highways

The roughly 17.5-mile stretch of K-10 that runs through Johnson County and its surrounding traffic corridor have long been considered in need of improvement by state and local leaders. The highway sees some 80,000 cars a day, and an express toll way may

Included in the budget passed by lawmakers this session and signed by Gov. Mike Parson in June was around $2.8 billion to expand I-70 to three lanes in each direction. On Wednesday, commissioners approved the first steps of acquiring that money.

The drafted timeline for I-70 construction would start in August, on the stretch of highway between Columbia and Kingdom City moving east-bound, and complete in 2030. Missouri's latest budget allocated $2.8 billion to the project, the largest on the interstate since it opened.

The budget includes a $2.8 billion plan to fully expand Interstate 70 to three lanes in each direction, funding for teacher raises as well as money for public libraries. It also has $50 million to go toward stadium improvements for the World Cup in Kansas City.

The Senate’s plan to go beyond the $860 million initially proposed to expand Interstate 70 remained in the budget agreed to by a Senate-House conference committee Wednesday night. Other Senate positions that remained were state funding for public libraries and the elimination of anti-DEI language in the budget.

The Senate plan would spend nearly $2.8 billion to expand the entire interstate to three lanes each way.

Gov. Mike Parson requested $859 million from the Missouri legislature to widen three sections of Interstate 70, including from Blue Springs to Odessa. But House Budget Committee chair Cody Smith says there's little chance of federal aid for the project.

The South Loop project has received a quarter of the funds necessary to meet its $200 million budget. Officials hope state tax credits will make park over the downtown loop possible.

Spring has brought warmer weather, a chance to spend time outdoors, and a pileup of litter and trash on highways and waterways. Ahead of Earth Day, residents in the Kansas City metro can join these community cleanups to tackle the problem.

The resolution gives the state legislature appropriations power over the state road fund, which is now under the control of the Transportation Department. Because it’s a proposed constitutional amendment, it must be approved by voters to go into effect.

The Kansas Department of Transportation is slated to remove the century-old bur oak tree, which is located at the southwest corner of 119th Street and U.S. 69, to make room for the 69Express toll lane project.

The Tarkio Republican recently became chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Graves says he's talked with Gov. Mike Parson about steering federal money to widen portions of Interstate 70.