Missouri has picked the team that will widen a 44-mile stretch of Interstate 70 between Kingdom City and Warrenton, adding a third lane in each direction and replacing every inch of existing pavement along the corridor. Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2027, with the project wrapped up by late 2030.
The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission selected a joint venture led by contractor Millstone Weber, with Jacobs Inc. serving as designer and WSP as a key partner, as the apparent best-value proposer for the job, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. The agency's own project pages don't fully agree on what the work will cost: one page lists the deal at $583 million, while MoDOT's broader Improve I-70 program page puts it at $581 million. Negotiations to finalize the contract are still underway, the department says.
Beyond the extra lane in each direction, the plan calls for tearing out all of the existing I-70 pavement between Kingdom City and Warrenton and replacing it with new full-depth concrete, per the same MoDOT project page. The scope also includes three bridge replacements and six bridge rehabilitations, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune. Crews will also add a fourth eastbound climbing lane at Mineola Hill and redesign the Norfolk Southern Railroad crossing at High Hill, MoDOT notes.
A Sixth Piece of a Statewide Puzzle
The Kingdom City-to-Warrenton job is the sixth of eight projects to move forward under Missouri's broader Improve I-70 program, an effort the department describes as a $2.8 billion investment spanning nearly 200 miles of the interstate, according to ABC17 News. The overall program aims to provide a third travel lane in each direction from Blue Springs to Wentzville, MoDOT says, on a highway the department describes as carrying more rural daily traffic than any other route in the state.
This isn't the first slice of that program to land a contractor. A separate 20-mile stretch between Columbia and Kingdom City was awarded earlier to the same Millstone Weber-Jacobs pairing as the program's first contract, as Construction Dive reported. That earlier job called for a third lane in each direction plus two new bridges and four new roundabouts between U.S. 63 and U.S. 54.
Just east of the new project's endpoint, MoDOT has already described a separate $600 million design-build job to add a third lane to I-70 between Warrenton and Wentzville. Construction on that stretch began in 2025, with completion anticipated by late 2028, per MoDOT.
What Comes Next for Drivers
MoDOT says it plans to host public information meetings in early 2027 as more project details become available, though specific dates and locations haven't been released. For now, the contract between the state and the Millstone Weber team remains in negotiation, leaving the final price tag — and the fine print of the deal — still to be settled before dirt starts moving on the corridor next year.
