The Department of Transportation says it’s pushing to expand the interstate highways throughout Missouri.
MoDOT Director Kevin Keith says just last month the department opened a new highway, Interstate 49, which connects Kansas City to Southwest Missouri’s Pineville, and that long-term interstate expansion plans are to connect Kansas City to Joplin and through Arkansas, Mississippi, and further down into New Orleans, La., to the Gulf of Mexico.
“So we can have a direct north and south route from that for freight and travel,” he says.
Keith says the expansion would help with economic growth in the state.
“I thought it was significant enough to let folks know that I-49 is now open for business and we’re not done,” he says. “We still have about 25 miles we’re working on in Arkansas to make this continuous from Kansas City to I-40 in Arkansas.”
Keith also says the expansion will help for easier travel from the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana through the Kansas City region.
AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (0:57)
