Maybe someday Interstate 49 will connect with Interstates 70 and 670. But that day seems to be very far into the future.
Perhaps a generation or so down the line when the original parties to the legal action that resulted in the court order have long gone, the matter would be revisited -- but with
very extensive community mitigation, such as a full cut-and cover freeway facility capped with a neighborhood plaza/open-air market, or other beneficial and appropriate land use for the neighborhood. But it certainly can't be fun for the local population to (a) have to cross the widely divided surface arterial during peak commute times, and, correspondingly (b) have to breathe the exhaust fumes of lines of vehicles stopped at the signals. And except in activist circles, the temporal joy of "dancing on the grave" of the interrupted freeway -- or even "sticking it to" suburban commuters might have worn off a decade or so down the line. IMO, the situation
will be addressed again at some point -- but the alternate outcome of razing the rest of the existing US 71/Watkins facility (which apparently has been suggested by some) would be an inordinate expense in itself and would have the consequence of shifting traffic over to the already congested I-70/435 combination.