By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale says city officials are keeping a close eye on the expansion of Interstate 70 between Kansas City and St. Louis and eagerly anticipating some near-future transportation upgrades.
The state legislature approved expanding the interstate to six lanes across the state.
Josendale says that could well impact northern Missouri negatively.
“We’re afraid that there’s going to be a lot of traffic that’s going to be channeled up to (US Highway) 36 instead of (Interstate) 70 to stay off the traffic there,” Josendale says. “I-29 between north St. Joe and down toward the airport (KCI) is one of the most heavily traveled sections of highway in the state of Missouri now.”
Josendale says there are several transportation projects in the planning stages now, including I-29 overpasses at Cook and Gene Field Roads. Pickett Road is set to undergo reconstruction as the state plans to replace the U.S. Highway 36 overpass at Riverside Road.
Headlining the local transportation projects is the proposed renovation of I-229.
Josendale says the city continues to press the Missouri Department of Transportation on the project.
“Again, we’ll be continuing to push on that. It’s still in the works. They’re doing some additional studies that had to be done first,” according to Josendale.
Josendale says the city hopes the Missouri Transportation Commission includes the renovation of I-229 in its STIP, the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.
Josendale says inflation has caused a wrinkle in the project. Once projected to cost $50 million, the I-229 project now is projected to cost $80 million. It appears I-229 will lose its interstate designation as well as the double-decker bridge along the Missouri River in downtown St. Joseph.
Josendale says MoDOT has already done a lot of work on the project and will soon be seeking a contractor which can accomplish a design-build project.
“And at that point, we can then go out and figure out how we’re going to fund it,” Josendale says.
The mayor says St. Joseph residents will likely see a lot of road construction in the next two to three years.