ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Department of Transportation has awarded a $600 million contract to widen and rebuild Interstate 70 from Wentzville to Warrenton, marking it as the largest contract ever awarded by the department.
“That is a significant milestone,” said MoDOT’s interim director, Ed Hassinger, during a news conference following the approval of a team of four companies for the project.
The team, known as the Improve 70 Alliance Joint Venture, includes Emery Sapp & Sons based in Columbia, Missouri, Clarkson Construction from Kansas City, HNTB in St. Louis, and Bartlett and West in Topeka, Kansas.
This team was chosen over a competing team that included Millstone Weber based in St. Charles, Ames Construction, and Parsons Transportation Group.
The project is the second phase of a $3 billion revamp of a nearly 200-mile corridor of I-70 from Wentzville to suburban Kansas City and is scheduled to begin in spring and continue until the end of 2028.
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The first segment of the project, costing $405 million, from Columbia to Kingdom City, began earlier this year and is being led by Millstone Weber.
The 19-mile stretch from Wentzville to Warrenton currently has an average daily traffic count of 61,200 vehicles.
The project includes adding a third lane to each side of I-70 from the interchange with Interstate 64 in Wentzville to Highway MM in Warrenton, addressing the congestion issues around a traffic bottleneck under a railroad bridge in Wentzville.
The I-64/I-70 interchange will also be updated, along with interchanges and outer roads in Warrenton, Foristell, and Wright City, as well as at Highway Z in Wentzville.
Furthermore, I-64 between the I-70 interchange and Highway K in O’Fallon will receive an additional third lane in each direction.
Hassinger highlighted the historical significance of the project, as I-70 in St. Charles County was the first project in the national interstate highway system initiated in 1956.
“We started it almost 70 years ago and for the past 25 years, we have known that we needed to substantially upgrade and rebuild I-70,” he stated, emphasizing the necessity of the project.
The funding for the project became available after the Missouri Legislature allocated $2.8 billion in state funds for the effort last year, with additional MoDOT funds assigned to the work on I-64 and the I-70/I-64 interchange.
The contract was approved by the MoDOT board, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, at a meeting in downtown Hotel St. Louis.
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, who was present at the meeting, expressed his satisfaction with the project, calling it a “grand slam for St. Charles County and Warren County and the whole region.”
Josh Doerhoff, executive vice president of Emery Sapp, described the upcoming work as a “once-in-a-generation project.”
During construction, the contractors will ensure that two lanes remain open in each direction during peak travel times, according to MoDOT.
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