MoDOT's I-70 truck parking expansion aims to improve highway safety

By Sam Jackson, Missouri News Network
Missouri’s trucking and freight shipping industry has made massive expansions in the last decade, and with that comes the need for more parking for the large vehicles driving the growth.
In the U.S. there is only one dedicated parking space for every 11 trucks on the road. Approximately 55% of all goods were transported by trucks in 2023 in Missouri. That is expected to increase to 59% by 2043, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Truck Parking Draft.
With parking improvements planned throughout the state came a push for highway safety upgrades.
Truck parking spots are being added along Interstate 70 as a part of the Improve I-70 project. Construction of the spots is set to begin this fall. The project is also adding a third lane to I-70.
The U.S. Department of Transportation created the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America Grants, which focus on rebuilding and improving the efficiency and safety of freight networks.
Surrounding states such as Illinois, Iowa and Indiana have received the grant.
Eric Kopinski, the Improve I-70 program director, said MoDOT applied for the competitive federal grants to better I-70 for all drivers.
“One of the first things that I did for our team as we quickly got on board was we said, ‘Is there any way to leverage this historic funding that’s been provided by the governor and the general assembly,” Kopinski said. “Missouri’s taken a very bold step with this funding of I-70, and the federal government should help participate a little more.”
The program initially requested over $300 million, but was awarded $93 million. It will use $33.4 million in grant funds to expand truck parking. That includes a $30 million contract for design and labor, plus $3.4 million for the early design items and project contingency. All those items will go toward raising road quality and ensuring safety for truck drivers.
“As everyone clicks on their Amazon order or orders their groceries online more and more, the need to move goods and services along I-70 is an all-time high,” Kopinski said.
In surrounding states with similar high demands on the freight industry, significant crashes have happened on highway corridors. Many accidents were due to semitrucks not having places to park.
“There were several needs that were brought to our attention from the trucking community,” Kopinski said. “But the biggest, by far, was ‘spend this limited money on as many new spots as you can get.’”
When drivers can’t find a proper truck spot, they may resort to using less favorable spots on the road, such as shoulders or ramps, which can result in crashes.
“The freight that moves along I-70 is going to be able to do so more easily, and really, for Missouri’s businesses and the parking, it’s going to be a good thing,” Kopinski said.
Truck drivers have a maximum of 11 hours they can drive when carrying property after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and a 10-hour driving maximum when carrying passengers after eight consecutive hours off duty. Kopinski said improving and expanding parking areas across the state will be a “game-changer” for the freight industry.
One of the biggest concerns the trucking community expressed in public interest meetings was that overnight truckers have limited hours that they can drive.
“As those hours become close to the end, they have to find a spot to safely pull off and park, and if they can’t, then they run into the paradox of do they park or do they keep trying to find another spot,” Kopinski said. “So it becomes a real big pinch point for them and puts them in a difficult spot.”
The federal grant money along with investments from MoDOT and private gas station and rest stop companies will contribute to the parking solution. There are two projects MoDOT is working on to help improve the rest areas and truck parking.
“The combination of the public-private partnership, where we’re each investing dollars into this, this challenge, it’s going to make the situation a lot better,” Kopinski said.
Outside of the truck parking project the department also has around $4 million to update facilities on I-70, I-35, I-29 and I-55. Kopinski said there are requests from the public to upgrade more building facilities and add truck parking on other routes but funding is a limiting factor.
Other states have invested in truck parking apps such as “Park My Truck,” “Trucker Path” and “TruxSpot,” to name a few but the need in Missouri was to add more pavement, parking spots and lighting.
“MoDOT will continue to have ongoing conversations with freight partners about this topic, Kopinski said. “We will also continue to communicate with surrounding states. For many drivers having different apps for different states becomes problematic.”
Construction will begin at the end of the summer and is expected to be completed by December 2028.
The first stop will be Concordia, which is about 50 miles east of Kansas City, then crews will move to Wright City, which is about 50 miles west of St. Louis. The final two stops will be Mineola, about 40 miles east of Columbia, and Boonville, about 25 miles west of Columbia.
The new parking spots will be in very similar locations to where current options exist, with the biggest change being additional parking spaces. The eastbound and a westbound locations at each of those stops will operate while the other is being improved. Furthermore, improvements will be completed one at a time, for accessibility to drivers who need to pull over.
“We’re going to go try to continue to find more money to do this at the federal level to bring back to Missouri, because this is a win-win, and we want to make sure that we can ship goods across our state for our businesses and for everyone doing their personal shopping and those types of things,” Kopinski said.