I-49 Coming to Missouri

[Scott5114]

Has the I-49 name caught on in Missouri, or are people still calling it Highway 71?

[Darkchylde]

At least in the KC area, it's starting to catch on. The traffic reports on the radio always use "I-49" for that area instead of "71 Highway", which they do still use for the portion of 71 north of the Triangle. People are a little slower on the uptake than the traffic reports, but they're learning.

[route56]

At least in the KC area, it's starting to catch on. The traffic reports on the radio always use "I-49" for that area instead of "71 Highway", which they do still use for the portion of 71 north of the Triangle.

Which is impressive, considering that everyone still refers to the Triangle as "the Triangle" instead of its official name "Three Trails Crossing."

A running line from local talk show host Dana Wright is that "it will always be the Grandview Triangle."

[NE2]

its official name "Three Trails Crossing."

Stupid name that nobody should use.

[I94RoadRunner]

its official name "Three Trails Crossing."

Stupid name that nobody should use.

Funny, I have always heard the junction as 'The Triangle' myself .....

[txstateends]

its official name "Three Trails Crossing."

Sounds like a glorified side street and not a major freeway interchange.

[M86]

Has the I-49 name caught on in Missouri, or are people still calling it Highway 71?

I think it's caught on, and I think it's caught on here in NW Arkansas... Although when it was I-540 in NWA, people kept calling it "the bypass", and I'll still here that time to time (and I hate it!).

I've seen billboards along I-49 in Missouri with changed "signage" on them.

In true Missouri form, I want to see 49 Interstate references!

[m2tbone]

I wouldn't call that true Missouri form, as that's only a thing in Western Missouri.  In Mid-Missouri and Eastern Missouri, we say it in the form of such examples as Interstate 70 or I-70, Hwy 63, Hwy 61, etc. 

[Scott5114]

And even then, it would be "49 Highway". If Interstateness is explicitly referenced, it is your standard "I-49" or "Interstate 49".

[bugo]

I lived in Kansas City for 2 years and never heard "70 Highway" or "35 Highway". Only for state (lettered and numbered) and US highways.

[silverback1065]

According to Google Maps I-49 is planned to follow US 71 all the way north into downtown Kansas City eventually: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9996746,-94.5561395,542m/data=!3m1!1e3

If that court order preventing the stoplights at Gregory Blvd, 59th Street and 55th Street from being removed ever gets overturned, perhaps. The ROW's already there. The highway's already freeway on both ends of it.

There's also the issue that the US 71/I-70/I-670 interchange at the southeastern corner of the Downtown Loop doesn't have full freeway connections for all movements (specifically US 71 North to I-70 East (requires a surface connection via Truman), and I-70 West to US 71 South (requires a surface connection via The Paseo.)) It wouldn't be mandatory to upgrade that interchange for the designation to be put into place, assuming the three stoplights ever go down, but those connections would sure be nice to have.

But as long as that court order's in place, filling in that missing link is dead in the water. They may as well just extend I-49 up the southeastern quadrant of I-435 to I-70 near the stadiums if they want a 49/70 direct link.

There's seriously a court order ordering them to keep the road dangerous and inefficient?  Could you post a link?

[dfwmapper]

Apparently someone wrote a paper about it, found it on Google, haven't read it: http://tulane.edu/liberal-arts/upload/SMFPaper.pdf

[Scott5114]

The court order mandates the stoplights because the adjoining neighborhood doesn't want a freeway there.

[Grzrd]

There's seriously a court order ordering them to keep the road dangerous and inefficient?  Could you post a link?

The two KCUR stories linked in this post provide some good background information.

[Grzrd]

This article reports that, although Governor Nixon did not veto the measure, he is opposed to it

"I cannot in good conscience endorse a $6.1 billion tax hike on Missouri families and seniors when special interests and the wealthy are being showered with sweetheart deals. This tax hike is neither a fair nor fiscally responsible solution to our transportation infrastructure needs and it does not have my support."

This December 12 article reports that Gov. Nixon is now suggesting that tolling I-70 could free up money for other projects in Missouri, presumably including the Bella Vista Bypass:

The newest sections of Interstate 70 – a road that spans across mid-Missouri connecting the state's two largest metropolises, St. Louis and Kansas City – were constructed in the 1960s and "designed to meet road standards and traffic volumes of an earlier day,"  as Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon described it on Tuesday. It is traveled more than any other road in the state, and after years of repairs, its base is not what it used to be ....
On Tuesday, Nixon, a Democrat, penned a letter to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission asking it to report back to him on the idea of using tolls to pay for Interstate 70 upgrades. That, he said, could free up existing money for other projects for the agency that he said will soon reach a "critical juncture"  in its funding ....
Asked if there was any interest in paying for Missouri's share of the Bella Vista Bypass with a toll road, Scott Holste, spokesman for Nixon, said the immediate focus would remain on improvements to Interstate 70, but added that a toll road there could free up money that could be used elsewhere.
State Rep. Bill Lant, R-Pineville, said he does not buy into the notion that more funding for Interstate 70 could lead to more funding for transportation projects throughout the state. In fact, Lant, a member of the House Transportation Committee, said he thinks it could actually deplete resources if drivers avoid it by using other parallel routes that are available.

[Grzrd]

This December 12 article reports that Gov. Nixon is now suggesting that tolling I-70 could free up money for other projects in Missouri, presumably including the Bella Vista Bypass

This Dec. 12 article reports that the presiding commissioner in McDonald County believes that tolls should be considered as a financing mechanism to complete the Bella Vista Bypass:

Keith Lindquist, the presiding commissioner in McDonald County, said he has never been a fan of tolls, either. But Friday, he said that perhaps the time may have come to consider them as an option for completing the Missouri stretch of the Bella Vista bypass.
"I would like to think there would be a better way for something like that, but I know MoDOT is not in a good financial situation,"  he said, noting the funding problem the Missouri Department of Transportation is facing with less money from the federal government and declining revenue from the state's gasoline tax.
"Maybe it's time,"  he said, to take a look at it.
Arkansas officials several years ago discussed a toll as one option to build its share of the bypass, but in 2012 voters approved a half-cent sales tax for a number of major transportation projects, including two lanes of the bypass.
Lindquist said completion of the bypass – for which MoDOT has already has acquired the land – would be an economic boon for Southwest Missouri, as well as make travel safer for motorists going to and through Northwest Arkansas.
"It'd be huge for everybody. It's so congested on (Interstate) 49 right now,"  he said.
Lindquist said a toll road that would set aside money for maintenance but that would sunset when the road is paid for would be the ideal option.
Tom Crawford, president of the Missouri Trucking Association, said flatly: "We're anti-toll road."
The idea of having to hassle with tolls, he said, is the "one idea that gets my members riled up the most."
Crawford, whose organization represents companies like the Joplin-based Con-way Truckload, said he, like Lant, still supports a combination of gas and sales tax increases, but is open to other ideas. Just not tolls.
"It is an inefficient way of collecting road money. You're looking at a minimum of 15 to 20 percent off the top. Those dollars go to the administration of the program,"  he said. "The other part of it that gets our folks going is it causes a lot of diversion, and ends up with traffic on roads that aren't designed for that kind of traffic. It is human nature to find a way around it if you can."
Crawford, speaking by phone from Washington, D.C., said Missouri might do well for itself to consider an idea being mulled there: an infrastructure bank. Members of Congress there have toyed with the idea of allowing companies to repatriate money that they have kept overseas by purchasing bonds from the bank. The sale of those bonds would go to funding transportation projects.

[Henry]

I don't care how the funding comes, just finish the damn thing already!

[US71]

One problem with this: Arkansas would have to rewrite its highway laws if they wanted their section of I-49 to be tolled. I'm not sure it would make much sense for Missouri to toll their section and Arkansas to be toll-free.

[Grzrd]

This article reports that the long-term plan is for the MO249/MO 171 corridor to be I-49, and not I-249:

Eventually the plan is for I-49 to follow Missouri 171 and Missouri 249 before heading south into Newton County ....

MoDOT has posted a January 14, 2015 Press Release announcing the issuance of  "Missouri's 325 System", its plan for taking care of roads and bridges with a severely reduced construction budget by focusing its limited resources on approximately 8,000 miles of Missouri's 34,000-mile state highway system. The Southwest District Map shows that current I-49 and MO 249/ MO 171 (possible Future I-49 segment) are included in the plan, but, not surprisingly, neither construction of the Carthage area interchange necessary for the conversion of MO 249/ MO 171 to I-49 nor construction of the Bella Vista Bypass is included:



edit

This article reports that Bruce R. Watkins Drive (granted, a distant Future I-49 possibility) is not included in the primary system and will receive minimal maintenance:

Missouri Department of Transportation director Dave Nichols painted a bleak picture Wednesday of the future of the state's highway system.
In two years, he said in a public presentation to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, the state transportation budget will shrink so much that only a tiny fraction of the state's 34,000 miles of roads will get proper upkeep.
The rest – totaling more than 26,000 miles of roadways across the state – will get minimal attention.  In Kansas City, that would include the Broadway Bridge extension, Blue Parkway and Bruce R. Watkins Drive.

[3467]

The executive summary is very clear no new construction and very limited repair on anything not on the primary system

[M86]

And that pretty much kills the Bella Vista Bypass in SW Missouri.  Gah!

[US71]

And that pretty much kills the Bella Vista Bypass in SW Missouri.  Gah!

For now.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Shame the adjacent land is not owned by one farmer or such, he could build his own short temporary toll road:)

[I-39]

So are they eventually going to tie 171/249 into I-49 in Joplin and directly route the Interstate instead of multiplexing it with I-44?

[intelati49]

So are they eventually going to tie 171/249 into I-49 in Joplin and directly route the Interstate instead of multiplexing it with I-44?

It appears so

Mr. Hertzberg discussed the MO-171 capacity improvements and stated that this project involves improving the capacity and safety of MO-171 from the Kansas State Line to the future I-49.  Mr. Salisbury discussed improvements at Stone's Corner (intersection of MO-171 and MO-43), as well as passing lanes between MO-96 and the Kansas State Line.

...

...

Mr. Hertzberg then asked for discussion of the cost estimates.  The MoDOT officials explained that the I-49 corridor improvements in Missouri consist of three different segments.  They anticipate costs of $75 million for improvements from the Jasper County line north to Kansas City.  They anticipate a cost of $50 million for a high-speed interchange northwest of Carthage to connect I-49 onto MO-171 to the existing MO-249 alignment, and a cost of $60 million to complete Missouri's portion of the Bella Vista bypass.

-MINUTES JOPLIN AREA TRANSPORTATION STUDY ORGANIZATION WORKSHOP THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009