St. Charles, Missouri, Makes Plans to Make Rural Highways Safer

There are still a number of highways throughout Missouri that have earned the reputation of being unsafe to drive. There's a certain stretch of Highway 21 near Hillsboro that has come to be known as "Blood Alley," for example.

As you drive along that stretch of highway, you will see bunches and bunches of flowers that denote the spots where people have lost their lives. The highway is full of blind curves and hills and valleys that make it really unsafe, especially at night.

Highway O in Jefferson County is the same way. It is a veritable roller coaster of a ride. There's no shoulder and when people try to pass there's no way to tell whether someone is headed straight at you or not.

An uncountable number of tragic accidents have happened on Highway 44 near Six Flags Amusement Park in Eureka, Missouri. It is partly because of all of the traffic trying to exit off the highway into the amusement park, and partly because people aren't paying attention as they are eager to get into the park and not looking where they are going.

A few years ago the drive of a semi gasoline truck and three other men in a pickup truck were killed by the Six Flags exit when the semi truck went off of an overpass and fell on top of the pickup truck. The semi exploded, killing all of the men involved. The irony of it was that the three men in the pickup truck were also tanker truck drivers. Imagine being killed that way.

Another bad spot is downtown St. Louis near the bridges going over the Mississippi River and the Arch. All of the exit signs are very confusing and they don't allow you enough time to get in the proper lanes. Accidents happen because people are trying to make the lane changes too quickly.

There's an old adage that people who live in rural areas have fewer accidents but when they do they are more serious because the tend to drive faster.

According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, St. Charles, just west of us on notorious Highway 70), is taking steps to make the rural highways in that neck of the woods safer.

According to the Post, "Kevin Keith made the statement after members of the citizen group Shoulders For Safety spoke before the highway commission. The group wants shoulders installed on roads in the Defiance and New Melle areas, especially Highways D, DD, Z, F and 94 to Augusta."

The plans include adding shoulders to a few of the highways and making less costly improvements as well

Source: http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/chas-beat/uncategorized/2009/12/highway-dept-agrees-to-devise-safety-plan-for-rural-highways/