Interstate 70 in Missouri
In the U.S. state of Missouri, Interstate 70 (I-70) is generally parallel to the Missouri River. This section of the transcontinental Interstate begins at the Kansas state line on the Lewis and Clark Viaduct, concurrent with U.S. Routes 24, 40, and 169, and the east end is on the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge in St. Louis.
I-70 highlighted in red | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by MoDOT | ||||
Length | 250.063 mi[1] (402.437 km) | |||
Existed | 1956–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | ||||
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East end | ||||
Location | ||||
Counties | Jackson, Lafayette, Saline, Cooper, Boone, Callaway, Montgomery, Warren, St. Charles, St. Louis, City of St. Louis | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Route description
Kansas City
Crossing into Missouri on the Lewis and Clark Viaduct, I-70 immediately encounters the Alphabet Loop, a small but complex loop of freeways with all of its exits having a number of 2 and a letter suffix that uses the entire alphabet (except I, O, and Z).[2] I-70 becomes concurrent with I-35 once it enters into the Loop. Both interstates maintain the concurrency until they approach the northeastern corner of the Loop.[3] Back at the northwest corner, US 169 splits off to the north, leaving four routes concurrent with each other. There is a large interchange with Route 9 in the Loop's northeastern corner.[4] At that corner, US 24 splits to the east, I-29 ends, and US 71 joins.[5]
Once it leaves I-35, I-70 turns south, with interchanges to more roads. At the southeastern corner, I-70, US 40, US 71 all exit the Loop. I-70 and US 40 split off to the east, and US 71 continues south. I-670 ends at the alignment.[6] Not long after they usurpt that alignment, I-70/US 40 turn southeast. US 40 departs from I-70 at exit 7A.[7] I-70 then interchanges with I-435, the beltway around Kansas City.[8]
While passing through Kansas City, I-70 is known as the "George Brett Super Highway", named after former Kansas City Royals third baseman and Baseball Hall of Fame member George Brett. The Truman Sports Complex, which houses the Royals' and Chiefs' stadiums, is located adjacent to the I-70/I-435 interchange.
Independence to Wentzville
East of I-435, I-70 continues east through Independence, passing a busy cloverleaf interchange at I-470.[9] The highway then continues with six lanes to the rapidly growing suburb of Blue Springs, where the roadway narrows to four lanes (two each direction) at Route 7.[10] I-70 remains at this width until just west of the intersection with I-64/US 40/US 61 in Wentzville, over 170 miles (270 km) away.
East of Blue Springs, I-70 takes on a rural highway as it leaves Jackson County. The highway remains this way for the next 100 miles (160 km), going through gently rolling terrain while it meets US 65 at a cloverleaf interchange and finally crossing the Missouri River at Rocheport just west of where it reaches the mid-sized college town of Columbia in the center of the state.[11] Through Columbia, the highway is lined with restaurants and hotels and can get congested during University of Missouri sporting events. The highway leaves Columbia after an exit with St. Charles Road on the east end of town.[12] East of Columbia, I-70 has an interchange with US 54 at Kingdom City, Route 19 at New Florence, and Route 47 at Warrenton. Then, it continues through more gently rolling terrain until it reaches Wentzville, where it meets I-64/US 61. Here, US 40 departs from I-70. It then expands to three lanes each direction to St. Louis.
St. Louis
East of Wentzville, I-70 passes through the bedroom community of Lake St. Louis, then the growing towns of O'Fallon and St. Peters, and finally the historic city of St. Charles.
It crosses over the Missouri River one last time on the Blanchette Memorial Bridge, which is actually made up of two bridges: the westbound span built in the late-1950s and refurbished in 2013 and the eastbound one completed in the late-1970s.
Traffic volume increases as I-70 enters St. Louis County, requiring more lanes. There are as many as 13 lanes at one point. The section of I-70 from Fifth Street in St. Charles to I-270 is among the busiest section of highway in the state, with AADT counts approaching 165,000 in 2005.
I-270 draws much of the traffic, so I-70 continues east through Bridgeton with only six lanes. After interchanges with Route 180 (St. Charles Rock Road) and US 67 (Lindbergh Boulevard), it passes on the southern edge of Lambert–St. Louis International Airport and through several bedroom communities – including Edmunson, Berkeley, Ferguson, and Jennings – and crossing I-170 in the process.
As it finally enters the city of St. Louis, motorists encounter what are signed as the "Express Lanes", known by MoDOT as the "reversible lanes".[13] Two lanes in the middle of the freeway are separated from the eastbound and westbound lanes by Jersey barriers. Due to traffic pattern changes caused by the I-64 reconstruction, the lanes travel eastbound all day. MoDOT regularly monitors traffic patterns of this stretch of I-70 and will adjust the express lane traffic patterns accordingly.[13] These lanes have no entrance or exit ramps, except at the ends. They extend approximately 8 miles (13 km) from near Union Boulevard to just north of downtown.
Just before it enters downtown St. Louis, I-70 turns to the east to cross the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, which redirects the highway's traffic away from the congested Poplar Street Bridge two miles (3.2 km) to the south. This 2-mile stretch of former I-70 is now an extension of I-44.
History
I-70 had been criticized for cutting off downtown St. Louis from the Mississippi River waterfront particularly at the Gateway Arch. St. Louis constructed a $90 million project to cover the highway (now I-44) by the Arch.[14]
This was not the first controversy involving I-70 and the Arch. In 1959, builders of the Poplar Street Bridge asked for the National Park Service to give 25 acres (10 ha) of the park for the bridge. The request generated enormous controversy and ultimately 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) was turned over to use for the bridge.[15]
The New Mississippi River Bridge was finished and opened to traffic on Sunday, February 9, 2014. It reroutes and redirects I-70 traffic off the congested Poplar Street Bridge. The bridge was named in honor of St. Louis Cardinals baseball legend Stan Musial.[16]
Future
I-70 across central Missouri is one of the oldest stretches of Interstate Highway in the system, as some sections date back as far as the late 1950s.[17] As a result, the exits often have short, substandard acceleration and deceleration ramps, and the median is relatively narrow. Certain spots of both directions of traffic are separated by no more than a Jersey barrier. Also, a number of overpasses have low clearance, especially railway overpasses. Long-term plans have been identified to expand the highway to between six and eight lanes across the middle of the state. Tolling the Interstate has become a possible alternative, although the public does not support this idea.
A March 2010 study[18] of I-70 from the Kansas state line to the I-470 interchange identified several possible improvements, including expansion of the freeway from four to eight lanes, adding HOV or HOT lanes, reconstructing the Truman Road interchange and improving the curves at Jackson Avenue and Truman Road. Some novel ideas included a new alignment of I-70 as a tunnel from the southeast corner of the downtown loop to 22nd/23rd streets, covering the southern portion of the downtown loop (I-670) or making the downtown loop into a uni-directional freeway around downtown, essentially becoming a large roundabout.
The Missouri Hyperloop is a proposed high speed transportation route that would complement and relieve Interstate 70.
Exit list
County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jackson | Kansas City | 0.000 | 0.000 | Continuation into Kansas | ||
0.886– 1.041 | 1.426– 1.675 | 2A | Western end of I-35 / Downtown freeway loop concurrency | |||
0.845 | 1.360 | 2B | Beardsley Road | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
1.060 | 1.706 | 2C | Eastern end of US 169 concurrency | |||
1.303 | 2.097 | 2D | Main Street / Delaware Street / Wyandotte Street | Signed as Main Street only eastbound | ||
1.651 | 2.657 | 2E | Westbound access is via exit 2H | |||
1.853– 2.028 | 2.982– 3.264 | 2G | MoDOT signs this as southern terminus of I-29; eastern end of I-35 and US 24 concurrencies; western end of US 71 concurrency; signed as exit 2G–H eastbound | |||
2H | Westbound exit only | |||||
2.273 | 3.658 | 2J | 11th Street | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
2.668 | 4.294 | 2K | Harrison Street / Troost Avenue | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
2.375– 2.295 | 3.822– 3.693 | 2L | ||||
2M | Eastern end of the Bruce Watkins Drive Memorial Parkway; eastern end of US 71 and Downtown freeway loop concurrency; I-670 exit 2N; westbound access is via exit 3A | |||||
2P | 13th Street | Westbound exit only | ||||
14th Street / Charlotte Street | Eastbound entrance only | |||||
2.944 | 4.738 | 3A | I-670 exit 3A; no eastbound exit from I-70 east; no westbound entrance to I-670 west | |||
3.389 | 5.454 | 3B | Brooklyn Avenue | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
3.644 | 5.864 | 3C | Prospect Avenue | |||
4.135 | 6.655 | 4A | Benton Boulevard / Truman Road | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
4.420 | 7.113 | 4B | 18th Street | |||
4.879 | 7.852 | 4C | 23rd Street | |||
5.447 | 8.766 | 5A | 27th Street | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
5.578 | 8.977 | 5B | 31st Street | Eastbound exit only | ||
5.756 | 9.263 | 5C | Jackson Avenue | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
6.493 | 10.449 | 6 | Van Brunt Boulevard | |||
7.053 | 11.351 | 7A | Eastern end of US 40 overlap | |||
7.675 | 12.352 | 7B | Manchester Trafficway | |||
8.078– 9.105 | 13.000– 14.653 | 8A-B | East end of I-70 and US-24 overlap; I-435 exits 63A-B; signed as exits 8A (south) and 8B (north) | |||
9.338 | 15.028 | 9 | Blue Ridge Cutoff – Truman Sports Complex | Westbound exit and eastbound and westbound entrance; eastbound exit 9 via exit 8A | ||
10.848 | 17.458 | 10 | Sterling Avenue | Eastbound exit only | ||
Independence | 11.101– 11.122 | 17.865– 17.899 | 11 | |||
12.596 | 20.271 | 12 | Noland Road | |||
14.093 | 22.680 | 14 | Lee's Summit Road | |||
15.090– 15.776 | 24.285– 25.389 | 15 | I-470 exits 16B–C; signed as exits 15A (south/west) & 15B (north) | |||
16.613 | 26.736 | 17 | Little Blue Parkway / 39th Street | |||
Blue Springs | 18.563 | 29.874 | 18 | Blue Springs, Lake Tapawingo, Fleming Park | ||
20.392 | 32.818 | 20 | ||||
21.625 | 34.802 | 21 | Adams Dairy Parkway – Blue Springs | |||
Grain Valley | 24.412 | 39.287 | 24 | Western end of US 40 concurrency | ||
Oak Grove | 28.169 | 45.334 | 28 | |||
Lafayette | Bates City | 31.431 | 50.583 | 31 | ||
Odessa | 36.665 | 59.007 | 37A | Action Road - Outlet Mall | Eastbound exit only; access to Shops at Odessa; attached to exit 37B | |
36.989 | 59.528 | 37B | Signed as exit 37 westbound; no eastbound entrance—eastbound entrance is via exit 38 | |||
38.252 | 61.561 | 38 | Johnson Drive | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| 41.173 | 66.262 | 41 | |||
| 45.382 | 73.035 | 45 | |||
Higginsville | 49.387 | 79.481 | 49 | |||
| 52.839 | 85.036 | 52 | |||
Concordia | 58.569 | 94.258 | 58 | |||
Saline | Emma | 62.574 | 100.703 | 62 | ||
Sweet Springs | 66.891 | 107.651 | 66 | |||
| 71.383 | 114.880 | 71 | |||
| 74.606 | 120.067 | 74 | |||
| 78.173 | 125.807 | 78 | Signed as exits 78A (south) and 78B (north) | ||
| 84.614 | 136.173 | 84 | |||
Cooper | | 89.918 | 144.709 | 89 | ||
| 98.000 | 157.716 | 98 | |||
Boonville | 101.781 | 163.801 | 101 | Eastern end of US 40 concurrency | ||
103.551 | 166.649 | 103 | ||||
Windsor Place | 106.382 | 171.205 | 106 | |||
| 111.455 | 179.369 | 111 | |||
Missouri River | 114.714 | 184.614 | Rocheport Interstate 70 Bridge; Cooper–Boone county line | |||
Boone | | 115.505 | 185.887 | 115 | ||
| 117.687 | 189.399 | 117 | |||
| 121.178 | 195.017 | 121 | Western end of US 40 concurrency | ||
Columbia | 124.398 | 200.199 | 124 | Access to the University of Missouri and University Hospital | ||
125.543 | 202.042 | 125 | ||||
126.545 | 203.654 | 126 | ||||
127.019 | 204.417 | 127 | ||||
128.287 | 206.458 | 128 | Westbound exit only as of 2018; eastbound traffic onto I-70 rerouted to I-70 Connector | |||
128.887 | 207.424 | 128A | Indirect access via I-70 Connector; BL I-70 not signed | |||
130.984 | 210.798 | 131 | St. Charles Road / Lake of the Woods Road | |||
| 133.644 | 215.079 | 133 | |||
Callaway | | 137.729 | 221.653 | 137 | ||
| 144.193 | 232.056 | 144 | |||
Kingdom City | 147.963 | 238.123 | 148 | |||
| 155.426 | 250.134 | 155 | |||
| 161.318 | 259.616 | 161 | |||
Montgomery | | 170.374 | 274.190 | 170 | ||
New Florence | 174.975 | 281.595 | 175 | |||
High Hill | 179.797 | 289.355 | 179 | |||
Jonesburg | 183.780 | 295.765 | 183 | |||
Warren | | 188.445 | 303.273 | 188 | ||
Warrenton | 192.121 | 309.189 | 192 | Roundabouts serve as access points to collector roads that direct to Route MM and Veterans Memorial Parkway; West Warrenton Boulevard is the newly created road, that serves as the overpass | ||
Truesdale–Warrenton line | 193.484 | 311.382 | 193 | |||
Wright City | 198.962 | 320.198 | 199 | |||
200.000 | 321.869 | 200 | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; other half of interchange is via exit 199 | |||
St. Charles | Foristell | 203.750 | 327.904 | 203 | ||
Wentzville | 206.586 | 332.468 | 206 | David Hoekel Parkway | Exit is set to open in 2020 or 2021 | |
208.231 | 335.115 | 208 | Wentzville Parkway | |||
209.412 | 337.016 | 209 | ||||
210.090– 211.002 | 338.107– 339.575 | 210 | Eastern end of US 40 concurrency; signed as exits 210A (east/south) and 210B (north); I-64 exit 1; western terminus of I-64 | |||
Lake St. Louis | 211.948 | 341.097 | 212 | |||
213.950 | 344.319 | 214 | Lake St. Louis Boulevard | |||
O'Fallon | 215.977 | 347.581 | 216 | Bryan Road | ||
217.759 | 350.449 | 217 | Westbound exit is via exit 218 | |||
218.433 | 351.534 | 218 | Terra Lane / Sonderen Street | Westbound exit and entrance; other half of interchange is set to open in 2019 | ||
218.929 | 352.332 | 219 | T.R. Hughes Boulevard / Belleau Creek Road | |||
St. Peters | 220.381 | 354.669 | 220 | |||
222.098 | 357.432 | 222A | Mid Rivers Mall Drive | |||
222.262 | 357.696 | 222B | Veterans Memorial Parkway / Suemandy Drive | Eastbound exit only | ||
223.365– 223.945 | 359.471– 360.405 | 224 | Route 370 exit 0 | |||
225.129 | 362.310 | 225 | Cave Springs Road / Harry S Truman Road | |||
St. Charles | 226.933 | 365.213 | 227 | Zumbehl Road | ||
228.277 | 367.376 | 228 | ||||
229.143 | 368.770 | 229A | Convention Center Boulevard / Fairgrounds Road | No eastbound entrance | ||
229.379 | 369.150 | 229B | ||||
Missouri River | 230.128 | 370.355 | Blanchette Memorial Bridge; St. Charles–St. Louis county line | |||
St. Louis | Maryland Heights | 231.507 | 372.574 | 231A | Cloverleaf interchange | |
231B | ||||||
Maryland Heights–Bridgeton line | 232.222– 233.024 | 373.725– 375.016 | 232 | I-270 exit 20; signed as exits 232A (south) and 232B (north) westbound; Parclo interchange | ||
Bridgeton | 234.180 | 376.876 | 234 | |||
235.096 | 378.350 | 235 | Signed as exits 235A (south) and 235B (north) | |||
235.626 | 379.203 | 235C | ||||
Edmundson | 236.729 | 380.978 | 236 | Pear Tree Drive / Natural Bridge Road / Airflight Drive / Lambert International Boulevard – Lambert-St. Louis International Airport | ||
Berkeley | 237.627 | 382.424 | 237 | No westbound exit | ||
238.068 | 383.133 | 238A | Lambert-St. Louis International Airport | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
238.430– 239.066 | 383.716– 384.739 | 238 | Signed as exits 238B (south) and 238C (north); I-170 exit 7 | |||
239.783 | 385.893 | 239 | Hanley Road | Westbound exit is via exit 240 | ||
Cool Valley | 240.393 | 386.875 | 240 | North Hanley Road not signed eastbound | ||
Normandy | 240.920 | 387.723 | 241A | Bermuda Road | ||
Northwoods–Norwood Court line | 241.691 | 388.964 | 241B | |||
Pine Lawn | 242.774 | 390.707 | 242 | Jennings Station Road | ||
City of St. Louis | 243.09 | 391.22 | 243A | Goodfellow Boulevard | Eastbound access via exit 242 | |
243.345 | 391.626 | 243B | Westbound exit only | |||
244.062 | 392.780 | 243C | Bircher Boulevard | Eastbound exit only | ||
244.255 | 393.090 | 244A | Union Boulevard / Kingshighway | |||
— | I-70 Express Lanes – Downtown | Eastbound exit only; westbound entrance closed in 2009; western end of express lanes | ||||
244.579 | 393.612 | 244B | Kingshighway Boulevard | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; eastbound access via exit 244A | ||
245.013 | 394.310 | 245A | Shreve Avenue | |||
245.643 | 395.324 | 245B | West Florissant Avenue | |||
246.111 | 396.077 | 246A | Carrie Avenue | Formerly signed as North Broadway and O'Fallon Park | ||
246.622 | 396.900 | 246B | Adelaide Avenue | |||
247.218 | 397.859 | 247 | Grand Boulevard | |||
248.068 | 399.227 | 248A | Access to IL 3 | |||
248.515 | 399.946 | 248B | Branch Street | Westbound exit only | ||
248.755 | 400.332 | 248C | St. Louis Avenue | Eastbound exit and entrance | ||
249.274 | 401.168 | 249A | Eastern terminus of I-44; former route of I-70 east through Downtown St. Louis | |||
249.335 | 401.266 | 249B | Signed as exit 249 westbound; no westbound entrance | |||
249.840 | 402.079 | 292B | Broadway | Eastbound exit only for Express Lanes; exit number based on I-44 mileage | ||
Eastern end of Express Lanes; eastbound exit only for Express Lanes | ||||||
Mississippi River | 250.063 | 402.437 | Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge; Missouri–Illinois line | |||
Continuation into Illinois | ||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- Missouri Department of Transportation (April 12, 2014). MoDOT HPMAPS (Map). Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- Google (July 8, 2007). "Alphabet Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
- Google (July 8, 2007). "A closer look of the Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
- Google (July 8, 2007). "Northern part of the Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
- Google (July 8, 2007). "Northeastern corner of the Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
- Google (July 8, 2007). "Eastern part of the Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
- Google (July 8, 2007). "I-70 between the Loop and US 40" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
- Google (July 8, 2007). "I-70 at I-435" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
- Google (July 24, 2007). "I-70 at I-470" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
- "I-70 at Route 7". Microsoft TerraServer. United States Geological Survey. February 28, 1996. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
- Google (July 24, 2007). "I-70 at the Missouri River near Columbia" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
- Google (July 24, 2007). "I-70 at US 63" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
- "I-70 Reversibles To Remain Eastbound All Day" (Press release). Missouri Department of Transportation. January 21, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2009.
- City leaders pitch local control of Arch grounds – St. Louis Post Dispatch – August 29, 2007 Archived January 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- Sharon A. Brown. "Jefferson National Expansion Administrative History". National Park Service. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
- "New Mississippi River Bridge Project". Newriverbridge.org. August 18, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
- "The Facts". Improve I-70. Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
- "Draft I-70 First Tier Environmental Impact Statement (FTEIS)" (PDF). Missouri Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
External links
Media related to Interstate 70 in Missouri at Wikimedia Commons
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