Emergency I-70 ramp and lane closure expected to be completed by Thursday morning
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A lane closure on eastbound Interstate 70 in Columbia caused by emergency pavement repairs is expected to reopen before Thursday morning’s rush hour, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
One lane of eastbound I-70 and an eastbound off-ramp closed Wednesday after a large pothole developed near the construction zone, prompting emergency repairs.
Contractors closed the ramp from eastbound I-70 to Providence Road and the driving lane of eastbound I-70 near mile marker 126.5 beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday. MoDOT expects the closures to remain in place through early Thursday morning.
Spencer Robinson, MoDOT’s Improve I-70 program director for the Rocheport-to-Columbia project, told ABC 17 News the agency decided to accelerate repairs after conditions deteriorated in recent days ahead of the holiday travel period.
“We had a large pothole start forming over the weekend and progressively got worse over the last few days,” Robinson said. “This thing is 20-feet long and about a dozen feet wide, so a very large area we’re talking about was creating a very rough patch.”
Robinson said the timing of the repair was driven in part by anticipated Independence Day travel and reduced staffing availability later in the week.
“Heading into a busy holiday season where we have a lot of crews that take off for a long weekend, we’re not going to be able to respond as quickly,” Robinson said. “We felt the need to get in there and get this addressed now ahead of Thursday morning before the busy travel rush.”
According to Robinson, the damaged section is among the oldest remaining pavement within the construction limits.
“We've replaced several of the other pieces surrounding it in the area,” Robinson said. “This is one of the older pieces of pavement on I-70. It’s probably in the neighborhood of 50-to-60 years old, so it’s definitely past its design life.”
Robinson said backups caused by the deteriorating pavement increased travel times through the area to roughly 15-20 minutes compared with the typical three-to-four-minute trip.
MoDOT said the ramp from Providence Road to westbound I-70 will remain open and will no longer close overnight Wednesday as previously planned.
The emergency repairs come as crews continue work on the larger Improve I-70 project between Rocheport and Columbia, which includes replacing the Providence Road bridge and expanding portions of the interstate.
MoDOT is monitoring a small number of other aging pavement sections in the corridor but does not expect widespread issues before reconstruction work reaches those areas.
Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Robinson told ABC 17 News the department remained on track to reopen the right lane before Thursday morning’s commute.
Despite weather delays earlier this year, Robinson said construction of the overall project remains on pace.
“We are on or ahead of schedule in every phase of construction right now,” Robinson said. “We've been fighting a lot of rain through the early part of this year. That slowed us down more than we'd like, but crews have been powering through and working around it.”
