I-70

Ed Hassinger is replacing director Patrick McKenna, who left in September. MoDOT is in the middle of a project expanding Interstate 70 to three lanes in both directions.

Missouri Republicans campaigning for lieutenant governor in the August primary are making it one of the year's most crowded races, including two state senators, an attorney, a county clerk and a businessman.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is expanding I-70 to three lanes each way, with the first 20-mile section expected to be completed by the end of 2027. More than 40,000 vehicles travel between Kansas City and St. Louis each day.

Nearly 200 people died in Kansas City car crashes in 2022 and 2023. The numbers suggest that high speeds and intersections, particularly on Truman Road, pose the greatest danger.

Kansas Turnpike Authority officials say the updated tollway will be more convenient for drivers because they don’t need to stop at a tollbooth when exiting the turnpike.

The construction project is carved up into segments. The first section tackled will be a 20-mile stretch in mid-Missouri between Columbia and Kingdom City.

The $2.8 billion project will expand Interstate 70 to three lanes in each direction across the state.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson spoke to KCUR's Up To Date about the case of Kansas City Police officer Eric DeValkenaere, the expansion of I-70, the 2024 gubernatorial race, and Kansas City's new gun ordinances.

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.