Columbia Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission set to meet Wednesday to discuss Improve I-70 Project
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. at City Hall to further discuss the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Improve I-70 Project.
According to the meeting agenda, the group is set to discuss the award, layout and future meetings pertaining to the first stage of the I-70 expansion project, which will add a lane in both directions for 20 miles stretching from Columbia to Kingdom City.
The budget for the entire Improve I-70 Project is $2.8 billion, which would add a lane heading in both directions for 200 miles across the state. The money will come out of the state's general revenue funds, which Gov. Mike Parson approved from the 2024 budget.
Out of that $2.8 billion, $405 million was allotted for the Columbia to Kingdom City expansion. According to a news release the construction firm Millstone Weber, Jacobs design firm and the Missouri Department of Transportation will work together on the project.
The project will include adding a new lane in both directions on I-70, new shoulders on the sides of the roads and improved design changes to the Highway 63 interchange and Highway 54 in Kingdom City. Four new roundabouts and two new interchanges were also included in the proposal.
The commission had previously expressed concerns over the project not addressing bike and pedestrian safety, especially at the corridor. However, according to MoDOT documents, the project intends to improve safety near and across the corridor.
As of March 2021, five people have been struck by cars and killed at the I-70/Highway 63 connection in the past five years.
