I-57 Approved

[PColumbus73]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^That travel time number will be just slightly lower with a full Interstate-standard Freeway I-57/US 60 between Poplar Bluff and Sikeston, but not enough lower to make up 30 minutes/45 miles

All that said, Control City logic has baffled us before. Even MoDOT's logic with such.

Presently, MoDOT signs 60 East: Sikeston and 60 West/67 North: Springfield/St Louis at the Poplar Bluff Cloverleaf. Will MoDOT leave that as 57 upgrades, especially from the AR state line into Poplar Bluff, continue? TBD

US-67 up to St. Louis is also all four lane divided highway and mostly signed for 65 mph I believe. So no reason to go out of the way just to stay on interstate.

I can see I-57 Northbound switching from St Louis to Chicago in Poplar Bluff. I can also see Poplar Bluff being a co-control city with Chicago, St Louis and Little Rock.

[Molandfreak]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^That travel time number will be just slightly lower with a full Interstate-standard Freeway I-57/US 60 between Poplar Bluff and Sikeston, but not enough lower to make up 30 minutes/45 miles

All that said, Control City logic has baffled us before. Even MoDOT's logic with such.

Presently, MoDOT signs 60 East: Sikeston and 60 West/67 North: Springfield/St Louis at the Poplar Bluff Cloverleaf. Will MoDOT leave that as 57 upgrades, especially from the AR state line into Poplar Bluff, continue? TBD

US-67 up to St. Louis is also all four lane divided highway and mostly signed for 65 mph I believe. So no reason to go out of the way just to stay on interstate.

Exactly. I don't believe there are even any traffic lights, so there's no need to reinvent the wheel there.

[ilpt4u]

Exactly. I don't believe there are even any traffic lights, so there's no need to reinvent the wheel there.

There are two traffic lights in Festus before reaching the I-55 interchange. I checked the route on Google Maps Sat view for them earlier when I posted. Not enough of a slowdown to eat 30 mins/45 miles of route difference

[edwaleni]

Exactly. I don't believe there are even any traffic lights, so there's no need to reinvent the wheel there.

There are two traffic lights in Festus before reaching the I-55 interchange. I checked the route on Google Maps Sat view for them earlier when I posted. Not enough of a slowdown to eat 30 mins/45 miles of route difference

Meyers Road and County CC.

Both could easily be remediated into exit ramps.

[JREwing78]

Exactly. I don't believe there are even any traffic lights, so there's no need to reinvent the wheel there.

No way MoDOT drops Sikeston in favor of Paducah. Otherwise, that looks spot on.

Currently the only mention of Paducah is at the US-60/62 exit on I-57 in Charleston. Unless things radically change to bring a 4-lane US-60 connection to Paducah from the west, I wouldn't expect that to change.

[Molandfreak]

No way MoDOT drops Sikeston in favor of Paducah. Otherwise, that looks spot on.

Currently the only mention of Paducah is at the US-60/62 exit on I-57 in Charleston. Unless things radically change to bring a 4-lane US-60 connection to Paducah from the west, I wouldn't expect that to change.

Yeah I know it's wishful thinking. But Sikeston would become as useless of a control city as Albert Lea if it remained, since the majority of long-distance traffic going to destinations served by I-55 would be using other roads to reach them (US 63/I-555 to Memphis, US 67 to St Louis).

[cenarkbizowner]

Speaking of cities, it will be interesting to see in a few years, the economic impact that the designation of U.S. 67 to I-57 will have on the smaller cities, such as Cabot, Beebe, Searcy, Newport, etc.?  As a business owner in a city along the interstate and a one time candidate for city council, this was something long overdue. 

[Revive 755]

Currently the only mention of Paducah is at the US-60/62 exit on I-57 in Charleston. Unless things radically change to bring a 4-lane US-60 connection to Paducah from the west, I wouldn't expect that to change.

Much more likely the US 60 - US 62 Mississippi River bridge will be closed and demolished before any four laning to Paducah is finished.

[edwaleni]

It appears that contractors have started pushing the dirt for the new Corning Bypass for I-57.

Image is from 3 days ago.

[The Ghostbuster]

Which online map app was that from?

[edwaleni]

Which online map app was that from?

I had read that work had started but Google is too delayed, so I used Copernicus and pulled the last week from Sentinel-2 L2A. You might have to scroll back a few days due to clouds.

Its not a high res sat, so zooming in to CIA type levels is not possible.

I tried to pull something from US-67 north of Corning and the only thing I could find were the ROW flag markers.

[TBKS1]

It appears that contractors have started pushing the dirt for the new Corning Bypass for I-57.

Image is from 3 days ago.

I believe they started doing that like within a month after I-57 was officially designated. Could be wrong but pretty glad to see this on the satellite imagery now (also saves me from having to go there before the bypass is complete too lol)

[ilpt4u]

Short answer: No, US-412 doesn't merit further expansion in Missouri. Not yet, anyway.

MoDOT just finished their final draft environmental study for 4-laning the last MO US 412 segment. Going to the Feds now

This expansion is on MoDOT's radar

This was on KFVS-12 Cape Girardeau news this AM: https://www.kfvs12.com/2025/05/01/project-manager-gives-update-highway-expansion-project/

[MikieTimT]

Short answer: No, US-412 doesn't merit further expansion in Missouri. Not yet, anyway.

MoDOT just finished their final draft environmental study for 4-laning the last MO US 412 segment. Going to the Feds now

This expansion is on MoDOT's radar

This was on KFVS-12 Cape Girardeau news this AM: https://www.kfvs12.com/2025/05/01/project-manager-gives-update-highway-expansion-project/

Looks like ARDOT has infected MoDOT's thinking with a 5-lane Arkansas freeway being one of the alternatives.  The benefits being lower land acquisition cost and an extra lane for those attempting to evade the state police during high speed chases.

[Bobby5280]

I wouldn't call a 4-lane undivided highway with a center turn lane a "freeway" at all. That type of design is more akin to an urban surface street than a limited access highway.

[PColumbus73]

Rural 4-lane w/ center turn lane widenings are a thing in South Carolina, too. I see the cost and ROW savings, but without seeing any studies, I'm inclined to believe that a more typical 4-lane divided highway would be better in rural settings. Particularly, I would expect that a rural 4-lane w/ center turn lane would have a higher risk for high-speed, head-on collisions.

[TBKS1]

So a few of the BGSes towards the southern terminus have had green-out patches over the US 67/167 shields in favor of I-57 shields instead. I'm sure this is just temporary until better replacements for BGSes get made but I don't like the way this looks at all.

[The Ghostbuster]

Now that's a tiny Interstate 57 shield. It should have been as large as the Interstate 40 shield.