Speed Limit Lowered on Highway 47 at North End of City

Motorists entering and leaving St. Clair on Highway 47 on the north end of the city soon will be required to do so at a reduced rate of speed.

During its most recent meeting, the board of aldermen unanimously passed an ordinance establishing the speed limit from the north city limits on Highway 47 at 45 mph. The limit currently is 55 mph.

The city limits on the north side of St. Clair begin between just north of Airport and Happy Sac roads.

The speed reduction on Highway 47 is tied with the Interstate 44 North Outer Road improvement project currently under way on that end of the city. When finished, a traffic signal will be in place at Highway 47 near Angels Crossing Drive just north of Burger King where the new outer road will intersect.

“The Missouri Department of Transportation requested the speed reduction,” City Administrator Rick Childers said during the board of aldermen’s April 16 meeting. “It’s for motorists approaching the (new) intersection. It’s a safety measure.”

The speed limit on Highway 47 is 40 mph from just north of Burger King to the traffic signal at North Commercial Avenue and Main Street. The new ordinance re-establishes that speed.

St. Clair Public Works Director Brian Otten told The Missourian that the reduced speed limit should take effect sometime in mid May.

The realignment and improvement plan has MoDOT relocating the North Outer Road at Highway 47 about 1,300 feet to the north. The realignment will follow Peterson Road and intersect with Highway 47 just south of Angels Crossing Drive. Access management modifications will be made to Highway 47, and new traffic signals will be installed at the relocated North Outer Road as well as at the two I-44 intersection ramps.

Upon completion, there will be no left-hand turn access from the current east side of North Outer Road onto Highway 47. Motorists who wish to drive into St. Clair from there will have to follow the new road layout to the traffic signal near Angels Crossing.

Across Highway 47, a section of the west side of North Outer Road will be eliminated, and the new road will connect to Miller Drive.