DOT Selects Six National "Corridors of the Future"

September 21, 2007

Dedicated truck-only express lanes are one of the possibilities being explored by the Missouri Department of Transportation to relieve congestion on I-70 between St. Louis and Kansas City. This traffic-laden section of I-70 is one of six Corridors of the Future targeted by the US Department of Transportation for study and improved configuration. Heavily traveled sections of five other interstate routes were also selected for the program. The six selected corridors carry 22.7% of the nation's daily interstate travel.

The federal program funds and promotes the development of national and regional approaches to reducing congestion and improving the efficiency of freight delivery. Currently funding studies through state DOTs, the Corridors of the Future program is expected to eventually fund and spearhead reconstruction and reconfiguration of the specified multi-state corridors, including:

$21.8 million for I-95 from Florida to the Canadian border
$5 million for I-70 in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio
$15 million for I-15 in Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California
$15 million for I-5 in California, Oregon and Washington
$8.6 million for I-10 from California to Florida
$800,000 for I-69 from Texas to Michigan

USDOT received 38 applications for the program from which the final six corridors were selected for study. MODOT has been granted $2 million to study methods for relieving congestion on I-70 from St. Louis to Kansas City. Funding for reconstructing and reconfiguring the 250-mile stretch is estimated at $3.5 billion. Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio DOTs collaborated on a combined I-70 Corridors of the Future application. "One of the ideas that shook out of that effort was the concept of dedicated truck lanes that would benefit both the freight industry as well as the safety and congestion issues that exist on I-70," said MODOT spokesman Bob Brendel.

"What we are doing represents a real break from past approaches that have failed to address growing congestion along our busiest corridors," said DOT Secretary Thomas Barrett in announcing the Corridors of the Future grant recipients. "We are using a comprehensive approach to fighting congestion along these major interstate routes."