The failing highway was originally built in the late 1950s and had a life expectancy of approximately 20 years. The service life has been extended with a series of rehabilitation projects. But how to best correct the situation and finance required upgrades are questions without any clearly defined answers at this point. "We have to do something," said Bob Brendel, project manager for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement drafted by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) recently. "The problems along I-70 are not going to go away," he added. The concept being pushed by MoDOT officials now is to add two eastbound and two westbound dedicated truck-only lanes along the 200-mile I-70 corridor stretching from St. Louis to Kansas City. Brendel was in Warrenton Tuesday to host a public meeting on the subject. "Generally, the response to this idea is very favorable," Brendel noted. But the concept is not winning unanimous support. "I don't like it," said Warrenton resident John Koehler, who attended Tuesday's meeting. "Who pays for it? If the trucking industry alone would pay, maybe it would work. "But that's not going to happen," Koehler added. "And I'd like to know why a more comprehensive study of the use of rail shipping hasn't been explored." Warren County would clearly be impacted by the proposal. I-70 runs 20 miles through the county. Truck traffic makes up an estimated 30 percent of the average daily traffic (ADT) volume along I-70, according to MoDOT officials. They estimate about 10,000 trucks use the highway daily. The number of trucks using the highway is also growing twice as fast as the number of passenger vehicles, they say. Worse yet, MoDOT officials fear the number of trucks using I-70 will double over the next 20 years. Dedicated, truck-only lanes are built to higher specifications than normal interstate highways, so they are capable of absorbing the daily pounding from heavy tractor-trailers. The lanes would be separated from traditional passenger vehicle traffic by a concrete barrier or a grass median. They would also have special on-off interchanges. MoDOT estimates the cost of adding truck lanes would be about $3.9 billion. That figure is also based on the project being undertaken as a design-build concept. It allows the state to hire designers and builders simultaneously and the two sides work together to make the project go faster. Design-build is considered at least twice as fast as typical highway construction. MoDOT officials say a seven- to 10-year time line is feasible. Adding a third lane in each direction, a concept previously recommended by a MoDOT study, could take as long as 30 years. The drawback appears to be the lack of a process of checks and balances to catch and correct major flaws during construction.