JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has awarded the fifth project in the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Improve I-70 Program, between Boonville and Rocheport, to Capital Paving and Construction.
The Improve I-70: Boonville to Rocheport project, designed by Burns & Mc- Donnell, is the first project in the Improve I-70 Program to be delivered through the traditional design-bid-build process. With an approximate low bid of $104 million, Capital Paving will make improvements and add a third lane of travel in each direction to Interstate 70 along a 13-mile section between Missouri Route 5 in Boonville and the Lance Corporal Leon Deraps I-70 Missouri River Bridge at Rocheport.
In a design-bid-build procurement process, project designs are completed before plans are provided to contractors for bidding. The lowest responsive bidder is awarded the construction contract.
Public information meetings regarding the project design were held in July 2025. Public meeting materials and project plans are available on the project webpage. A formal groundbreaking is planned for spring 2026, with construction anticipated to begin that spring and be completed in late 2028.
Missouri’s fiscal year 2024 budget, approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor, provides $2.8 billion in General Revenue to fund the addition of a third lane of Interstate 70 across the state. The Improve I-70 Program will plan, design, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate and add a third lane in each direction along nearly 200 miles of I-70, from Blue Springs to Wentzville.
The goals of the Improve I-70 Program include:
• Providing a third lane of travel for eastbound and westbound Interstate 70 from Blue Springs to Wentzville.
• Improving the interstate while modernizing existing pavement and bridges through innovation.
• Increasing the efficiency of freight movement along Interstate 70.
• Minimizing construction impacts with a focus on work zone safety, communications and construction staging.
• Expanding a diverse workforce through job creation.
