I-70 Set for Hundreds of New Truck Parking Spaces

Hundreds of new truck parking spaces coming to I-70 in Missouri

A $33 million Missouri project will add hundreds of truck parking spaces along Interstate 70, giving drivers more room to stop on one of the state’s busiest freight corridors.

The Missouri Department of Transportation’s Improve I-70: Truck Parking project will expand and modernize rest areas in Concordia, Boonville, Mineola and Wright City. The project will add 255 truck parking spaces, increasing the total number of public truck parking stalls at the improved locations to 506.

The work also includes 195 parking spaces for cars and five spaces for recreational vehicles. Pavement improvements and upgraded lighting are planned at all four locations. Restroom facilities at the Concordia and Wright City rest areas will also be remodeled, including tile floor and restroom fixture replacements.

MoDOT selected the KCI Construction Team as the apparent best-value proposer and design-build contractor on May 6. Bartlett and West is serving as the project designer. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved the selection as part of the state’s broader Improve I-70 program.

A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Aug. 26, 2026, at the eastbound I-70 rest area in Concordia near mile marker 57.4. MoDOT’s schedule is tentative and subject to change, but the agency expects the work to be carried out in phases while keeping each location open.

Under the current schedule, improvements at the Concordia westbound rest area are planned from summer through late 2026, followed by work at the eastbound location from fall through late 2026. Both Wright City rest areas are scheduled for improvements in 2027, while the Mineola eastbound rest area is scheduled for work from spring through fall 2027.

Parking shortage affects drivers along the corridor

More than 10,000 trucks travel on I-70 each day, according to MoDOT. During peak periods, public truck parking areas along the corridor reach capacity. The agency also reports that about 75% of private truck stops are full during those periods.

Before the project, the stretch of I-70 targeted for improvements had 219 public truck parking spaces, according to Eric Kopinski, director of Missouri’s Improve I-70 program. The additional spaces are intended to give drivers more legal and designated options when they need to stop for rest.

When parking areas fill, some truck drivers resort to parking on interstate ramps, shoulders or other areas not designed for heavy vehicles. Expanding formal parking is intended to reduce those situations and improve safety for truck drivers and other motorists.

MoDOT also expects the project to limit damage to shoulders and guardrails associated with trucks parking along the roadside. The agency has described the work as an effort to improve existing facilities while expanding parking capacity along a critical east-west freight route.

“This project is an excellent example of MoDOT’s innovative delivery of this historic investment in infrastructure,” Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission Chairman Warren Erdman said. “Through federal grant funds, this project will improve existing locations and expand the availability of truck parking locations along this critical freight corridor.”

Part of a larger statewide need

The new spaces will address a shortage along I-70, but state transportation officials acknowledge that Missouri needs additional truck parking beyond this project.

Missouri operates about 50 public truck parking facilities statewide, providing roughly 1,250 spaces, Kopinski said. The state also has about 100 private locations with approximately 7,675 truck parking spaces.

For drivers, the project will not eliminate the need to plan stops carefully, particularly during busy travel periods. However, the increase from 251 to 506 public spaces at the improved I-70 locations will provide more designated capacity at four rest areas serving a heavily traveled commercial route.

MoDOT said each rest area will remain open during construction. The agency’s project schedule is tentative and may change as design and construction work progress.