COLUMBIA, Mo. — With trucks and cars speeding by in the background, Missouri officials Thursday ceremoniously broke ground on the long-awaited widening of Interstate 70 across the state’s mid-section.
The $2.8 billion project to add an additional lane in each direction will ease travel and serve as a legacy achievement for Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who made spending on roads and bridges a top priority in his six years in office.
“Infrastructure is not a Democrat or Republican issue whatsoever. It’s just about making the state better for people,” Parson told a crowd gathered in a hotel parking lot next to the busy I-70 interchange with U.S. Route 63, a few miles from the University of Missouri campus.
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“I-70 has been talked about for decades. Decades,” the governor said. “I couldn’t be more proud to be the governor at such a great time.”
The groundbreaking comes nearly one year after Parson signed legislation dedicating state funds to pay for the widening between Wentzville in the east and Blue Springs in the west.
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Gov. Mike Parson and other state officials broke ground on Thursday, June 13, 2024, on a massive reconstruction of Interstate 70 across Missouri’s midsection.
The transcontinental roadway was designed and built between 1956 and 1965. The Missouri Department of Transportation says its oldest sections are 60 years old and its youngest sections are 51 years old.
A push to widen the east-west artery has been gaining steam for years as heavy truck and car traffic have frustrated motorists and affected the transport of goods.
All told, an estimated 12.5 million vehicles ply the road each year, including heavy truck traffic carrying freight to 48 other states.
The first segment on tap is between Kingdom City and Columbia beginning after July 4. It was chosen because the Missouri Department of Transportation had already planned to spend $123 million on improvements to interchanges at U.S. Route 54 and 63.
Eric Kopinski, who is overseeing the massive project for MoDOT, said the $405 million price tag for the 20-mile stretch between the two mid-Missouri communities is the third largest project in state history.
“It’s going to make it a better driving experience,” Kopinski said, adding that the work will boost the economy through 300 construction jobs.
Crews will be working overnight shifts for safety purposes and to bring the project in on schedule. Officials say two lanes will be open in each direction during peak travel times.
“Please have some patience with us,” said Bob Leingang, a project supervisor for Millstone Weber, which won the contract through a bidding process.
The second phase, which won’t get underway until next year, will focus on work between Wentzville and Warrenton.
Motorists in the St. Louis region are already seeing the effects of the project. Lanes closures went into effect this week for crews to locate underground utilities in St. Charles and Warren counties.
Crews will close the left lane on westbound I-70 between Wentzville Parkway and the Warren County line on Friday and Monday night, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
More closures are planned for later in June.
Dustin Boatwright, chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, called the I-70 project a “generational investment.”
“While we celebrate today, we are actively working on the next bid package, and we look forward (to) completion of the entire I-70 corridor by late 2030,” Boatwright said.
Gov. Mike Parson explains I-70 and I-44 construction projects