MoDOT works to expand highways as more traffic is seen on Missouri roads everyday

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KY3) — Hundreds of thousands of people use Missouri’s highways every day, which leads to traffic congestion and frustration for many drivers.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is working to expand two of the state’s most-used driving corridors. Construction started this summer on an extra lane for I-70, and now MoDOT is working on improving I-44.

Tom Crawford grew up in the trucking industry — his father and grandfather had a trucking company in southwest Missouri. When he was old enough, he too got his trucking license. Now, Crawford is president of the Missouri Trucking Association.

“Being able to get across this country efficiently is very critical for the economy,” Crawford said. “We saw that during the pandemic, when everything was shut down, trucks were still moving.”

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Crawford said he’s glad to see Missouri making improvements to the state’s highway systems.

Construction started three weeks ago on the first part of the I-70 expansion between Columbia and Kingdom City. The next part will be from Warrenton to Wentzville; a contractor and design team should be awarded by the end of the year, according to MoDOT. The third part of the I-70 expansion will be from Blue Springs to Odessa; you can expect to see more on that in about one year.

“Our interstates kind of are that life bloodline that runs through the state,” said MoDOT Asst. Chief Engineer Eric Schroeter.

MoDOT is looking at I-44 next. The state allocated a total of nearly $1 billion for environmental studies, bridge repairs and pavement repairs. But this is still in the early stages.

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“We just received this money, but some of these projects will take years to complete,” Schroeder said.

Right now, MoDOT wants your input. You can go to modot.org/forward44 to find out when public meetings will be held and how to give feedback on potential projects online.

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