Live cameras in St. Louis, United States

St. Louis is an independent city in Missouri, separate from any county, on bluffs above the west bank of the Mississippi River just below its meeting with the Missouri. About 302,000 people lived in the city proper at the 2020 census, at the center of a metro area of more than 2.8 million. French fur traders, among them Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, founded it in 1764 and named it after King Louis IX. The Gateway Arch, finished in 1965 and 630 feet tall, stands on the riverfront as the centerpiece of Gateway Arch National Park, and Forest Park, west of downtown, holds the zoo, the art museum and the science center.

Why the cameras are on the Illinois side

Every camera tied to St. Louis here is actually an Illinois camera, run by IDOT and shared through its Gateway data system rather than by Missouri's highway department. They watch the Metro East side of the river, in and around East St. Louis, where Interstates 55, 64 and 70 meet before crossing to Missouri on the Poplar Street Bridge and the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge. Because each camera is matched to the nearest large place on the map, many of these Illinois views end up here. They show the bridge approaches and the interstate lanes, with the downtown skyline sometimes in the distance, as still images refreshed every few minutes.

The city sets its clocks to Central Time, the same as Chicago and Memphis. The bridge approaches are busiest on weekday mornings heading west into downtown and in the late afternoon heading east. Big events also show up as traffic: Cardinals games at Busch Stadium, the Fair Saint Louis festival around the Fourth of July and the Soulard Mardi Gras parades in late winter. Summers are hot and humid with strong storms; winters bring occasional snow and ice. Late June sunsets come around half past eight, December ones around a quarter to five.

Across the river, Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis offers a classic view of the Arch, although its Gateway Geyser fountain has been shut since 2023.

Sources: St. Louis - Wikipedia · East St. Louis, Illinois - Wikipedia · Getting Around Illinois (IDOT traveler information).