News:

Thank you for your patience during the Forum downtime while we upgraded the software. Welcome back and see this thread for some new features and other changes to the forum.

Main Menu

(CLASSIC MTR) Road trip report: MO, KS, NE, IA

Started by bugo, November 26, 2013, 09:31:36 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

bugo

Note: This message was originally posted to misc.transport.road on January 8, 2002.

I made a big loop today through the Midwest, beginning and ending in
Knob Noster, MO.  Route was as follows:
MO 23 to US 50
US 50 to Kansas City
US 71 to I-70
I-70 to I-435
US 73 to Dawson, NE
US 75 to Nebraska City
NE/IA 2 to Shenandoah, IA
US 59 to IA 333
IA 333 to Hamburg
US 275 to Rock Port, MO
US 136 to I-29
I-29 to US 159
US 159 to US 59
US 59 to I-29
I-29 to US 59, exit 65
US 59 to Savannah, US 59-71 to I-29
I-29 to US 36
US 36 to BL I-29
BL I-29 north to city street, then to US 59 south
I-229 to I-29
I-29 to I-435
I-435 to US 169
US 169 to I-29
I-29/29-35 to I-70
I-70 to Concordia
MO 23 back to Knob

Notes:
-US 50 is a really nice expressway east of Kansas City.  Traffic wasn't
too bad, and you can tell that one of the carriageways is the former
one-way route, by the way it follows the contours of the land.
-Plenty of button copy in MO, especially on US 50.
-Text based "MO 291" on a BGS on US 50.
-Grandview Triangle was a big disappointment.  I somehow expected
more...Also, traffic was backed up a bit at this point.
-The US 71 expressway through KC is pretty, but the design with the at-
grades is crap!  It would be so easy to make it a full freeway, but
NO.  The traffic lights aren't in the best part of town, which could
present a safety issue.
-Got a picture of the end of US 56.
-The expressway ends at 31st st IIRC.  The signage is "TO US 71" from
this point back to Prospect.  Speaking of Prospect, it goes through the
sphincter of KC and is three lanes fer Gawd sake!  The link to I-35/70
needs to be built, and needs to be a freeway.  And the at-grades to the
south need to be eliminated.
-The downtown loop is a horrible road, but very cool.  The I-70 shields
have been removed from the top portion of the loop, and is signed
simply US 24.  Lots of construction on this road.
-Downtown Kansas City is awesome!  More old truss bridges than I could
count.  I'm not really a railfan, but there were some awesome rail-
related sights.
-I-70 gets much better in Kansas.  From near the state line, Kansas
Turnpike trailblazers start appearing, but the road is free to I-435.
-US 24/40/73 is detoured just west of I-435 onto Parallel Parkway.  But
I snuck west of 435 enough to snag an END US 73 sign.
-US 73 is a nice expressway until you get to Lansing. A bypass of
Lansing and Leavenworth is badly needed.  The Missouri River bridge in
Leavenworth can be seen from US 73.
-Got a picture of the federal hoosegow at Leavenworth (For you, C!)
-US 73 is a really nice road north of Leavenworth.  2 lanes, concrete,
nice and straight.  65 MPH speed limit, except for an old section where
it was 55 IIRC.  Traffic flowed at around 80 MPH except in towns, where
they seemed to follow the speed limit strictly.
-Kansas has such nice roads, from what I saw this week.  Most of them
are only 2 lanes, but they seem to take great care of them.
-Crossed into the state of Nebraska for the first time.  Pretty nice
drive and some nice farmland scenery.
-NE uses an ugly font for its US shields, I think it's FHWA "E" series.
-US 159 detour marked, but I can't remember what road it was on.
-Got pics of the northern end of US 73.  It ends at US 75 near Dawson,
but once went much further north.
-US 75 was fairly rough in southern Nebraska.  There was some
construction and I had to wait about 5 minutes where one lane was
closed.
-Nebraska has an unusual way of signing junctions.  Instead of "JCT US
XX" like most states have, they use green signs with "JUNCTION" and a
graphic of which way the road turns.  I got a pic of one of them, and
will post it soon.
-I-29 shields spotted in NE.  Too bad they didn't have the state name
on them :(
-The NE/IA 2 bridge over the Missouri sucks!  I mean it's a nice 4 lane
bridge, but has no character like many of the bridges over the Missouri.
-Crossed into Iowa for the first time.  IA 2 is flat as an N'Sync
groupie for a few miles, but climbs over some hills, which were very
scenic and reminicent of northern Arkansas, which really surprised me.
After these hills, it flattened out again.
-Iowa's US shields look almost just like Arkansas' US shields, with the
same shape and the FHWA "C" series font.  Got a pic of a US 59 shield ;)
-Crossed back into MO on US 275.  US 275 has to be the worst quality US
highway I have ever seen!  It was so bumpy it literally made the CD
player skip, and was almost too narrow even for the little Neon I was
driving.  Looked like a county road that hadn't been maintained in 40
years, except for the nice new yellow stripe down the middle.  A rare
opportunity to see a living US highway that hasn't been
modernized...Kind of a step back into time.  It wouldn't surprise me to
see it truncated at I-29 in Hamburg, IA...
-Got END US 275 picture (Are you listening Froggie?)
-I-29 is pretty rough in MO.  In fact, most of the roads in MO that I
saw were pretty bad.  At least MO is good at signing Interstate-US/SR
multiplexes.  Kansas was good at this too from the stretch of I-70 I
was on.
-No END US 159 sign, but I got a picture of the end of it anyway.
-Saw the US 59-71 bypass of Savannah.  These same two highways are
multiplexed in my hometown of Mena, AR, split and rejoin here.  Road is
currently a super-2 but is being upgraded into a freeway.
-Took the US 36 freeway in St Joseph.  Forget about calling it I-429,
as it is not to I-standards and has some nasty curves, is narrow, and
has some sharp exits on it.
-Downtown St Joseph is pretty neat.  Lots of old red brick buildings
and stuff.
-Drove on the double-decker I-229.  It is RIGHT by the Missouri River.
Southbound lanes are on bottom, northbound on top.
-I-29/435/US 71 multiplex is fully signed.
-US 169 between I-435 and I-29 is NOT a freeway, no matter what the NG
atlas says.  There were at least two traffic lights, but several
interchanges as well.  Other than the crossroads, it appeared to be
near I-standards.
-I-29/35/US 71 Missouri River bridge is a suspension bridge!  One of
the few suspension bridges that I have ever gotten to see.
-I-70 through KC sucks.  It appears to be so far below I-standards that
the I-70 shields should be removed until MoDOT fixes it, IMO.  Traffic
was very heavy (~3 pm).

Comments?





Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.