When it comes to communicating about major municipal highway construction projects, there’s plenty of “conventional wisdom” to go around, and it all sounds great — until it’s your project, and you have to get specific.

That’s exactly the problem the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) faced when it decided to shut down I-64 (Highway 40) for two years for reconstruction in and around St. Louis. While the decision wasn’t easy, the tragedy in Minneapolis highlighted the need to re-examine MoDOT’s major roadways and bridges. Additionally, as a major artery connecting the heart of St. Louis with its western suburbs, I-64 is one of the most trafficked highways in the St. Louis metropolitan area — which is why it was in such dire need of reconstruction. In other words, it had to be done.

The project was scheduled to replace 40 to 70-year-old roadways and bridges at a cost of $535 million in state and federal funds, and it represented the largest single contract in MoDOT’s history.

MoDOT considered various plans to try to minimize the impact on St. Louis including shutting down one lane at a time, various sections and each direction. After reviewing similar projects in other municipalities and considering all the possibilities, MoDOT decided the “one lane at a time” method was “death by a thousand cuts.” It would take three times as long to do, double the budget and perhaps — permanently — reroute traffic and business patterns in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Reluctantly, MoDOT decided the best approach was a total shutdown of I-64 in both directions that would take place in two stages over two years. The first stage would happen in 2008 and would affect the outer western suburbs. The second would take place in 2009 and affect the eastern and central areas of St. Louis. While this solution was dramatic, it was, in the end, the least disruptive to all parties concerned.

Then came the next problem: how would businesses, commuters and the public react? Shutting I-64 down for two years is a little like shutting down the Lincoln Tunnel in New York City for two years.

In addition to concerns throughout the business community about the highway closure, there were also worries from important institutions like the St. Louis Zoo, various professional sports franchises in the city and the convention commission regarding the potential effect on attendance.