Note:  An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the completion date of the "Improve I-70: Warrenton to Wentzville" project as the completion date for the entire "Improve I-70" project. The article has been updated with the correct dates.

Well over 100 people, including state and local officials, project stakeholders, and members of the public, gathered Monday, Aug. 17, to celebrate the opening of the Highway 47 bridge over Interstate 70 in Warrenton. Work on the bridge replacement began in late March.

Eric Kopinski, director of the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Improve I-70 program, noted that the “ribbon joining” ceremony to celebrate the bridge opening and reconnecting the two sides of Warrenton was an “unconventional” one.

“We usually cut the ribbon to open the bridge, but with the symbolic north and south, we’re going to do a combining to signify bringing the two sides back together here later this afternoon,” Kopinski said.

The $2.8 billion Improve I-70 program will add a third lane, along with other improvements to the highway, between Blue Springs and Wentzville, he said.

“As a part of this really challenging but important project, from Wentzville to Warrenton, this $600 million project right here in this backyard is the largest single project that MoDOT’s ever done,” Kopinski added.

“As we look forward for the next 20 years, this will also be the largest project that MoDOT ever does, so it’s really important that we do it right and that we do it to a high quality.”

Additional improvements are still planned that will further improve traffic flow at the Highway 47 and I-70 interchange, Kopinski said. These include improving traffic flow to the north side of the interchange by adding a westbound loop ramp and a roundabout system with a single signalized interchange.

“So while we’re excited to open the bridge, this will flow even better come this time next summer,” he said.

MoDOT is looking forward to completing the "Improve I-70: Warrenton to Wentzville" program by the end of 2028, according to Kopinski, and the entire Improve I-70 project from Blue Springs to Wentzville by the end of 2030.

Other speakers at the ceremony included Rep. Jeff Myers, R-Warrenton.

“I want to make sure that we thank those crews that came out here and worked really hard to deliver this project on budget and on time,” Myers said.

“As Eric said, we’ve all been pretty good sports about the north and south divide, and I really do appreciate how this community has worked around it. We’re the ones that feel the pain of I-70 being restructured, and more so than most,” he added.

Warren County Presiding Commissioner Joe Gildehaus, another speaker at the event, said when work on the interchange is finished, response times for local emergency responders should be reduced.

“This overpass is more than just a new piece of infrastructure. It will directly improve the safety of our families, commuters, our travelers passing through our county,” Gildehaus said.

Warrenton Mayor Eric Schleuter also thanked law enforcement for ensuring the safety of motorists and construction workers.

“I know sometimes we forget to thank them, or we’ll stand by and say they’re just doing their job,” he said. “But some of the state troopers are here, and some of the other law enforcement are out here with us, so just say ‘thank you’ to them. They go out there and risk their lives every day.”

Bob Fry, St. Louis division vice president with Clarkson Construction Co., also spoke at the ribbon joining. While Clarkson Construction was one of the main contractors involved in the bridge replacement, Fry noted it was a team effort involving many others.

“We have over 40 subcontractors, truckers, locals that are working on this project,” he said, adding that more than two years of work on Improve I-70 remains to be done.

“You guys have done much, much better at staying inside the speed limit than you were when we first got here,” Fry said. “There is a lot of traffic on this section and a lot of trucks. Please be vigilant, be safe, get yourself home every night, that way we can also make sure that all of our guys standing over here in yellow can get home safe every night.”

Opening the new bridge is “a great accomplishment,” said Kevin James, MoDOT Northeast District engineer.

“47 is a vital link in our network, not just with I-70 but for the entire region of our transportation,” he said. “We took a lot of time to coordinate this, between MoDOT, the design-build contractor, the city, the county, emergency officials, and you can see a very successful project.”

Mayor Schleuter and MoDOT’s Kopinski both noted that the bridge replacement resulted in extensive social media commentary, not all of it entirely serious.

“But honestly, that was a hilarious thing to watch and see, to the point where we’ve got stickers at gas stations and shirts on our backs,” Schleuter said.

“From social media jokes to homemade T-shirts, the creativeness from this area was nonstop and the crews appreciated some of the fun banter from you. It brought lots of smiles during the construction season,” said Kopinski. 

“Even with the detours and delay, Warrenton found a way to stay together and to laugh together. Today, as we open this bridge, we are also ceremoniously bringing two sides of Warrenton back together.”