Contact: Ernie Blazar 202.224.7627 Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Friday, January 31, 2003

COLUMBIA - Senator Kit Bond announced that Congress is poised to approve $10 million to ease bottlenecks on the I-70 and Highway-63 interchange in East Columbia. Bond secured the funds for the vital project in the fiscal 2003 Omnibus Appropriations bill which has already been approved by the full Senate. Next, a joint Senate-House version of the bill must be approved.

"This money will improve the lives of thousands of Columbia drivers," said Bond, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "This inter-change today is carrying thousands of more people than it was designed to handle and has resulted in congestion, delays and hassles for drivers in the area. Now we have the resources to fix that problem and I am glad I was able to fight for this money and make sure it gets delivered to where it is needed most."

Bond also briefed local leaders on his new role as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Transportation subcommittee which is in charge of rewriting the federal highway bill. That legislation is a kind of blueprint that directs where and how billions of dollars from the Federal Highway Trust will be spent in Missouri and the other 49 states. The rewriting of this bill occurs once every six years.

"While there are no easy answers, I hope we can improve Missouri's position in the highway bill. To do that, it is vital that Missourians of all stripes – Democrat, Republican, rural and urban – pull together. " Bond cautioned that the reauthorization directs national, not local transportation priorities, and that any bill must win wide Senate approval, a task not easily accomplished. While Bond's goal is to increase Missouri's share of federal transportation funds, it is the state's jobs to identify and budget for specific projects.

The $10 million secured by Bond for the I-70/Highway 63 project will allow the Missouri Department of Transportation to get to work on the inter-change very quickly. In particular, MODOT plans to:

* Lengthen the I-70 exit ramp for eastbound traffic and build a second right-turn lane at the Highway 63 intersection.

* Lengthen the I-70 exit ramp for westbound traffic and build a second right-turn lane and second left-turn lane at the intersection.

* Move the Highway 63 Connector intersection with Conley Road and I-70 Drive SE 200 feet south.

* Realign the westbound lanes of I-70 west of Highway 63 with a new bridge over Hinkson Creek and realign the westbound exit ramp to Business Loop 70. Access from the interstate to Business Loop 70 will remain.

An automatic counter on I-70 recently indicated that almost 60,000 vehicles cross paths at Highway 63 each day. Recent data indicate that that Highway 63 at the I-70 interchange averages 125 wrecks each year on its 1½-mile stretch and that, without improvements, congestion would grow three to four times worse in 25 years.

Kit Bond is Missouri’s senior Senator and is now in his third term after having served the state previously during two terms as Governor.