Jacobs, WSP, Millstone Weber win $583M Missouri I-70 job

Award: Missouri highway project
Value: $581 million, final contract in negotiations
Location: Kingdom City to Warrenton, Missouri
Client: Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, a six-member board that leads the state’s DOT, has picked a joint venture to spearhead a $583 million, 44-mile design-build highway project.

The JV — made of contractor Millstone Weber, designer Jacobs and key partner WSP — will improve Interstate 70 from Kingdom City to Warrenton, Missouri, according to a Nov. 5 announcement. As part of the project’s scope, the construction team will add a third lane in each direction, among other improvements, per the DOT.

According to Missouri DOT, the project team will also:

Replace all existing I-70 pavement between Kingdom City and Warrenton with new full-depth concrete pavement.
Replace three bridges.
Rehabilitate six bridges.
Add a fourth eastbound climbing lane at Mineola Hill.
Redesign the Norfolk Southern Railroad Crossing at High Hill.

This is the sixth project in a series of jobs meant to improve nearly 200 miles of I-70 from Blue Springs to Wentzville, per the announcement. One project on a segment of I-70 — the St. Louis Airport Corridor job in St. Louis County — received $42.1 million in federal DOT funding last month. Missouri’s fiscal year 2024 budget included $2.8 billion to build a third lane for I-70 across the state.

I-70 is a major thoroughfare for the Cave State. It connects St. Louis with Kansas City and carries more rural daily traffic than any other route in Missouri, according to the state DOT.

The project is also a win for proponents of design-build in the state. Missouri recently passed legislation to expand the availability of progressive design-build to all state agencies.

“With this award, six out of eight expansion projects are now moving forward in this historic $2.8 billion investment – an investment that will benefit Missouri’s growing communities well into the future,” said Warren Erdman, MHTC chairman, in the announcement.

The team is negotiating the final details of the contract, according to the news release. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027, with an anticipated completion in late 2030, per the announcement.