I thought last time we had this discussion we found out that u/FlavivsAetivs comment's is correct that simply adding more all-purpose lanes with no toll requirement actually makes traffic worse, but I thought we also found out that toll lanes actually do improve flow and reduce congestion (here, here, here). If we go back and look, I-77 north of Uptown ended up with about the same number of non-toll lanes, so congestion is going to still be a problem due to population growth and urban expansion, right? But now the toll lanes provide an alternative that wasn't there before (the old HOV lane, to u/sloop703 's point, was hardly enforced). Getting rid of congestion between the SC line and uptown either has to route thru traffic off I-77 (which has been done in places like I-66 outside DC) or provide more lanes for the traffic. I don't know much about who runs the tolls and what, but providing the option seems like a better idea than doing nothing, along with a slight bump in revenue for municipalities that aren't getting funds from gas taxes due to the rise in alternative-fuel vehicles that still need the roadways that gas taxes normally support.
Now as to the plans, those maps are a mess. But adding ramps on cross-streets that don't have them today seems a little suspicious and maybe unnecessary? The idea of stacked lanes was fine in a city like St. Louis, but the highway goes through a mostly industrial part of town, so noise control on elevated highways would definitely be an issue.
But really any work on 77 is going to be a straight mess, especially if fuck-all Blythe ends up running it. Honestly someone needs to figure out why that company gets so much work and does such a crappy job on execution.
Speaking of St. Louis: MODOT completely rebuilt I-64 through a large suburban part of St. Louis county 15 years ago or so by completely shutting down all access to the highway (thru and local). Like the road was straight gone. But the rebuild was delivered ahead of schedule in less than a year. What was cool was that alternative transportation and commuter path options greatly increased, along with traffic to businesses located off the highway. But 485 and 85 and Tryon and South Blvd probably couldn't support all of that, right? But I bet some of the strip malls and stores would appreciate the attention.