Missouri Department of Transportation

When a blizzard blanketed snow across the metro, Kansas City Hall and the Missouri Department of Transportation worked around the clock to salt and plow icy roads — with varying success. They may have to do it again soon.

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.

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.

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.

Last year, 35 people died in work zone crashes in Missouri, a record high. That same year, MoDOT work zone vehicles with mounted attenuators were hit 63 times.

According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, motorcycle fatalities have increased 47% since 2020. Last year was Missouri's deadliest on record, with 174 motorcycle deaths.

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

The Missouri Department of Transportation approved an Adopt-a-Highway application from the family of Kevin “Rockhead” Johnson, who was executed in November 2022 for the killing of a Kirkwood Police officer. The sign was up for four months before the entire program got suspended.

The Missouri Department of Transportation says it hired at least 100 new employees to drive snowplows after having a shortage of drivers last winter season.

Missouri Republicans have vowed to take action when the General Assembly reconvenes in January to revise the highway commission’s power over the state road fund.

The independent report from the Missouri Department of Transportation lays out safety improvements to the state’s three passenger rail lines. They come a little more than one year after a train-truck crash killed four people outside Kansas City.

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.