MoDOT nearing construction start date on new I-55 lanes in Jefferson County

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Early next year, MODOT is planning to break ground on a near $250 million project.

The Interstate 55 Corridor Upgrades project will add a northbound and southbound lane in Jefferson County from Festus to Pevely.

“Anyone who drives on Interstate-55 in Jefferson County should care about this project,” Justin Wolf, the I-55 project director, said. “Even people that live further south in Farmington and Park Hills. Anyone who travels this corridor should care about this.”

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The lane upgrades will stretch eight miles from the Route Z interchange in Festus to the US 67 in Pevely. MoDOT will also be replacing 14 bridges and fixing 12 more during the three-year construction timeline.

“Hopefully it will alleviate a lot of ,” area resident Brett Herzog said.

Herzog and about 200 others attended a MoDOT meeting on the project in Festus on Thursday night.

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“It doesn’t affect me too much,” Herzog admitted. “But I hear the stories from my wife, and it really did bottleneck at Route Z real bad.”

More than 70,000 drivers use the interstate every day, with 15 percent of those vehicles being heavy trucks.

MoDOT expects to begin construction in January or February with a 2026 construction completion date expected.

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