The city of Arnold has entered into an agreement with the Missouri Department of Transportation to improve the intersection at Richardson and Old Lemay Ferry roads. City Council members voted 5-0 Nov. 17 to enter a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, MoDOT’s governing body, to help fund the project.
Ward 1 councilmen EJ Fleischmann and Jason Fulbright and Ward 4 Councilman Gary Plunk were not at the meeting.
The improvement project will cost an estimated $824,770, and the city will fund 80 percent of the cost with a $659,816 grant it received from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, according to council documents. Arnold will pay the remaining 20 percent, or $164,954, council documents said.
The project is expected to start in April 2026 and be completed by September 2026, but Arnold Public Works Director Judy Wagner said the construction may start earlier than projected.
“I am working on trying to get that moved up,” she said. “I have the paperwork filled out, and we should be ready to hire an engineer in the next month or so and get design going. East-West Gateway has additional funds, and they are trying to get us to speed up the construction. The biggest delay will be right-of-way acquisitions.”
Wagner said the intersection will be realigned about 200 feet south of where Richardson and Old Lemay Ferry currently connect, creating a 90-degree turn instead of the current Y-turn configuration.
She also said a dedicated left turn lane will be added to Richardson Road for access to southbound Old Lemay Ferry Road.
Wagner also said a stormwater pipe that runs under Richardson Road will be replaced.
“The realignment, while not a major movement of the road, I think will make that a little bit easier intersection to navigate,” City Administrator Bryan Richison said. “The dedicated left turn lane will hopefully help traffic flow through there. Replacing the pipe is needed, so we don’t have any kind of collapse that leads to damage to the roadway or any potential need to shut down the road, if it becomes unsafe. It will be good all the way around.”