Ribbon cutting ceremony held for new Rocheport Bridge

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A ribbon cutting ceremony was held today, Tuesday, Dec. 10, to celebrate the new Lance Corporal Leon Deraps I-70 Missouri River Bridge at Rocheport. Governor Parson, Lieutenant Governor Kehoe, other state and local elected officials, local community leaders, and family members of the fallen Marine for whom the bridge is named attended the event on the nearly complete new eastbound I-70 bridge. Members of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) were joined by the bridge contractor, Lunda Construction, and its subcontracts, to celebrate this milestone.

Speakers at the event included:

• Governor Mike Parson.
• Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe.
• Bryan Nichols, from the office of U.S. Congressman Sam Graves.
• Missouri Highways and Transportation Chairman W. Dustin Boatwright.
• MoDOT Director Ed Hassinger.
• MoDOT Central District Engineer Machelle Watkins.

The old steel truss bridge, completed in 1960, carried two lanes of I-70 traffic in each direction. The new twin bridges will each carry three lanes of traffic, linking the multiple projects in the Improve I-70 program, which will expand the interstate to three lanes across the state. More than 37,000 vehicles including 8,800 commercial vehicles use this Missouri River bridge crossing each day.

Construction on this $220 million project began in early 2022 and is on time to have eastbound traffic shifted to the new bridge in December 2024. Funding for the project came from several sources including the city of Boonville, the city of Columbia, Boone County, Cooper County and an $81.2 million INFRA grant, secured with assistance from Missouri U.S. Congressman Sam Graves.

"These twin new bridges would not have been possible without the foresight, cooperation and contributions of our federal and state elected leaders as well as the local communities who recognized the long-term value of investing in a bridge that connects their region, the state and the nation," said MHTC Chairman Boatwright. "This project is a testimony to what's possible when we work together at all levels."

Motorists are advised to continue to watch out for ongoing construction work on the bridge. Eastbound I-70 traffic should be moved over to the new bridge later this month. Construction will continue with all the final work through late spring 2025. For more information on the project, visit www.modot.org/RocheportBridge.

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