Columbia seeking agreement with MoDOT to enhance pedestrian safety in I-70 Connector
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Bike and Pedestrian Commission is hoping that a handful of requests sent to the Missouri Department of Transportation will be added to the Improve I-70 Project to make the new Highway 63/Interstate 70 connector safer.
On Monday, the City Council approved the authorization of an application to MoDOT for a cost-sharing partnership. Despite the fact that the project is already underway, MoDOT offers a Cost Share Program, that allows for certain changes if funding from another source can be provided.
According to a council memo, those changes would include:
- St Charles Road Bridge Replacement: Constructing an eight-foot wide sidewalk along the east side of St Charles Road and extending the size of the sidewalk on the west side to eight feet. The cost share application also includes filling in sidewalk gaps along the east side of the road north and south of the bridge.
- Highway 63 Connector bridge replacement: Construction of an eight-foot wide sidewalk along the east side of the connector and connecting it to the existing sidewalk along Clark Lane. The existing sidewalk currently sits on the north side of I-70. The cost application also includes creating a signalized pedestrian crossing at the Conley Rd/I-70 Dr SE intersection.
- Hanover Boulevard roundabout: The cost share application will include the base fill for the future widening of Clark Ln to the north, widening the culvert for the future road widening, and construction of a five-foot-wide sidewalk along the north side of Clark Lane between the proposed roundabout and the existing sidewalk near Woodland Springs Court.
- Clark Lane roundabout: The cost share application will include the construction of six-foot wide sidewalk along the north side of Clark Lane to connect to the existing sidewalk just west of the roundabout
The cost-share application would be for approximately $2 million with just under $1 million coming out of the city’s pocket. Many of these changes were suggested by the Bike and Pedestrian Commission. During Wednesday night’s meeting, the commission said that no agreement has been signed yet but city staff and MoDOT have exchanged notes.
“We have worked very hard trying to get pedestrian facilities added to the greatest extent,” Commission Chair Elke Boyd told ABC 17 News. “At this point, we kind of did everything we could and it’s really up to the city.”
Between October 2023 and March 1, the commission held a pair of meetings with MoDOT to discuss adding possible safety improvements to the ongoing Improve I-70 Project. During those meetings, the commission noted several improvements that they felt could be added at a reasonable cost.
“The planned improvements do provide great safety improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians. But we think there are small tweaks here and there that MoDOT could maybe add now in order to make it safer because these small tweaks are much cheaper to do now than come back later as a redo it,” Elke said.
MoDOT responded to the request last month saying that several new sidewalks will be added. However, currently, no sidewalk on the east side of the connector or crossing is planned.
“The 63 Connector has probably the highest traffic by pedestrians. There are people going to all these businesses and other pedestrian attractors. In the future, there will be a sidewalk on the west side of the Connector crossing Interstate 70, which is great,” Elke said. “But there is no way to get from the east to the west side. On the south side of the connector, that's the number one improvement that I would like to see.”
