Missouri to Spend $2.8 Billion Widening I-70

The state of Missouri is budgeting $2.8 billion to expand Interstate 70 to a minimum of three lanes in each direction across the state.

Sarah Kellogg reports for St. Louis Public Radio on the budget agreement that cleared the way for the funding. “The original House plan called for nearly $860 million that would have expanded the interstate in the St. Louis, Columbia and Kansas City areas,” reports Kellogg.

Additional details on the project are available in a separate article by Kacen Bayless for the Kansas City Star. According to Bayless, the state’s budget for the project is “substantially more ambitious than Gov. Mike Parson’s $859 million proposal earlier this year to extend the highway in three specific spots near Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis.” Planetizen shared news of Gov. Parson’s i-70-widening proposal in January 2023.

“Parson and lawmakers have framed the I-70 expansion as necessary to combat high levels of congestion on the major highway that slices through the state,” writes Bayless. “However, researchers have disputed the idea that highway expansions are a long-lasting solution.”