MEDIA ADVISORY
NEW REPORT FINDS MISSOURI IS THE FIRST STATE TO START CONSTRUCTION OF ITS INTERSTATE SYSTEM IN 1956 AND NOW LEADS NATION AS FIRST STATE TO BEGIN REBUILDING ITS INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS WHICH CONTINUE TO PROVIDE STATE WITH SIGNIFICANT SAFETY AND CONGESTION RELIEF BENEFITS
Local speakers join national research group for virtual news conference to release report examining impact of Interstate Highway System – which is reaching its 70th anniversary — on traffic safety and congestion in the state.
WHEN:
Tuesday, June 24, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CDT
Virtual news conference – Click Here for Zoom Web Conference
Phone one-tap:
+19292056099,,85906706335# US (New York)
+13017158592,,85906706335# US (Washington DC)
Report available on TRIP website at 7:00 a.m. EDT
WHAT:
TRIP’s new report finds that the Interstate Highway System is saving Missouri residents’ lives, time and money. Travel on the Interstate Highway System is more than twice as safe as on all other roadways, a result of built-in safety features like median barriers, paved shoulders, a minimum of four lanes, and complete separation from cross traffic and rail lines, according to a new report from TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit based in Washington, DC.
Local speakers will join TRIP at a virtual news conference on Wednesday to highlight the report’s findings. The report, “Saving Time, Lives and Money,” examines the condition, safety, travel and congestion level of Missouri’s Interstate Highway System and estimates the annual benefits provided to Missourians by its Interstate highway system, including saving lives, reducing vehicle delays and reducing fuel consumption.
The new report finds that seventy years after being the first state to begin construction on the Interstate highway system, Missouri is again leading the country in being the first state to commit to a full re-construction of its Interstate Highway System, starting with the re-construction and expansion of Interstate 70 from St. Louis to Kansas City to three-lanes in each direction.
WHO:
Ed Hassinger, Director, Missouri Department of Transportation (Invited)
Len Toenjes, President, Associated General Contractors of Missouri
Rocky Moretti, Director of Policy & Research, TRIP
CONTACT:
Rocky Moretti – TRIP | 202.262.0714 (cell)
Shelley Hammond – TRIP | 404.993.3744 (cell)