Yeah, upgrade it to a boulevard.goat314 wrote: ↑Apr 19, 2023I stress again that they need to upgrade I-70 in St. Louis City and County. This a rural welfare project.
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Looks like the Missouri General Assembly has come to an agreement on a $2.8 billion plan to widen all of I-70 between Kansas City and St. Louis. Now the budget will go to the governor's desk.
Missouri budget agreement includes $2.8 billion to widen I-70 statewide
Missouri budget agreement includes $2.8 billion to widen I-70 statewide
https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2023-05-04/missouri-budget-agreement-includes-2-8-billion-to-widen-i-70-statewideA $2.8 billion plan to widen Interstate 70 statewide moved one step closer to reality Wednesday night.
Under the planned state operating budget, I-70 would be widened to a minimum of three lanes in each direction across the state. The original House plan called for nearly $860 million that would have expanded it in the St. Louis, Columbia and Kansas City areas.
Gov. Mike Parson has already spoken in support of the expansion, saying he was fine with legislators adding to his initial plan.
The decision to keep the larger I-70 plan was made as part of a series of conference committees between the chambers to agree on a state operating budget.
There was a $4.2 billion dollar difference between the two chambers’ proposed budget going into the conference committees, with the Senate spending more for a total of nearly $50 billion.
This state just loves to piss money away to stay stuck in 1975.In 2018, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), a nonprofit organization in Kansas City, conducted another feasibility study for a high-speed rail line connecting St. Louis and Kansas City. This study estimated the cost of building a high-speed rail line to be between $3.85 billion and $10.2 billion, depending on the chosen route and other factors.
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We need to spend billions on extra lanes to make room for all the ambulances serving rural counties whose hospitals we couldn't afford to run for some reason.
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The last time I went to Kansas City and outer-Kansas to visit family, I decided to come back to St. Louis using US-50, the old cross-state highway that cuts through Jefferson City instead of Columbia.
I kind of loved it. It is a little slower, as I think it added about 45 minutes to the drive, but I was really pleased with the Americana scenery, the winding and hilly roads, and the sheer lack of billboards and semi-trucks. I also found a Dutch market in Tipton that I kind of enjoyed.
The St. Louis side of the state is much prettier and more engaging than the Kansas City side of the state, but I think I might drive back US-50 again sometime in the future.
I kind of loved it. It is a little slower, as I think it added about 45 minutes to the drive, but I was really pleased with the Americana scenery, the winding and hilly roads, and the sheer lack of billboards and semi-trucks. I also found a Dutch market in Tipton that I kind of enjoyed.
The St. Louis side of the state is much prettier and more engaging than the Kansas City side of the state, but I think I might drive back US-50 again sometime in the future.
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^The above is exactly why I take Amtrak to KC. Takes a bit longer, way prettier. The vast majority of that scenery is east of Jefferson City, but even the stretch through Sedalia to Lee's Summit has charms that billboard heavy I-70 does not.
Me too. Take this route to Jeff City all the time. Lots of fun winding roads versus the flat monotony of I-70.RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑May 05, 2023The last time I went to Kansas City and outer-Kansas to visit family, I decided to come back to St. Louis using US-50, the old cross-state highway that cuts through Jefferson City instead of Columbia.
I kind of loved it. It is a little slower, as I think it added about 45 minutes to the drive, but I was really pleased with the Americana scenery, the winding and hilly roads, and the sheer lack of billboards and semi-trucks. I also found a Dutch market in Tipton that I kind of enjoyed.
The St. Louis side of the state is much prettier and more engaging than the Kansas City side of the state, but I think I might drive back US-50 again sometime in the future.
All this said, 3 billion dollars is absurd. The whole thing is absurd.
What's to be done?
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$3 billion is entirely absurd.
Reading that price tag is what led me to post about US-50.
Reading that price tag is what led me to post about US-50.
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^ Agree with all the comments above. 50 is so much nicer of a drive than 70, especially around the Gasconade River, and riding Amtrak is so much nicer than driving. Can chill, eat/drink, and just enjoy the scenery.
What a waste of money.
What a waste of money.
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That portion around the Gasconade River is my favorite stretch of the drive. Between the towns of Linn and Gerald, that's when the US-50 drive is the best.
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We have to spend all our money on tanks, and on highways to drive them back and forth across the country, and whatever's left goes to bank bailouts. There's just no money for trains or feeding children.Trololzilla wrote: ↑May 06, 2023^ Agree with all the comments above. 50 is so much nicer of a drive than 70, especially around the Gasconade River, and riding Amtrak is so much nicer than driving. Can chill, eat/drink, and just enjoy the scenery.
What a waste of money.
Edit: It's sad that so many progressives are too bad with money to understand this.
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^Agreed about both 50 and Amtrak. I used to take 50 to Columbia at least part of the time, even though it added fully an hour to my drive. And I used to frequent the Anne Rutledge and Missouri Mule. Which . . . dates me, I suppose.
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It's official now....
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signs budget with $2.8B plan to expand I-70 across the state
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signs budget with $2.8B plan to expand I-70 across the state
https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article276897048.htmlMissouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday signed a roughly $51 billion budget for the next fiscal year that fully funds a massive expansion of Interstate 70 but cuts half a million in items sought by lawmakers. The $2.8 billion highway plan would extend the interstate from two lanes each way to three across the state from Blue Springs in Jackson County to Wentzville near St. Louis. It’s substantially more ambitious than the $859 million proposal Parson sought at the start of the year which would have expanded the highway in three specific spots near Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis. “With this budget, our administration has done the right thing – the conservative thing – to make strategic investments and maintain responsible spending,” Parson said in a statement. Half of the highway expansion will be paid for with general revenue and the other half through bonds repaid over 15 years.
Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politic ... rylink=cpy
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^We knew it was happening. I'm not sure what on earth could have stopped it really. 
What a use of $2.8 billion. Dumb question, but what's the budget for "beautifying" maintenance on these interstates? I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm always amazed at the amount trash, debris, and weeds (sometimes even trees at this point) littered along the way. If we're going to have them, can they at least look clean(er)?
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Why couldn't the feds have paid for this?
This involves the nation's supply chain. It's one of the most heavily trucked corridors in the country.
Why is the state taking up the entire cost?
This involves the nation's supply chain. It's one of the most heavily trucked corridors in the country.
Why is the state taking up the entire cost?
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I guess because it's completely unnecessary?RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑Jul 01, 2023Why couldn't the feds have paid for this?
This involves the nation's supply chain. It's one of the most heavily trucked corridors in the country.
Why is the state taking up the entire cost?
Overhaul of Wentzville-Warrenton stretch of I-70 to begin in late 2024
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... the-latest
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... the-latest
Long before the Legislature approved the state I-70 plan, MoDOT already had allocated $39 million to add a third lane in each direction under a railroad bridge at a curve in Wentzville and farther east. That area for years has caused major traffic congestion on the western end of the St. Louis metro area as three lanes drop to two. That work, which already had been projected to begin in the spring of next year, will now be rolled into the overall Wentzville-to-Warrenton work. As a result, its start will be delayed a few months, said Eric Kopinski, MoDOT's I-70 program director. Also added to the widening of the segment will be improvements to the I-70 interchange with Highway 40 (Interstate 64) and Highway 61, on the east end of Wentzville.
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MoDOT is conducting a conceptual study of possible improvements to I-70 between the Missouri River and North Hanley Road. Money is already budgeted to reconstruct the I-70/I-270 interchange and the St. Charles Rock Rd Bridge over I-70. Public meetings will begin next month with a final conceptual report being released in Fall 2024.
https://www.modot.org/improve-i-70-conceptual-study-st-louis
https://www.modot.org/improve-i-70-conceptual-study-st-louis
StlToday - First contract awarded as part of $2.8 billion Interstate 70 rebuild
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/gov ... d1b34.htmlContractor Millstone Weber and designer Jacobs were selected to undertake construction of a 20-mile section of I-70 that runs from U.S. Route 63 in Columbia to U.S. Route 54 in Kingdom City.
The team beat out one competitor — Emery Sapp & Sons and Capital Paving and Construction — for the $405 million contract.
ENO Center of Transportation - FHWA: Highway Construction Costs Continued to Grow at 24% Annual Rate
https://enotrans.org/article/fhwa-highw ... nual-rate/
https://enotrans.org/article/fhwa-highw ... nual-rate/