With the completion of an interchange, progress is being made toward building the Agri-Business Expo Center just east of St. Joseph near Highway 36.

The Missouri Department of Transportation awarded a grant for construction of the diamond interchange on U.S. Highway 36, providing access to the Ag Expo site and connecting it to the existing Interstate 29, Highway 169 and Highway 71 corridors. As previously reported, work began on the interchange in May 2016.

Ag Expo Center Commission Board Member Donnie Miller said the interchange is completed but not open yet, as the next step in the process is to build a road from the interchange, south to Pickett Road.

“They’re working with the city to build a… connector road from the interchange over to Corporate Drive,” Miller said. “Going south… to Pickett Road will really open up that area south of 36 and east of Riverside for development down through the years.”

Miller said the Ag Expo Center will not just be for groups such as 4-H and FFA, but for the entire community.

“That was kind of the original concept, but now we designed it so we can have some major entertainment,” Miller said. “The plans we have right now… we could seat 5,550 people out on the arena floor.”

Setting a completion date depends on fundraising.