The Federal Highway Administration has approved a proposal by the Missouri Department of Transportation to build truck-only lanes for the Interstate 70 Corridor
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If the state gets funding for the project, I-70 would have at least two truck-only lanes on the inside and two general-purpose lanes on the outside for both eastbound and westbound travelers. The project would cover the 200 miles between Kansas City and St. Louis.

State officials prepared a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to study various improvement options for I-70, and the truck-only lanes strategy was chosen as a better option from the previous decision to widen the existing I-70 to six lanes. While the SEIS team did calculate construction costs to be around $3.9 billion, the team did not select a funding option for the project.

According to The Kansas City Star, Missouri hopes to get $200 million in federal stimulus funding to test out the truck lanes on 30 miles of the road in Cooper and Saline counties, until the state gets funding for the rest of the project.

The SEIS found that while the truck-only lanes option and widening approach had similar effects on the man-made and natural environment, the truck-only lanes came out ahead in terms of freight efficiency, safety, constructability and maintenance of traffic during construction.

The MoDOT and FHWA have been considering I-70 improvement since 1999, when the agencies conducted a feasibility study on how best to go about it. In 2006 following the Improve I-70 Second Tier Environmental Study, the officials decided to rebuild and widen the highway to a minimum of six lanes, three in each direction, between St. Louis and Kansas City.

To access the complete Record of Decision, click here.