© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Interstate 55 Reopens in Arnold, MO

Ltljltlj
/
Wikimedia Commons

A busy stretch of Interstate 55 in the St. Louis area has reopened after the Meramec River crested in the area.

The Missouri Department of Transportation announced the reopening of southbound lanes of the interstate in Arnold in a news release Thursday. The reopening will allow traffic from St. Louis to Jefferson County to resume. Northbound lanes of the interstate remained open Wednesday, even as the southbound lanes closed because of flooding.

Tom Blair, of MoDOT, described the cresting of the Meramec as the "beginning of the light at the end of the tunnel." At one point, about 300 roads were closed across the state. Blair says other roads could be reopening soon.

The flooding has killed five people in Missouri, inundated homes and forced hundreds of evacuations.

Update 5:11pm May 4th: MODOT also announced this afternoon that westbound I-44 in St. Louis County is now open while eastbound remains closed from Rte 100 to I-270.