State transportation officials say mid-Missourians are excited about the $441-million plan to improve I-70 between Rocheport and Columbia. Improve I-70 director Eric Kopinski describes it as a long time coming:
“The main focus that we continue to tell everybody is we’re six-laning I-70, something we’ve been talking about for 20 years. But everybody shows up and wants to talk about the interchange or this or that. And then there’s a lot of other improvements that people say well why you’re here, let’s go ahead and do this and let’s do that,” he says.
Kopinski says the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is fiscally constrained and will deliver the project on time and on budget. One of the key planned improvements is a new diamond interchange at Columbia’s I-70 and Providence interchange. Additional turn lanes are also planned there on the I-70 off-ramps at Providence.
Meantime, MoDOT is urging you to slow down in the I-70 construction zone between Columbia and Kingdom City and in other work zones in the area. Mr. Kopinski tells 939 the Eagle that motorists reducing their speed in the work zone will get the project done faster:
“The public really took our challenge at the end of last year and did a great job and we’re going to issue that challenge again. If people can slow down and give our local workers that are all from around here room to work, we will get done faster and it will be safer,” he says.
Mr. Kopinski predicts the I-70 project will be a gamechanger across mid-Missouri when it’s completed.