The project to expand I-55 to three lanes in both directions between Pevely and Festus took another small step forward last week.
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has narrowed down its list of potential contractors for the project to two teams, one of which will be contracted later this year to build it.
The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, which oversees MoDOT, approved the I-55 concept as a design-build project in June 2022.
The approval allowed MoDOT to seek teams of a civil engineering firm, which will design the project according to MoDOT parameters, and a contractor to build from the engineers’ plans.
The project, estimated to cost as much as $120 million, will include adding a third lane to both northbound and southbound I-55 from Hwy. Z at Pevely to the Hwy. 67 interchange south of Festus.
“This (latest step) is important because it brings us one step closer to getting this project underway,” said Justin Wolf, project director for MoDOT. “We have determined that these two teams have the ability to do a project of this magnitude.”
From a list of 20 firms of both contractors and engineers that were interested in the project, these two teams were selected:
■ KCI Construction Co. of St. Louis with engineering firms Bartlett and West of Sunset Hills and Wilson and Co. of Kansas City.
■ Millstone Weber of St. Charles with Jacobs Engineering, which has an office in St. Louis.
Unlike the typical highway construction project in which either the MoDOT staff or an outside firm designs a construction project, and then a contractor is chosen through a competitive bidding process, MoDOT officials have said the design-build concept allows for speed and flexibility, especially in projects that may have multiple solutions.
Wolf said for the next step in the process, MoDOT will issue requests for proposals from those two selected teams, which then will submit detailed plans and cost estimates.
“Those plans could look different from each other, or they could look similar,” Wolf said.
The winning team then will be selected, possibly in July.
A public meeting will be scheduled after the contract is awarded so that the public can see what those plans will entail, Wolf said.
Construction may begin later this year, he said.
“Depending on the plans, the materials needed and other variables, construction could begin in the fall, in the winter or in early 2024,” he said. “At this point, it’s not possible to say when the first shovel of dirt might be turned.”
According to the project timeline, construction work could wrap up sometime in 2026.
“Our goal in doing this project is to improve reliability,” Wolf said. “When there’s a crash or a stalled vehicle in this area, that can cause lengthy delays.”