State Department of Transportation (MoDOT) director Ed Hassinger, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Governor-elect Mike Kehoe, state lawmakers in both parties and Boone and Cooper County officials will be in Rocheport for Tuesday morning’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the brand-new $220-million I-70 bridge.
Motorists on I-70 will notice the activity on the bridge. MoDOT will be hosting an invite-only event, due to limited parking in the area. This morning’s ceremony takes place on the new I-70 eastbound bridge in Rocheport. The new bridge will not open after today’s ceremony: MoDOT says it will open to traffic later this month.
There has been strong bipartisan support in Missouri’s congressional delegation and in the state Legislature for the project, due to safety reasons and the huge economic impact of the bridge. MoDOT describes the I-70 Rocheport bridge as the lynchpin of America, noting it carries more than 12-million vehicles per year. That includes four-million trucks.
Missouri received an $81-million federal grant from the Trump administration for the project. It’s the largest competitive grant ever received by MoDOT. State Sen. Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg), who represents Cooper and Howard counties in the Missouri Senate, is one of several dignitaries scheduled to speak this morning.
The current I-70 Rocheport bridge was built in 1960. That 1960 ribbon-cutting ceremony attracted huge crowds to the bridge site. You can see some of those photos with this story.
