MoDOT plans to close down the Coffey rest areas off of I-35 and convert them to truck-parking areas after it completes construction of a new state welcome center north of Eagleville. The rest room facilities will be removed at both the northbound and southbound locations.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Find out how to advertise here - Email us! [email protected]
The Missouri Department of Transportation has announced that the new “Prairie Passage” welcome center is on schedule.
The state has purchased 26 acres of land for the site about a mile south of the Missouri-Iowa border. New ramps will be constructed off the southbound lanes of I-35 to provide access to the welcome center, but there will be no access to the visitors’ center from the northbound side of the interstate. Twenty acres of the site will be seeded with native grasses, while the remaining land will be used for the facility and parking.
The welcome center will be approximately 5,200 square feet in size and have parking space available for 40 plus trucks and 35 cars in addition to four spaces for drivers with disabilities. Bids for construction of the new facility will be opened on Jan. 26. The Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission will review all bids on the (estimated) $5 million project at its meeting scheduled for Feb. 7.
Once the contract has been awarded, plans are in place to hold a groundbreaking ceremony sometime in the early spring. The completed welcome center may be open for public use as early as the end of 2007.
Staffing for the facility will be provided by the Missouri Department of Tourism. Amenities at the welcome center will include walking trails, a playground for children and a display area for educational information.
This facility will be paid for with Federal Enhancement funds allocated for non-roadway purposes. That means highway construction funds will not be used in building the welcome center.
For more information about the new welcome center, please contact Project Manager Wes Moore at 816-387-2499, or you may call the toll-free customer service hotline at: 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (1-888-275-6636).