Interstates and roadways with low rates of congestion
One-day drive or less to major Midwestern and Southern cities
Three of the area’s four interstates reach U.S. coastlines
The St. Louis region boasts four interstates and a high-priority corridor that connects the area to key locations in every direction, along with an interstate loop that provides easy travel around the city. This system of interstates also offers fluid connection to and from all of the bistate area’s warehouse and distribution parks and ports on both sides of the Mississippi River. The region’s major interstates reach cities and states across the country, with Chicago, Memphis, Kansas City and Indianapolis within a five hour or less drive time away.
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I-44 |
St. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City |
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I-55 |
Chicago, St, Louis, Memphis, New Orleans |
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I-64 |
Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia |
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I-70 |
Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Baltimore |
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Interstate Loop |
I-270 (Missouri/Illinois) & I-255 (Missouri/Illinois) |
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Avenue of the Saints |
Corridor connecting St. Louis to Minneapolis/St. Paul, comprised of US-61, Iowa 218, and I-35 |
Improving Our Connections
Infrastructure investment is a top priority for the St. Louis region, and thanks to exceptional regional leadership, we have demonstrated public and private success by funding and delivering critical projects. More than $1.8B in various projects were funded and/or underway as of 2023, including several that are strengthening our interstate system. Unprecedented collaboration between the Missouri and Illinois Departments of Transportation (DOTs) facilitated the generation of $600 million for work to enhance portions of Interstate 270 in eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois over three years during the project planning phase, despite both DOTs experiencing drastic funding level reductions.
MoDOT and IDOT worked collaboratively on construction and design during 2020 to enhance I-270, which supports companies such as AB-InBev, Boeing, World Wide Technology, Procter & Gamble, Amazon and others which have facilities along the critical bi-state corridor. In all, hundreds of millions of dollars are supporting projects along the combined I-270/Interstate 70 Corridor — one of the nation’s primary east-west manufacturing and logistics corridors. Improvements along Interstate 55 in Jefferson County, MO are also in the works to support heavy truck movement and existing and future port operations, while various improvement projects on I-70 from Wentzville to Stan Musial Veteran’s Memorial Bridge were elevated to top priorities for the region, with several securing funding.
“The I-70 reconstruction and expansion between St. Louis and Kansas City is a game changer. The St. Louis region is a distribution metro, and distribution relies on trucks and those trucks rely on the smooth, safe movement of freight. Chicago is a big competitor and is fed by two major east-west interstates, I-80 and I-90. If we are going to remain relevant and competitive, we have to have good connections on I-70. It is our major east-west corridor. That project is crucial to the region and will be a big part of our future successes.”
“The city’s location in the middle of the country positions it to better handle loads from either coasts than from a logistics hub like Chicago, especially in the wake of new federal legislation that caps the number of hours drivers are allowed to be on the road. Drivers from California, for example, will run out of hours before they can make it to Chicago — giving St. Louis, and its close proximity to more destinations, an advantage in the $9.6 trillion global logistics industry.”