ST. LOUIS, MO The most northern connection between St. Louis, Missouri and Madison County, Illinois is I-270. This portion of the interstate, from IL 157 to the Missouri state line, is largely a four-lane highway which travels over several railroads, has interchanges with several state routes and is adjacent to urban development, distribution and logistics parks, residential subdivisions, and farm land. This portion of I-270 carries traffic through or near St. Louis, Missouri; and Granite City, Mitchell, Pontoon Beach, and Glen Carbon, IL.
As a direct route to and from St. Louis County into Illinois, I-270 is a common corridor for many motorists who work, live, and/or go to school on opposite sides of the Mississippi River. With population density increasing in St. Louis County and nationwide freight movement expanding through the area, the four-lane highway has seen significant increases in traffic volume and the number of crashes. Current Average Annual Daily Traffic on I-270 is nearly 57,000 vehicles.
Gonzalez is part of multi-disciplinary team tasked conducting preliminary engineering study investigating how to address traffic growth, decrease congestion, and improve safety along the route. Gonzalez was hired as the lead geotechnical engineer of the project. Geotechnical services included development of field investigation for collection of subsurface data from over 70 geotechnical borings and development of geotechnical recommendations for roadway, interchange improvements, and Illinois Route 3 bridge replacement. Gonzalez also performed field inspections, oversaw drilling and laboratory operations, and logged collected samples.
