U.S. Route 71 in Missouri

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This article is about the section of U.S. Route 71 in Missouri. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 71.

U.S. Route 71 marker

U.S. Route 71
US 71 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MoDOT
Length316.722 mi[1] (509.715 km)
Major junctions
South end US 71 at Jane
 
North end US 71 near Clearmont
Location
CountiesMcDonald, Newton, Jasper, Barton, Vernon, Bates, Cass, Jackson, Clay, Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Nodaway
Highway system
← I-70.svg I-70→ I-72.svg I-72

U.S. Route 71 (US 71) is a major north–south U.S. Highway that runs from Louisiana to Canada. US 71 enters Missouri from Arkansas in the town of Jane. US 71 serves the cities of Joplin, Kansas City and St. Joseph. At noon on December 12, 2012, the section of US 71 between Pineville, Missouri and Bannister Road in south Kansas City was also designated as a northern extension of Interstate 49 (I-49).

Route description[edit]

First reassurance marker on US 71 after entering Missouri from Iowa.

US 71 enters Missouri in Jane coming from Arkansas. Currently, a new bypass is being built known as the Bella Vista Bypass, to go around Jane and Bella Vista, Arkansas to connect with the freeway section of US 71 near Pineville. At this point, Interstate 49 begins its concurrency with US 71. I-49 and US 71 pass through many smaller communities before reaching Joplin. In Joplin, I-49 and US 71 interchanges with Interstate 44 and begin a short concurrency from I-44 exits 11 through 18.

A few miles east of Joplin, I-49 and US 71 leave I-44 and heads north and enters Carthage. Due to the freeway being built, old sections of the highway have been bypassed and become county roads. I-49 and US 71 pass through Nevada and other communities before reaching the Kansas City area. In south Kansas City, at Bannister Road just north of the Grandview Triangle, US 71 ends its concurrency with I-49, and continues into downtown Kansas City as Bruce R. Watkins Memorial Drive. US 71 loses its freeway status for 3 blocks in Kansas City before becoming a freeway again and entering Downtown Kansas City. It is very unlikely that the freeway will continue all the way through, as a court order prevents the stoplights to be bypassed, even though MoDot has the necessary right of way to do so.[citation needed]

In northern Kansas City, US 71 shares many overlaps with interstates, including I-70, I-35, and I-29. US 71 runs with I-29 through Kansas City north of Downtown until St. Joseph.

Once in St. Joseph, US 71 leaves I-29. US 71 runs north to Maryville. US 71 serves the small community of Clearmont before running through countryside into Iowa.

US 71 north of the Arkansas border.

History[edit]

In 1971, the highway was mostly two lanes south of Harrisonville, with the present-day bypass of Nevada and a brief segment between Butler and Rich Hill being the only other four-lane sections open between Harrisonville and Joplin.[2] However, by the end of the decade, much of the highway would be upgraded to four lanes, with a continuous four-lane highway now existing between Kansas City and the Bates-Jasper county line. Additionally, a short segment between Carthage and Webb City (present day Route 171) had been upgraded to four lanes.[3]

By 1987, a continuous four-lane link existed between Kansas City and Carthage, including a bypass around Carthage, as well as an upgrade of Alt. US-71 south of Carthage to I-44, creating the present-day I-49 bypass around Carthage and Joplin.[4] Save for a four-mile section of four-lane highway south of Neosho that was completed in the 1960s, the entire portion of US-71 (including Alt. US-71) south of Joplin to the Arkansas state line remained two lanes until 1999, when the present-day expressway from I-44 south to Neosho was completed. At this time, Alt. US-71 was decommissioned entirely, with the southern segment south of I-44 replaced by Route 59.[5] By 2004, the present-day expressway had been extended south to Pineville.

Upgrades to the highway were also made in the northern part of the state around this time, as US-71 was upgraded from two to four lanes between Savannah and Maryville, with various sections opening between 2001 and 2004.[6]

The future of part of the Bella Vista Bypass is on hold. On August 5, 2014, voters in Missouri defeated Amendment 7 at the polls, which would have provided funding various road construction projects in the state. After the measure's defeat, the funding for the connection from the existing southern end of I-49 in Missouri along the Bella Vista Bypass to the state line is in doubt, but Arkansas is moving ahead to construct all but the last connection to the state line.[7] -

Future[edit]

In March 2019, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved the remaining funding needed to complete the Bella Vista Bypass. Contracts will be let in 2020 and Missouri's portion of I-49 should be completed in the summer of 2022.[8]

Major intersections[edit]

CountyLocationmi[1]kmExitDestinationsNotes
McDonaldCaverna0.0000.000 US 71 south – Bella Vista, Fort SmithArkansas state line
0.2530.407 Route OO to AR 279
​4.4067.091 Route 90 – Noel, Jane
​7.36311.850
US 71 Bus. north – Pineville		Northbound access only
​8.95514.412 I-49 begins – Joplin, Kansas CitySouthern end of I-49 overlap
Overlap; see I-49
JacksonKansas City187.674302.032 I-49 ends / I-435 – Des MoinesNorthern end of I-49 overlap
188.563303.463 Route W north (Bannister Road) to I-435Southern end of the Bruce Watkins Drive Memorial Parkway
189.800–
190.014		305.453–
305.798		Hickman Mills Drive / Blue River Road / 85th Street / 87th Street
191.238307.76875th StreetInterchange
191.785308.648Gregory BoulevardAt-grade intersection
192.425–
192.780		309.678–
310.249		Meyer Boulevard / 63rd StreetInterchange
193.252311.00959th StreetAt-grade intersection
197.749318.24655th StreetAt-grade intersection
194.842313.568 US 56 west (Swope Parkway) / Emanuel Cleaver II BoulevardInterchange
195.896315.26439th Street
196.773–
196.897		316.675–
316.875		Linwood Boulevard / 31st StreetNo direct southbound exit (signed at 29th Street)
197.155–
197.414		317.290–
317.707		29th Street / 27th Street
197.883318.462The Paseo (Kansas City, Missouri)No direct southbound exit (signed at 22nd Street)
198.179318.93822nd Street
198.829319.984 To I-70 east / US 40 east / US 24 east / Truman Road – St. LouisNorthbound exit and southbound entrance
198.882320.070 I-670 west to I-35 south – Wichita, KansasI-70 exit 2L
198.935320.155 I-70 east / US 40 east / US 24 east – St. LouisSouthern end of I-70/US 40 concurrency; US 71 south follows exit 2M; no direct northbound exit (signed at Truman Road)
199.197320.57611th Street – Downtown Kansas CityNorthern end of the Bruce Watkins Drive Memorial Parkway;I-70 exit 2J
199.502321.067 I-29 begins / I-35 south / I-70 west / US 24 west / US 40 west – Wichita, TopekaNorthern end of I-70/US 40 concurrency; southern end of I-29/I-35 concurrency; US 71 follows exit 2G northbound & 3 southbound.
199.546321.138
To US 24 Bus. east / Route 9 north / Admiral Boulevard		Northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-70 exit 2H
199.609321.240
To US 24 Bus. / The Paseo (Kansas City, Missouri)		Southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-35 exit 4A
See I-35
ClayKansas City204.115328.491 I-35 north – Des MoinesNorthern end of I-35 concurrency; US 71 follows exit 8B northbound; I-29 exit 1B
See I-29
Andrew​260.870419.830 I-29 north / I-229 south – Council Bluffs, St. JosephNorthern end of I-29 concurrency; US 71 follows exit 56A northbound.
​263.481424.032 Route T – Amazonia, Savannah
​266.195428.399
US 59 north / US 71 Bus. south – Savannah		Interchange; northern end of US 59 concurrency
​271.914437.603 Route 48 east – Rosendale
NodawayMaryville291.108468.493
US 71 Bus. north / Route V – Maryville		Northern end of freeway
293.590472.487 US 136 east / Route 46 west – Maryville, StanberrySouthern end of US 136 concurrency
​295.705475.891 Route 148 north – Pickering, Hopkins
​296.902477.817
US 71 Bus. south / Route CC – Maryville
​307.845495.429 US 136 west to I-29 – Burlington JunctionNorthern end of US 136 concurrency
​316.722509.715 US 71 north – Braddyville
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Missouri Department of Transportation (August 29, 2015). MoDOT HPMAPS (Map). Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  2. ^ "Missouri 1971 State Highway Map" (PDF). Missouri Department of Transportation.
  3. ^ "Missouri 1979 State Highway Map" (PDF). Missouri Department of Transportation.
  4. ^ "Missouri 1987-88 State Highway Map" (PDF). Missouri Department of Transportation.
  5. ^ "Missouri 1999-2000 State Highway Map" (PDF). Missouri Department of Transportation.
  6. ^ "Missouri 2004 State Highway Map" (PDF). Missouri Department of Transportation.
  7. ^ McGeeney, Ryan (August 7, 2014). "Bella Vista Bypass on Ice after Missouri Rejects Tax". NWA Online. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  8. ^ Rosa, Jeff Della (7 March 2019). "Missouri to complete its part of Bella Vista Bypass by 2022". Talk Business & Politics. Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved 30 August 2019.

External links[edit]

Route map:

KML file (edit • help)
KML is not from Wikidata


U.S. Route 71
Previous state:
Arkansas 		Missouri Next state:
Iowa
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