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[Sapphuby]

Good news for this situation:
MoDOT has officially approved a 2.5 million dollar study that would extend I-72 all the way to Saint Joseph. Nothing is confirmed yet (and if you ask me, nothing will probably come of this, at least any time soon), but this is good news for those rooting for 72's extension.

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/missouri-new-interstate

And everyone always thought that Missouri, if they even did anything, would only extend it to Cameron, due to the Mile 157 marker in Hannibal. Neat to know.

[edwaleni]

Remember, a study simply collects an overall set of data from point A to point B.  Once the data is collected they determine if they should fund any further efforts.

If the data doesn't support any action, then nothing will happen.

I haven't seen any AADT stats for US-36 west of Hannibal.  If someone has a link available please post.

I am not aware of any major safety issues either.

Also of note, some studies are politically driven.  Recent "action" in SW and SE Missouri maybe prompting politicos in northern Missouri to see if they can get access to the money pie.

Studies as such, even the conclusions maybe somewhat obvious, are ways to tamper the politics in Columbia.

[3467]

The State Senate President is from Moberly and pretty much said if you want 70 I get 72 based on one of the articles.

[J N Winkler]

I haven't seen any AADT stats for US-36 west of Hannibal.  If someone has a link available please post.

MoDOT has an interactive traffic count map here:

https://www.modot.org/traffic-volume-maps

It shows one-way AADTs for US 36 generally in the 5000 VPD range in rural areas, varying from about 2500 VPD near Shelbina to over 8000 VPD near Macon.  Two-way AADTs are generally double these, meaning that nearly all of the US 36 corridor meets the 10,000 VPD threshold for widening to four-lane divided.

I am not aware of any major safety issues either.

US 36 runs through rolling topography and was built by adding a new carriageway parallel to the existing two-lane highway without reconstructing the latter.  There are therefore numerous intersections with limited sight distance.

[edwaleni]

I haven't seen any AADT stats for US-36 west of Hannibal.  If someone has a link available please post.

MoDOT has an interactive traffic count map here:

https://www.modot.org/traffic-volume-maps

It shows one-way AADTs for US 36 generally in the 5000 VPD range in rural areas, varying from about 2500 VPD near Shelbina to over 8000 VPD near Macon.  Two-way AADTs are generally double these, meaning that nearly all of the US 36 corridor meets the 10,000 VPD threshold for widening to four-lane divided.

I am not aware of any major safety issues either.

US 36 runs through rolling topography and was built by adding a new carriageway parallel to the existing two-lane highway without reconstructing the latter.  There are therefore numerous intersections with limited sight distance.

Thanks for the link, much appreciated. As for safety, yes I am aware of the topography and some of the compromising road alignments they accepted, but I was thinking of a website that tracked wrecks, accidents and fatalities so that a per mile or a particular point in US-36 could be identified as a major safety problem. As I follow the Missouri press for highway announcements, I have not read of any articles highlighting it.

[3467]

There is an article link at the top of the page.

[Henry]

Good news for this situation:
MoDOT has officially approved a 2.5 million dollar study that would extend I-72 all the way to Saint Joseph. Nothing is confirmed yet (and if you ask me, nothing will probably come of this, at least any time soon), but this is good news for those rooting for 72's extension.

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/missouri-new-interstate

I think St. Joseph is the more logical terminus over Cameron, and with most of US 36 being an expressway already, it really shouldn't take too much to make it I-72 either.

[splashflash]

From what I have seen, several sections of US 36 across Missouri (especially from Macon to Hannibal) hint at a possible expansion of I-72 in the future, but nothing has been announced/confirmed yet. Most of the route that could be extended (sooner than later) is between New Cambria and Hannibal.

I think if Missouri does extend Interstate 72 at some point, it will be slowly, and probably in parts.

Maybe first to a Hannibal Bypass (rerouted US 61) and then second further west to US 63 at a new Macon bypass?

[edwaleni]

Technically, looking at US-36 even farther west, KDOT (Kansas) owns the ROW to facilitate an interstate highway all the way to Hiawatha. It's even 4 lane west of Marysville in west-central Kansas, which make no sense to me.

So it's technically possible in some galaxy far, far away I-72 could reach Kansas. How about that Dorothy?

[The Ghostbuster]

I've never been to Kansas, let alone along any portion of the US 36 corridor (Estes Park, CO to Uhrichsville, OH). However, I doubt the US 36 corridor between Hiawatha and Wathena needs to be expanded to four lanes, let alone become an Interstate Highway. In fact, I am highly skeptical that Interstate 72 will ever be extended. At least not anytime soon.

[Bobby5280]

While it may be physically possible to upgrade US-36 to Interstate standards (and even label it as I-72) I don't expect such a thing happening any time soon. The divided highway has some stretches of limited access, but still has lots of at-grade intersections. It would cost a heck of a lot to deal with that even without buying extra ROW.

Missouri has some other corridors I suspect would be higher priorities for future upgrades. US-61 going North out of St Louis would be one. US-67 South of St Louis to Poplar Bluff is another. Then there's US-50 from Kansas City to Jefferson City. I don't expect any of those routes to get fully upgraded to Interstate quality. But I think those routes will get more freeway exits over time than US-36.

[rte66man]

Technically, looking at US-36 even farther west, KDOT (Kansas) owns the ROW to facilitate an interstate highway all the way to Hiawatha. It's even 4 lane west of Marysville in west-central Kansas, which make no sense to me.

So it's technically possible in some galaxy far, far away I-72 could reach Kansas. How about that Dorothy?

What I hope Kansas looks at is building a 4-lane connection heading southwest from Wathena, bypassing Atchison, and more or less following KS4 to Topeka. You would have a true KC and STL bypass with that.

[Revive 755]

So it's technically possible in some galaxy far, far away I-72 could reach Kansas. How about that Dorothy?

Getting US 36 through St. Joseph up to interstate standards would get interesting.

[edwaleni]

So it's technically possible in some galaxy far, far away I-72 could reach Kansas. How about that Dorothy?

Getting US 36 through St. Joseph up to interstate standards would get interesting.

True. Between Southwest Parkway to I-229 is some stuff from the late 50's - early 60's. A lot of those ramps would probably have to be removed or consolidated.

[skluth]

While it may be physically possible to upgrade US-36 to Interstate standards (and even label it as I-72) I don't expect such a thing happening any time soon. The divided highway has some stretches of limited access, but still has lots of at-grade intersections. It would cost a heck of a lot to deal with that even without buying extra ROW.

Missouri has some other corridors I suspect would be higher priorities for future upgrades. US-61 going North out of St Louis would be one. US-67 South of St Louis to Poplar Bluff is another. Then there's US-50 from Kansas City to Jefferson City. I don't expect any of those routes to get fully upgraded to Interstate quality. But I think those routes will get more freeway exits over time than US-36.

I agree other Missouri highways need more than US 36 does right now. However, US 67 south between Festus and Poplar Bluff is mostly quite good. About the only real is is the first few miles out of Festus. The I-55/US 67 interchange desperately needs a flyover ramp from NB US 67 to NB I-55 and a grade separated Highway CC like in this diagram. An interchange  or Michigan lefts at Victoria Road may also be needed in the near future. But otherwise, it's a pretty nice drive until almost the Arkansas border.

A six lane I-70 and I-44 should be higher priorities than anything with US 36. Also, US 63 south of Jeff City and all of US 50 should be four lane expressways which was promised back in the 90s. A better rail route between KC and STL should also be a higher priority than upgrading US 36. I-72 across the state is clearly a nice-to-have idea but I don't see the point in anything but incremental improvements.

[edwaleni]

While it may be physically possible to upgrade US-36 to Interstate standards (and even label it as I-72) I don't expect such a thing happening any time soon. The divided highway has some stretches of limited access, but still has lots of at-grade intersections. It would cost a heck of a lot to deal with that even without buying extra ROW.

Missouri has some other corridors I suspect would be higher priorities for future upgrades. US-61 going North out of St Louis would be one. US-67 South of St Louis to Poplar Bluff is another. Then there's US-50 from Kansas City to Jefferson City. I don't expect any of those routes to get fully upgraded to Interstate quality. But I think those routes will get more freeway exits over time than US-36.

I agree other Missouri highways need more than US 36 does right now. However, US 67 south between Festus and Poplar Bluff is mostly quite good. About the only real is is the first few miles out of Festus. The I-55/US 67 interchange desperately needs a flyover ramp from NB US 67 to NB I-55 and a grade separated Highway CC like in this diagram. An interchange  or Michigan lefts at Victoria Road may also be needed in the near future. But otherwise, it's a pretty nice drive until almost the Arkansas border.

A six lane I-70 and I-44 should be higher priorities than anything with US 36. Also, US 63 south of Jeff City and all of US 50 should be four lane expressways which was promised back in the 90s. A better rail route between KC and STL should also be a higher priority than upgrading US 36. I-72 across the state is clearly a nice-to-have idea but I don't see the point in anything but incremental improvements.

Not to get this thread off the highway, but I agree on I-44. Still way too many legacy US-66 geometry issues in various places. They have done a good job over the years in resolving many of them, but I will save any other feedback for the I-44 thread.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Crossposting from the I-72 thread in fictional, because this is real world:

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-could-be-poised-to-gain-another-interstate-highway/article_89373b7a-f987-11ed-985d-6be7252aa846.html

[sprjus4]

^

Good news for this situation:
MoDOT has officially approved a 2.5 million dollar study that would extend I-72 all the way to Saint Joseph. Nothing is confirmed yet (and if you ask me, nothing will probably come of this, at least any time soon), but this is good news for those rooting for 72's extension.

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/missouri-new-interstate

[mvak36]

From what I have seen, several sections of US 36 across Missouri (especially from Macon to Hannibal) hint at a possible expansion of I-72 in the future, but nothing has been announced/confirmed yet. Most of the route that could be extended (sooner than later) is between New Cambria and Hannibal.

I think if Missouri does extend Interstate 72 at some point, it will be slowly, and probably in parts.

Maybe first to a Hannibal Bypass (rerouted US 61) and then second further west to US 63 at a new Macon bypass?

I could be wrong, but I don't think they will need to build a new bypass around Macon. Most of the existing roadway (with upgrades to interstate standards) would be fine for I-72. They'd have to figure out what to do in the Cameron area. Maybe a bypass would be needed there, but I guess it's possible they could convert the existing US36 to interstate standards.

[The Ghostbuster]

If the US 36 corridor is eventually upgraded to Interstate Standards, it will be a drawn-out long-term process. It's not like Interstate 72 will be extended overnight, or even within the next 5-10 years.

[Revive 755]

Maybe first to a Hannibal Bypass (rerouted US 61) and then second further west to US 63 at a new Macon bypass?

I could be wrong, but I don't think they will need to build a new bypass around Macon. Most of the existing roadway (with upgrades to interstate standards) would be fine for I-72.

The bypass at Macon would be for US 63.  US 36 in Macon west of existing US 63 appears to be a full freeway.  East of US 63 US 36 goes down to an expressway that has fairly limited access that doesn't look to hard to close or grade separate.  US 63 has a long, slow route through Macon that would be very costly to upgrade to connect the expressway segments on either side of Macon.

[fhmiii]

If the US 36 corridor is eventually upgraded to Interstate Standards, it will be a drawn-out long-term process. It's not like Interstate 72 will be extended overnight, or even within the next 5-10 years.

Correct.  I-49 took more than a decade to go from planning to construction, and longer still to reach completion.  Even if the study comes out next year and says it's a slam-dunk, and even with all the upgrades that have already been done to the highway, I-72 won't be completed until at least 2040.

[mvak36]

Maybe first to a Hannibal Bypass (rerouted US 61) and then second further west to US 63 at a new Macon bypass?

I could be wrong, but I don't think they will need to build a new bypass around Macon. Most of the existing roadway (with upgrades to interstate standards) would be fine for I-72.

The bypass at Macon would be for US 63.  US 36 in Macon west of existing US 63 appears to be a full freeway.  East of US 63 US 36 goes down to an expressway that has fairly limited access that doesn't look to hard to close or grade separate.  US 63 has a long, slow route through Macon that would be very costly to upgrade to connect the expressway segments on either side of Macon.

Ah ok. That makes more sense. My mistake. I misunderstood what splashflash was saying.

[sprjus4]

I know I’ve asked the question before about why US-36 is not 70 mph, but I’m now realizing and finding it interesting that US-63 is 70 mph as a four lane divided highway going north south in the area, but this route (US-36) is only 65 mph.

I feel like one of the most logical steps towards promoting the US-36 corridor would be raising the speed limit between I-29 and Hannibal to 70 mph where safe, giving it the same speed limit as the interstate it’s providing relief to (I-70).

[Revive 755]

^ IIRC MoDOT doesn't like posting expressways at 70, with some of the exceptions being due to political pressure.