Interstate 49 in Missouri

Interstate 49
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap I-49 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MoDOT
Length	178.717 mi[1] (287.617 km)
Status	Connection to I-49 in Arkansas under construction
Existed	December 12, 2012–present
Major junctions
South end	US 71 in Pineville
	US 60 in Neosho I-44 in Joplin US 160 in Lamar US 54 in Nevada
North end	I-435 / I-470 / US 50 / US 71 in Kansas City
Location
Counties	McDonald, Newton, Jasper, Barton, Vernon, Bates, Cass, Jackson
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Missouri State Highway System Interstate US State Supplemental ← Route 48 → Route 49

Interstate 49 (I-49) is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Missouri that was designated on December 12, 2012. It overlaps U.S. Route 71 (US 71) in the western part of the state, beginning at Pineville, just a few miles north of the Arkansas state line, and ending at I-435 and I-470 on the southeast side of Kansas City.

I-49 is planned to extend south into Arkansas upon completion of a bypass of Bella Vista, Arkansas, connecting to the new northern Arkansas segment of I-49 (formerly part of I-540 to Fort Smith). Upon completion, the highway will connect with I-49 in Louisiana, connecting Kansas City to Texarkana, Shreveport, and Lafayette, Louisiana.

Route description[]

Currently, the southern terminus of this portion of Interstate 49 is located near Pineville, Missouri, but construction is underway to extend the freeway to the border with Arkansas and connect it with the Bella Vista Bypass.^[2][3][4][5] It passes through many smaller communities before reaching Joplin. In Joplin, I-49 junctions with I-44 and begins a short overlap with I-44 for exits 11 through 18.

Just a few miles east of Joplin, I-49 leaves I-44 and heads north and enters Carthage. I-49 then passes through Nevada and other communities before reaching the Kansas City area. I-49 intersects with I-470 and I-435 which provides connection to I-70 and I-35 and I-29.

In south Kansas City, at Bannister Road just north of the Grandview Triangle, the I-49 designation ends, and the expressway continues as US 71, which proceeds into downtown Kansas City as Bruce R. Watkins Memorial Drive.

History[]

Southern terminus of I-49 as seen in 2011, near Pineville, Missouri. A future connection is under construction from this point to Arkansas Highway 549 west of Bella Vista, Arkansas

Arkansas and Missouri pursued an I-49 designation for US 71 and I-540 for a number of years. In the early 2000s, there were plans by both states to rename the roadway as such between I-44 west of Joplin and I-40 at Fort Smith once new roadway had been completed around Bella Vista, Arkansas, and north to Pineville, Missouri.^[6] However, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering denied the I-49 designation at their annual meeting in September 2007 because none of the new roadway was under construction.^[7]

The I-49 upgrade involved removing all at-grade intersections and constructing interchanges and overpasses at 15 sites between Harrisonville and Lamar. The two-year project represented a shift in funding priorities for MoDOT which in 2007, had announced the indefinite postponement of its portion of the Bella Vista bypass project, citing a $139-million funding gap in Arkansas between construction costs and toll revenues, and Arkansas' commitment to only a two-lane bypass constructed over six years.^[8] MoDOT announced the Joplin-to-Kansas City upgrade of US 71 in August 2010, to be done with the intention of bringing the I-49 designation to Missouri.^[9]

MoDOT began installing I-49 trailblazer signage (without shields) plus gantry signs and mile markers, about 1200 signs in all, in February 2012. Signage bearing I-49 shields were covered or turned from view until the I-49 designation was given final approval by the Federal Highway Administration. This includes mile markers at two-tenths-mile (320 m) intervals along the entire alignment apart from I-44.^[10]

The I-49 designation in Missouri became official at noon on December 12, 2012.^[11] The designation applies to 180 miles (290 km) of current US 71 between Bannister Road (Route W) in south Kansas City and Route H at Pineville (McDonald County) which was upgraded to Interstate standards beginning in 2010.^[9] The last of the upgrade projects were completed in December 2012, but some designations about seven miles (11 km) north of the Arkansas state line still have not been built to meet interstate standards.

In 2012, Missouri had $40 million available for its portion of the Bella Vista bypass,^[12] but moved the money elsewhere in 2013. They planned on using money from a proposed constitutional amendment which would have raised the sales tax; however, this was defeated by voters in August 2014. Arkansas has announced it will not extend its section to Missouri until construction begins on the Missouri section.^[13]

Future[]

In March 2019, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved the remaining funding needed to complete the Missouri portion of Bella Vista Bypass.^[14] On April 1, 2020, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded a $58.7-million contract for the construction of the five-mile (8.0 km) Missouri portion of the Bella Vista Bypass. Construction started May 11, 2020, with the new estimated completion date for September 30, 2021.^[15] The bypass is on track to be completed in fall 2021. Upon completion, I-49 will be continuous from Kansas City, Missouri to Fort Smith, Arkansas.^[16]

Exit list[]

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Exit[1]	Destinations	Notes
McDonald	​	0.000	0.000		I-49 south – Fort Smith	Arkansas state line (future connection) expect to open in fall 2021
	​			2	Route 90 – Noel, Jane[17]	Future interchange expect to open in fall 2021
	​			4	US 71 south – Bella Vista	Temporary southern end; southbound exit and northbound entrance; expect to open in fall 2021
	Pineville	0.725	1.167	5	Route H – Pineville, Noel
	​	2.559	4.118	7	Route EE – Pineville, Lanagan
	​	5.691	9.159	10	Route 76 – Anderson
	​	10.771	17.334	16	US 71 Bus. south / Route 59 – Goodman, Anderson	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	​	11.955	19.240	17	Route B / Route C – Goodman
Newton	​	15.487	24.924	20	I-49 BL north / Route AA
	Neosho	19.043	30.647	24	US 60 – Seneca, Neosho
		22.059	35.501	27	I-49 BL south / Route 86 – Racine, Neosho
	​	25.053	40.319	30	Iris Road
	​	28.060	45.158	33	I-49 BL north / Route 175 (Gateway Drive)
	​	30.081	48.411	35	Route V – Diamond
Newton–Jasper county line	​	34.090	54.863	39 A	Route FF (32nd Street)
Jasper	​	34.239	55.102	39 B–C	I-44 west / Route 249 north to Route 66 – Joplin, Tulsa	Southern end of I-44 overlap; signed as exits 39B (Route 249 north) and 39C (I-44 west); I-49 south follows exit 11
	​	35.828	57.660	13	Prigmor Avenue – Joplin	Opened November 2015
	​	38.063	61.256	15	I-44 BL west / Route 66 – Duenweg, Joplin	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Fidelity	41.056	66.073	46	I-44 east / Route 59 south – Springfield, Diamond	Northern end of I-44 overlap; signed as exits 46A (Route 59 south) and 46B (I-44 east); I-49 north follows exit 18B
		42.388	68.217	47	Cedar Road
	Carthage	44.889	72.242	49	Route 571 north (Garrison Avenue)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		45.684	73.521	50	Route HH (Fir Road) – Carterville
		46.809	75.332	51	Fairview Avenue
		48.513	78.074	53	I-49 BL south / Route 96 / Route 171 north / Route 571 south (Central Avenue) – Webb City
		50.582	81.404	55	Civil War Road
	​	51.658	83.135	56	Route V (Garrison Avenue) / Route D – Alba	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	​	58.052	93.426	63	Route M / Route N
	Jasper	61.254	98.579	66	Route H / Route K – Jasper
Barton	​	65.427	105.295	70	Route 126 – Pittsburg, Golden City
	​	69.440	111.753	74	30th Road	Opened November 2013
	Lamar	72.009	115.887	77	US 160 – Mindenmines, Lamar
	​	75.541	121.571	80	Route DD / Route EE
	​	78.557	126.425	83	Route V / Route C – Irwin
Vernon	​	83.780	134.831	88	Route N / Route B – Bronaugh, Sheldon
	​	86.803	139.696	91	Route BB / Route DD – Bellamy
	​	90.788	146.109	95	Route E – Milo
	Nevada	96.124	154.697	101	I-49 BL north / Route K to US 54 west – Nevada,
		97.221	156.462	102 A	US 54 – Nevada, El Dorado Springs	Signed as exit 102 northbound
		97.869	157.505	102 B	I-49 BL south – Nevada	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		98.525	158.561	103	Highland Avenue
	​	102.001	164.155	107	Route M –
	​	105.333	169.517	110	Route D – Stotesbury
	​	107.089	172.343	112	Horton
	​	111.308	179.133	116	Route TT
Bates	Rich Hill	115.712	186.220	120	Route A / Route B – Rich Hill, Osceola
	​	124.277	200.004	129	Route 52 east – Appleton City	Southern end of Route 52 overlap
	​	125.533	202.026	130	I-49 BL north / Route 52 west – Butler	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Butler	126.891	204.211	131	Route 52 – Butler, Amoret	Northern end of Route 52 overlap
	​	131.587	211.769	136	I-49 BL south / Route F / Route D – Passaic, Butler
	Adrian	136.634	219.891	141	Route 18 – Adrian, Clinton
	​	139.155	223.948	144	Route AA / Route E
Cass	Archie	142.527	229.375	147	Route A / Route B – Archie, Drexel
	Harrisonville	148.208	238.518	153	307th Street
		152.193	244.931	157	Route 7 south – Clinton	Southern end of Route 7 overlap
		153.600	247.195	158	Route 2 east (Commercial Street)	Southern end of Route 2 overlap
		154.925	249.328	159	Route 2 west / Route 7 north (Mechanic Street)	Northern end of Route 2 / Route 7 overlap
		155.469	250.203	160	Route 291 north – Lee's Summit, Harrisonville	Opened in 2016; existing diamond interchange converted to a Diverging diamond interchange
	Peculiar	162.222	261.071	167	Route C / Route J – Peculiar
		163.643	263.358	168	211th Street / Peculiar Way	Diverging diamond interchange opened September 13, 2016[18]
	Raymore	167.213	269.103	172	North Cass Parkway
	Belton	169.164	272.243	174	Route 58 – Belton, Raymore
		170.396	274.226	175	Route Y / 163rd Street
Cass–Jackson county line	Belton–Grandview– Kansas City tripoint	171.793	276.474	176	155th Street – Belton	Opened on December 15, 2017[19]
Jackson	Grandview–Kansas City line	172.781	278.064	177	Route 150	Current interchange converted from the existing diamond interchange
	Grandview	173.658	279.475	178	140th Street
		174.924	281.513	179	Main Street	This bridge was replaced and opened on November 22, 2017[citation needed]
		175.485	282.416	180	Truman Drive	No direct northbound exit
	Grandview–Kansas City line	176.262	283.666	181	Blue Ridge Boulevard / Hickman Mills Drive / Longview Road
	Kansas City	177.411	285.515	182	Red Bridge Road / Longview Road
		178.036	286.521	—	I-435 west / US 50 west – Wichita I-470 east / US 50 east – Lee's Summit	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-435 exit 71A eastbound; I-470 exit 1
		178.719	287.620	—	US 71 north – Kansas City I-435 north to I-70 west – Des Moines, Downtown	Grandview Triangle; National northern terminus; northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-435 exit 71 southbound; highway continues north as US 71
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Unopened

References[]

External links[]

Route map:

Interstate 49
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