For the majority of its duration, Route 141 is a divided highway with four to eight lanes.
Jefferson County
In Jefferson County, Route 141 is a four-lane highway. It has a southern terminus at U.S. Route 61/U.S. Route 67 in Arnold. At this point, it is an at-grade route with business driveways and traffic lights. It continues northwest and has an interchange with I-55. After the interchange, it becomes a rural highway with two lanes on each side with a wide median. The route has another interchange with the Route 21 freeway. It continues north and crosses the county line into Fenton in St. Louis County.
St. Louis County
Route 141 enters St. Louis County in Fenton. It has an interchange with Route 30 and widens into a six to eight lane, partial access expressway. Heading north, there is a plaza to the left that includes various fast food restaurants, including St. Louis Bread Company, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut. After the plaza, Route 141 has at-grade interchanges with several collector roads.The highway heads northeast and has an interchange with Interstate 44 in Valley Park. The highway meets its northern terminus after the interchange with Route 370 at Missouri Bottom Road.
History
Old Highway 141 was a two-lane road built in the 1930s. The idea of an newer, divided highway carrying the Route 141 designation dates to the 1970s, when regional highway planners adopted the idea of an "outer belt" west of I-270. In 1976, Frank Kriz, then the district state highway engineer, called 141 an "old ridge-runner." The highways had traffic jams due to suburban growth. That same year, construction began for a new, four-lane Highway 141 in Jefferson County. Subsequent progress included a new bridge over the Meramec River at Valley Park in 1986 and a new interchange at Manchester Road in 1999. The section of Route 141 between Interstate 64 and the St. Louis County/Jefferson County line was upgraded to six lanes in a project completed in 2003.
Extension
In August, 2012, a six-lane realignment opened between Ladue Road and Page Avenue, with interchanges at Ladue, Olive, and Page. The section between Page and Olive, which was constructed by St. Louis County has been turned over to the Missouri Department of Transportation and designated as Route 141. Maryland Heights Expressway and Earth City Expressway have also been designated as 141. As such, Route 141 now runs from US 61/67 in Arnold to Route 370 in Bridgeton. The MissouriDepartment of Transportation in cooperation with the St. Louis County Department of Highways and Traffic expanded Route 141. 1 between just south of Ladue Road to Olive Road. DHT extended Route 141 from Olive Road to the Page Avenue Extension at the Maryland Heights Expressway which links to the Earth City Expressway which continues north to Route 370 where it then turns into Missouri Bottom Road via Aubuchon Road. SPUIs were constructed at Ladue Road and Olive Blvd. There were some construction constraints with the part of the project between Olive and Page. DHT held studies of the environment to decide how to maneuver construction without disturbing some of the native wetlands in the corridor. During heavy rain, the current intersection at Creve Coeur Mill Road and Olive has the potential to flood, and most of the area along Creve Coeur Mill Road are either wetlands or farmland that lies in a flood plain. St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley had called the project "one of St. Louis County's largest and most important infrastructure improvements this decade." The economic impact of the construction project was not nearly as massive as the upgrading and realignment project on Interstate 64/Highway 40. This construction project was estimated to have a $20 billion economic impact and create over 170,000 jobs during this current decade.
