Quick trip to KC

[WhitePoleRD]

I know there are a lot of Missour...ans? Missourians? Mizzous? Anyway, I was in KC for this years Comicon- my wife is the con fan, I went for the BBQ and the roads.

We went down 35 to Liberty, took 291 to 435 to KCI- which, by the way, who makes the most direct route to KCI from the north a suburban 2-lane arterial? I imagine that road bites during weekdays, but I digress.

I didn't get to travel the loop (though I have in the past) nor have I been able to see I-49 for myself yet- I guess that will have to be saved for another trip. However, I did get to clinch I-229 in St. Joe, SR 148 in MO and Iowa, and I-29 from St. Joe to 70- all that's left is St. Joe to Glenwood and SFX to the border. No sweat.  Couple of things I noticed in this, my sixth trip to the city:

KC Streetcar is excellent. I can't wait to see how they extend it. We parked at the River Market and took it to the Convention Center. Only had to walk a few blocks.

35 was great in MO. It's under construction in most of Southern Iowa, so that was a pain. Also, your rest stops are awesome.

I must have missed the "best bbq in KC". We went to Plowman's, which was fine but I was expecting more. Oh well.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that US 71 is 4 lanes from St. Joe to Maryville. That made the drive much more bearable, despite the rain.

Overall, minus the occasional truck refusing to move over and driving in the rain literally the whole weekend, a nice trip. I would love to see a freeway connector between 35 and 435, maybe around 35's MM 23. Make it like the Falmouth Spur in Portland, ME. Believe it or not, most southern Iowans will fly KCI over DSM so it's not out of the question.

Also, one last thing- seriously, what's with your trunk route system? Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters?

[mvak36]

I know there are a lot of Missour...ans? Missourians? Mizzous? Anyway, I was in KC for this years Comicon- my wife is the con fan, I went for the BBQ and the roads.

We went down 35 to Liberty, took 291 to 435 to KCI- which, by the way, who makes the most direct route to KCI from the north a suburban 2-lane arterial? I imagine that road bites during weekdays, but I digress.

I didn't get to travel the loop (though I have in the past) nor have I been able to see I-49 for myself yet- I guess that will have to be saved for another trip. However, I did get to clinch I-229 in St. Joe, SR 148 in MO and Iowa, and I-29 from St. Joe to 70- all that's left is St. Joe to Glenwood and SFX to the border. No sweat.  Couple of things I noticed in this, my sixth trip to the city:

KC Streetcar is excellent. I can't wait to see how they extend it. We parked at the River Market and took it to the Convention Center. Only had to walk a few blocks.

35 was great in MO. It's under construction in most of Southern Iowa, so that was a pain. Also, your rest stops are awesome.

I must have missed the "best bbq in KC". We went to Plowman's, which was fine but I was expecting more. Oh well.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that US 71 is 4 lanes from St. Joe to Maryville. That made the drive much more bearable, despite the rain.

Overall, minus the occasional truck refusing to move over and driving in the rain literally the whole weekend, a nice trip. I would love to see a freeway connector between 35 and 435, maybe around 35's MM 23. Make it like the Falmouth Spur in Portland, ME. Believe it or not, most southern Iowans will fly KCI over DSM so it's not out of the question.

Also, one last thing- seriously, what's with your trunk route system? Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters?

I've only used that section of 291 once, but MO152 is a 4 lane option (busier road too). You could take it to 435 or just continue all the way to I-29 and that gets you just south of the airport.

You gotta go to Joe's Kansas City or Jack Stack. I know there are other good bbq joints, but they're the only ones I've been to.

[kphoger]

We went down 35 to Liberty, took 291 to 435 to KCI- which, by the way, who makes the most direct route to KCI from the north a suburban 2-lane arterial? I imagine that road bites during weekdays, but I digress.

291 to 435 is only one mile shorter than 152 to 29.  So "most direct route" is debatable.

I must have missed the "best bbq in KC". We went to Plowman's, which was fine but I was expecting more. Oh well.

Should have gone to Gates.

Also, one last thing- seriously, what's with your trunk route system? Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters?

There are no duplicate letters within a county.  Think of them as being like a county highway system, except they're actually maintained by the state.

[SD Mapman]

Also, one last thing- seriously, what's with your trunk route system? Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters?

There are no duplicate letters within a county.  Think of them as being like a county highway system, except they're actually maintained by the state.

"maintained"

I swear those are the worst state-maintained roads I've ever been on.

[kphoger]

Also, one last thing- seriously, what's with your trunk route system? Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters?

There are no duplicate letters within a county.  Think of them as being like a county highway system, except they're actually maintained by the state.

"maintained"

I swear those are the worst state-maintained roads I've ever been on.

They're a secondary system, a.k.a. farm-to-market roads.  They're not intended to be more than simple paved routes for locals.

[SD Mapman]

Also, one last thing- seriously, what's with your trunk route system? Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters?

There are no duplicate letters within a county.  Think of them as being like a county highway system, except they're actually maintained by the state.

"maintained"

I swear those are the worst state-maintained roads I've ever been on.

They're a secondary system, a.k.a. farm-to-market roads.  They're not intended to be more than simple paved routes for locals.

Fair point. There's paved county roads that are in better shape, though.

[kphoger]

Also, one last thing- seriously, what's with your trunk route system? Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters?

There are no duplicate letters within a county.  Think of them as being like a county highway system, except they're actually maintained by the state.

"maintained"

I swear those are the worst state-maintained roads I've ever been on.

They're a secondary system, a.k.a. farm-to-market roads.  They're not intended to be more than simple paved routes for locals.

Fair point. There's paved county roads that are in better shape, though.

There are some paved county roads that are in better shape than some secondary Missouri highways.  But it's certainly a gross overstatement to suggest that Missouri's lettered highways are all crap.  There are plenty of decent ones out there.

[SD Mapman]

Also, one last thing- seriously, what's with your trunk route system? Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters?

There are no duplicate letters within a county.  Think of them as being like a county highway system, except they're actually maintained by the state.

"maintained"

I swear those are the worst state-maintained roads I've ever been on.

They're a secondary system, a.k.a. farm-to-market roads.  They're not intended to be more than simple paved routes for locals.

Fair point. There's paved county roads that are in better shape, though.

There are some paved county roads that are in better shape than some secondary Missouri highways.  But it's certainly a gross overstatement to suggest that Missouri's lettered highways are all crap.  There are plenty of decent ones out there.

True; I haven't been to much of Missouri.