The East-West Gateway Council of Governments recently approved the 2025 Priority Projects List featuring the top freight infrastructure funding needs for the St. Louis region in eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois.
The 2025 list includes 27 projects that represent a total investment of more than $8 billion. As of May 2024, more than $500 million in projects on the list had been completed and nearly $2.3 billion in additional projects were fully funded, with many of those already under construction or soon to be.
“As we look ahead five to 10 years, we could see a level of investment that far exceeds the current progress,” said Mary Lamie, who leads the St. Louis Regional Freightway, an enterprise of Bi-State Development. “During that window of time, work may be actively underway on more than $5 billion in infrastructure projects. Those projects would specifically benefit the regional and national supply chain, not to mention supporting the bi-state area’s developer-ready industrial real estate sites.”
Lamie, who serves as Executive Vice President of Multimodal Enterprises for Bi-State Development, said the coming investments will also support the region’s ranking as the most efficient inland port in the nation.
“We’re thrilled with the progress revealed in the 2025 Priority Projects List and are confident this is just the beginning of a sustained period of significant infrastructure investment for our region,” she said.
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The priority projects are identified by the St. Louis Regional Freightway’s Freight Development Committee. On that committee are representatives from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), East-West Gateway Council of Governments, all modes of transportation (river, roads, rails, and runways), the manufacturing and logistics industries, and academia.
The St. Louis Regional Freightway was established in 2014 by Bi-State Development to create a regional freight district and to advance infrastructure projects that support freight movement through the region. The Priority Projects List is compiled annually and used to align advocacy for funding of critical infrastructure improvements.
Three of the highest-priority projects on the 2025 list are highlighted below. (See “2025 Priority Freight Projects” for the full list of projects.)
The largest project on the 2025 list is the new airport terminal in Missouri. Valued at $3 billion, the project is partially funded.
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Currently, the airport uses two separate, unconnected terminals with 54 gates. Under the new plan, a single 110-foot-wide concourse covering 1.57 million square feet will feature 62 gates by 2032. Improvements in the new terminal include a better passenger experience, streamlined security checkpoints, and larger gates to accommodate modern airplanes.
“This project is critical for the region not only to stay competitive for business growth opportunities, but to ensure we have a facility that will serve us well for the next four to five decades,” said Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Airport Director.
Work will be split into numerous packages. The terminal will use Construction Manager at Risk delivery, Hamm-Niebruegge said, while other projects progress with traditional design-bid-build delivery.
As of October 2024, the new Airfield Maintenance Facility was at 60 percent design. The West Deicing Pad and new central utility plant are also contracted for design. Hamm-Niebruegge expects construction contracts for those projects, as well as demolition of the vacant Missouri Air National Guard building, to go out for bid in 2025.
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“We anticipate there will be a lot of opportunity during the next seven to eight years for contractors to play a role in this project, and we are seeing a lot of minority firms seeking certifications in a variety of functions to be a part of the overall project in some way,” she said.
More than 25 million square feet of new industrial space hit the St. Louis region over the last five years, and this 24-mile corridor of I-270 sits in the epicenter of the construction boom. The ability of the interstate to absorb increasing freight traffic will play a major role in the speed, efficiency, and cost to move freight through the St. Louis area, according to the Freightway’s report.
The many parts of this project total $1.35 billion and are partially funded. The largest piece, the I-270 Chain of Rocks Bridge replacement spanning the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri, is under construction. That work includes replacing the existing structure, expanding capacity from four to six lanes with shoulders, and reconstructing Missouri’s Riverview interchange.
IDOT is the lead agency for the bridge project, with MoDOT sharing costs. The interchange project is completely funded by Missouri.
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“We worked with our partners in Missouri and the Federal Highway Administration all through the planning process,” said Kirk Brown, IDOT’s Region Five Engineer. “It’s been more important on this project than others because the Riverview interchange is located just to the west of the bridge. There was no way to build the bridge without impacting the construction of the interchange replacement.”
Because of that, IDOT and MoDOT used a Required Combination Bid process for construction.
“Interested, pre-qualified contractors were required to bid on both contracts, which IDOT and MoDOT reviewed for conformance to our respective procedures for award,” Brown explained. “The winning contractor had the lowest combined bid, while meeting each state’s requirements for award.”
In August 2022, Walsh Construction Company II, LLC, was awarded the $496.2 million Chain of Rocks Bridge contract by IDOT and the $35.4 million Riverview interchange contract by MoDOT. Construction began in early 2023, with both projects progressing in tandem for anticipated completion at the end of 2026.
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IDOT also awarded the $25.1 million I-270 at Illinois Route 111 Interchange project to Baxmeyer Construction, Inc. in August 2024. No other I-270 improvements in Illinois currently have a proposed letting date, Brown said.
Two other projects under the I-270 umbrella are handled by MoDOT. The 8-mile, $278 million I-270 North project was completed in December 2023. Another 3-mile stretch of I-270 from Route 367 to Riverview is in the design phase, with construction anticipated to begin in 2026 and finish in 2030.
In the St. Louis region, Missouri’s I-70 serves as an important link for freight due to its proximity to major corporations, industrial areas, hospitals, universities, and St. Louis Lambert International Airport. The corridor also moves one of the country’s largest volumes of agricultural freight.
“The safety and economic prosperity of Missourians depends, in part, on an I-70 that grows along with the state and nation,” said Tom Blair, MoDOT District Engineer. “That’s why the Missouri Department of Transportation is working to improve I-70. Today, many portions of the facility are strained beyond capacity with outdated interchange designs which increase delays and dampen economic activity.”
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As of fall 2024, approximately $612 million of the total $1.032 billion project funding had been secured. Split into multiple projects, construction throughout the corridor will utilize a variety of delivery methods, Blair said.
MoDOT chose design-build delivery for the corridor’s first two projects. Millstone Weber LLC began construction of the I-70 Cave Springs to Fairgrounds project in 2022 and is scheduled to finish by the end of 2024. Blair anticipates the Improve I-70: Warrenton to Wentzville project will be awarded to one of the three shortlisted firms in November 2024, with construction starting as early as spring 2025.
- Merchants Bridge (TRRA) Replacement over the Mississippi River, Missouri/Illinois, $222 million
- Union Pacific Railroad Lenox Tower and Track Realignment, Illinois, $10.1 million
- 10 Earth City Access Improvements, Missouri, $4.1 million
- North Park Access Improvements, Missouri, $3 million
- J.S. McDonnell Connector Access Improvements, Missouri, $2.4 million
- I-55 Improvements from Route Z to U.S. Route 67, Missouri, $246 million — CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY
- Illinois Route 3 Connector, Illinois, $104 million
- MacArthur Bridge Improvements over the Mississippi River, Missouri, $57.6 million
- I-64 Improvements from Green Mount Road to Illinois Route 158, Illinois, $36 million
- Illinois Route 158 Relocation from Route 161 to Route 177, Illinois, $26 million
- I-270 Improvements from I-70, Missouri, to Illinois Route 157, $1.35 billion
- - I-270 from James South McDonnell Boulevard to Bellefontaine Road, Missouri, $278 million — COMPLETED
- - I-270 Corridor Improvements from Route 367 to West of Route H, Missouri, $42 million — FUNDED (FY26)
- - I-270 Mississippi River Chain of Rocks Bridge Replacement, Illinois/Missouri, $496 million — CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY
- - Chain of Rocks Canal in Granite City to .1 miles east of St. Thomas Road, Illinois, $68.9 million — FUNDED
- - IL Route 3 in Granite City and St. Thomas Road Bridge Replacement, Illinois, $33 million — FUNDED
- - St. Thomas Road to IL 111, Illinois, $3 million for engineering — FUNDED; approximate construction cost $325 million — UNFUNDED
- - IL 111 at Chain of Rocks Road in Pontoon Beach Intersection Reconstruction, Illinois, $20.5 million — FUNDED
- - .2 miles east of IL 111 in Pontoon Beach to .5 miles east of I-55/70 Bridge Repair and Ramp Replacement, Illinois, $86.7 million — FUNDED
- I-70 Improvements from Wentzville to Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, Missouri, $1.032 billion
- - I-70 Wentzville Parkway to Warren County, $550 million — FUNDED
- - I-70 Interchange, Outer Road and Mainline Improvements from Bryan Road to Zumbehl Road, $74 million — UNFUNDED
- - I-70 Improvements from Fairgrounds Road to Cave Springs Road, $62 million —CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY
- - I-70 Improvements from the Missouri River to North Hanley Road, $178 million — UNFUNDED
- - I-70 St. Louis City Limit to Benton Street, $168 million — UNFUNDED
- I-55/I-70 Add Lane Improvements from I-255 to I-270, Illinois, $400 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- America’s Central Port Intermodal Improvements, Illinois, $371.2 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- IL Route 3 Access Improvements, Illinois, $325.5 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- St. Louis Multimodal Freight Yard Expansion at Madison Yard and Rail Improvements St. Clair County, Illinois, $98 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- I-255/Davis Street Ferry Road Interchange, Illinois, $61.3 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- Mississippi River Port Development Projects, Missouri, $59 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- St. Louis Lambert International Airport Cargo Improvements, Missouri, $49.1 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- Kaskaskia Regional Port District Improvements, Illinois, $45.5 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- North Riverfront Commerce Corridor Improvements, Missouri, $34 million
- - Hall Street and Riverview Drive Improvements, $27.1 million
- — Hall Street from Grand Avenue to Adelaide Avenue, $4.3 million — COMPLETED
- — Hall Street from Adelaide Avenue to Riverview Drive, $17 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- — Riverview Drive from Hall Street to I-270, $5.8 million — COMPLETED
- - Branch Street Improvements, $5 million — UNFUNDED
- - I-70 Westbound Off-Ramp to North Broadway Relocation, $1.6 million — COMPLETED
- New Terminal for St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Missouri, $3 billion — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- Martin Luther King Bridge Replacement over the Mississippi River, Missouri, $629 million — PARTIALLY FUNDED
- MidAmerica St. Louis Airport Distribution Improvements, Illinois, $45 million — UNFUNDED
- St. Louis Lambert International Airport Access Improvements, Missouri, $37.5 million — UNFUNDED
- I-255/Fish Lake Interchange, Illinois, $27 million — UNFUNDED
- Studies to Reconstruct Connecting Bridges over the Mississippi River Interchanges in Downtown St. Louis Area, Missouri — COST TBD
Details about each of these projects can be found at thefreightway.com/resources/.
