$5 million project to upgrade near Arch

ST. LOUIS -- The street that runs past one of America's best-known landmarks is about to get a long-overdue upgrade.

Work is beginning this week on a $5 million resurfacing project for Memorial Drive in St. Louis -- the street that runs between the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River.

The busy roadway has been marred by potholes and cracked sidewalks. Memorial Drive carries more than 70,000 vehicles daily. The work should be finished by the end of the year.

The project is the first of nine Missouri Department of Transportation projects in the St. Louis region to use federal stimulus money. Other projects will include adding lanes and replacing two bridges on Interstate 55 in Jefferson County, and repaving on I-44 in Franklin County.