: 1978 |
| Daily traffic | 153,161 (2008)[1] |
The Blanchette Memorial Bridge are two twin cantilever bridges carrying Interstate 70 across the Missouri River between St. Louis County and St. Charles County, Missouri, opened in 1959. Handling an average of 165,000 vehicle transits per day, it is the area's busiest bridge. Construction of the first interstate highway project under provisions of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 started west of the bridge's present location. A sign commemorating the site of the nation's first interstate project stands next to Interstate 70 just east of the Missouri Route 94/First Capitol Drive overpass.
The bridge is named for French Canadian fur trader and hunter Louis Blanchette, who founded St. Charles as a post along the Missouri River; the village was the first European settlement along this waterway.
Major rehabilitations for the Westbound span have been addressed to MoDot in the late 2000s. the project will start by the closure of the westbound span in late 2011. Westbound traffic will be diverted to the freeways east side. The project will be complete by 2013.
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