The Missouri Department of Transportation is holding a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction for Improve I-70: Blue Springs to Odessa.

The event will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 9, in the parking lot of MO Country located at 401 South Outer Road East in Grain Valley. Some of the speakers at the event include Chairman of Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission Warren Erdman, MoDOT Director Ed Hassinger, and Improve I-70: West Project Director Karlee Covington.

This is the third construction project in MoDOTs Statewide Improve I-70 Program and will add a third lane of travel in each direction to I-70 from just west of Missouri Route 7 in Blue Springs to approximately Missouri Route H. The project also includes interchange improvements at Route D in Bates City and at Missouri Route 131 in Odessa. The project was awarded in Spring 2025 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2028.

Missouri’s FY2024 budget, approved through the state legislative process and signed into law by the governor, provides $2.8 billion in General Revenue to build a third lane of I-70 across the state. The program will plan, design, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, and add a third lane in each direction on nearly 200 miles of I-70, from Blue Springs to Wentzville. Total program completion is anticipated by the end of 2030.