Columbia-area motorists and other travelers are being urged to consider an alternate route, due to the expected traffic delays all weekend on I-70 near Big O Tires on the Business Loop.
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says you can expect 30-minute delays all weekend on eastbound I-70 in Columbia, due to a bridge demolition and lane closures. MoDOT’s Improve I-70 statewide coordinator Eric Kopinski briefed 939 the Eagle News Thursday on the now-closed bridge from westbound I-70 to the Business Loop. The bridge will be demolished and taken down this weekend:
“This weekend starting at 7 pm on Friday night till Monday morning at 5 am, anyone traveling eastbound I-70 in Columbia will see significant impacts. And so we’re asking anyone traveling eastbound to really consider (an) alternate route in town especially those that are more local,” Kopkinski says.
The demolition will require an extended single-lane closure with intermittent full closures starting tonight and going to Monday morning. This will impact eastbound I-70 between Paris road and Highway 63. The bridge that will be demolished is the one that goes from bridge from westbound I-70 to the Business Loop, near Scheppers Distributing. It is also near a Big O Tires.
MoDOT predicts that westbound I-70 traffic in Columbia will be “business as usual” this weekend. Mr. Kopinski tells 939 the Eagle News that crews will literally peck away at the bridge starting tonight:
“We will have a couple of pieces of equipment with breakers on them. And they’ll be more methodical breaking and pecking away at the old bridge. And we expect that work to begin around 9 pm on Friday night and will continue into Saturday afternoon,” Mr. Kopinski says.
The bridge that will be taken down was built in the 1960s. Mr. Kopinski says the bridge may be down by Saturday evening. MoDOT is expected to finish everything on Sunday, including cleanup.
The bridge demolition that starts tonight is part of the $405-million plan approved by the Missouri Legislature and signed by then-Governor Mike Parson in 2023 to rebuild and six-lane I-70 between Columbia and Kingdom City. State Rep. Jim Schulte (R-New Bloomfield) has been one of the most vocal supporters of the project. Representative Schulte urges you to be patient, telling 939 the Eagle that it will be a win-win when the project is completed.
