Columbia Chamber of Commerce holds open house, gathers input from residents about I-70/Highway 63 connector

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

On Wednesday, Columbia residents had the chance to provide suggestions to the city regarding improvements they would like to see to the Interstate 70/Highway 63 connector in Columbia during an open house.

The City has proposed providing different features to enhance the design of the highway to create a more-attractive appearance, claiming it could bring more people to the city. These features include adding plants, lights, fences and possibly changing the color of the concrete on the highways.

Taylor Burks, of Southern Boone County, said he has lived in the area for 16 years, and has to commute on the highways in order to get to work everyday. Burks said he wants the highways to represent Columbia more.

"If you go to Kansas City or St. Louis, you see some interchanges that are beautiful and it represents those communities well, " Burks said. "And so I'd like to see something that looks nice as we welcome visitors to Columbia" 

He also added he thinks a city with great resources already should have highways that are more visually appealing.

"A community that has sports... has different entertainment, has beautiful public spaces, but our highways and how people get into Columbia aren't ideal... I would say that that's my top priority," Burks said.

Columbia Chamber of Commerce President Matt McCormick said making improvements to the design feature of the highways will add personality to the city.

"It's that gateway. It's one of the many gateways into Columbia and into Boone county and so it gives us that chance to show who we are," McCormick said.

If approved, work on the interchange would begin in 2025 and take several years to complete.

The City of Columbia, Missouri Department of Transportation and several others will work together to develop the enhanced design concept. The interchange design and construction proposal process isn't expected to start until this fall.

According to the city, the enhancement design project will create a model for other bridges over Interstate 70 and Highway 63 as the bridges are reconstructed or improved in future projects. 

Funding for the project will come from both the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Amy Schneider, of the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau, said how much the project will cost won't be known until after they gather all of the information and input from residents regarding the project. However, she said she expects it to cost roughly $2 million.

The Columbia Chamber of Commerce will present the input gathered from the open house to the City Council sometime in June.