Business Loop 70 exit ramp demolition set for this weekend as interstate improvement project continues

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Transportation has scheduled the demolition of the exit ramp from westbound Interstate 70 to Business Loop 70 in Columbia for this weekend.

The bridge demolition will require an extended single-lane closure with off-and-on full closures of eastbound I-70 between Route B and Highway 63 from 7 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday. MoDOT says drivers should expect up to 30-minute travel delays along I-70 all weekend.

Improve I-70 Project Manager, Jeff Gander said "there is four girders under this bridge and when we cut those loose and swing them out of the way, we can't have traffic under it so those four times we will have a full closure of eastbound I-70 there are also other times we will have to close it while we are braking the concrete above the lanes,"

Gander added, "It's not a very safe situation and the bridge is in pretty bad shape itself, its left hand exit which is not all bad but as you try to make that left hand exit it doesn't have that deceleration lane and you're kinda going up a hill and around a curve so there was a lot of accidents associated with this flyover overpass,"

According to Gander, the bridge will be removed by using jackhammers, concrete saws, and cutting torches instead of explosives since there is too much traffic under the bridge.

Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead and use alternate routes when possible.

A traffic shift is also planned for Friday on Highway 63. MoDOT says it has finished construction of the southbound Highway 63 bridge for the Conley Rd. underpass and will switch traffic on Highway 63 to the new bridge to allow for the construction of the northbound bridge.

MoDOT is asking drivers to be alert and use caution crews will remove pavement markings and re-stripe the road between the Broadway overpass and Conley Rd. underpass.

The demolition is part MoDOT's Improve I-70 project, which includes expanding I-70 to three lanes in each direction from Columbia to Kingdom City. This phase costs $405 million and includes new pavement on all three lanes. Contractors will also make interchange improvements at Highway 63 and Highway 54.

"We paved the median of a seven mile section of the rural area between Columbia and Kingdom City, in about a month we're gunna put the eastbound traffic on that we just paved so we can finished out rest the lanes of the eastbound side," Gander said.

Once the demolition is complete, MoDOT plans to build a roundabout and a new eastbound I-70 exit ramp to Business Loop 70. The project will include a new collector-distributor road, designed to help drivers merge more safely onto I-70 westbound from Business Loop 70.

Missouri lawmakers approved $2.8 billion in Missouri's fiscal 2024 budget to fund the project that will reconstruct nearly 200 miles of I-70 from Blue Springs to Wentzville.

According to MoDOT's January update, construction starts this spring on a new northbound Highway 63 flyover ramp to westbound I-70 in Columbia, along with a new northbound Highway 63 bridge between I-70 and Broadway.

Gander said, "the fly over bridge we will be building  for norhtbound 63 to westbound 70, thats gunna take off just south of the connector and fly over all lanes of i-70 and touch back just to the east of where we're at right now,"

MoDOT also plans to begin rebuilding concrete pavement on the existing eastbound I-70 lanes between Calloway County routes J and M.

This summer, work will continue with paving a third lane of I-70 between Paris Road and Highway 63, and early interchange work will begin at the I-70/Highway 54 interchange in Kingdom City.

Work on the first phase of the project got underway last year and Gander said despite challenges posed by Missouri's winter weather, the project remains on track for completion by late 2027 and is within its $405 million budget.

According to Gander pieces of the eight projects underway in Mid-Missouri will open before the demolition of the connector bridge.