Missouri is gearing up to share preliminary information on a project to widen I-70 to at least three lanes from the Kansas City to St. Louis areas. Public open house meetings will be held to share construction schedules for the 200-mile stretch of road and the next steps.
MoDOT’s Eric Kopinski is the Program Director for the Statewide Improve I-70 Program.
“We really just want to tell the public what information we have at this time,” he said. “We don’t have every answer figured out, but this is more of a welcome and share the information we do have with some project goals, a preliminary schedule and kind of the thought process for where we’re at with this quickly developing project.”
MoDOT wants public input ahead of the design phase of the work.
“Who’s got the best ideas and who can most quickly complete the construction of those segments,” Kopinski said. “So we’re going to really leverage innovation in order to make sure that folks that are traveling across the state can still do so while we make these important upgrades.”
One such idea is having construction during non-peak travel hours, such as overnight.
An example residents may be wondering is when the construction will take place.
“It’s very important to our department and to the citizens of Missouri that when we make these improvements, the flow of traffic is still something that is taken a priority and we cannot shut down this entire corridor for the duration of the project and tell everybody to find a different route,” said Kopinski.
The $2.8 billion project will be broken up into six different segments. They will be based on what’s the most shovel ready.
“That first project we’re identifying and going to get industry’s feedback here in the next month, it’s going to be I-70 from Route 63 (Columbia) to Kingdom City.”
The goal is to begin construction in Spring 2024 and to award a contract every six months for the next construction project that could take up to four years.
The open house meeting dates, times and locations are as follows:
- Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Wentzville City Hall Board of Alderman Meeting Room located at 1001 Schroeder Creek Boulevard, Wentzville, MO.
- Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Warren County Administration Building located at 101 Mockingbird Lane, Warrenton, MO.
- Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Concordia Community Center located at 802 S. Gordon Street, Concordia, MO.
- Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Jonesburg Elementary School Gym located at 106 Smith Road, Jonesburg, MO.
- Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Jackson County Fire Protection District Education Center located at 4715 W. U.S. 40 Highway, Blue Springs, MO.
- Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Battle High School Auxiliary Gym located at 7575 St. Charles Road, Columbia, MO.
- Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Hannah Cole Primary School Gym, located at 1700 W. Ashley Road, Boonville, MO.
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