Interstate 70 in Missouri

Interstate 70
Route information
Maintained by MoDOT
Length:	250.063 mi[1] (402.437 km)
Existed:	1956 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-70 / US-24 / US-40 / US-169 at Kansas state line
	I-29 / I-35 / US 71 in Kansas City I-435 in Kansas City I-470 / Route 291 in Independence US 65 in Marshall Junction US 63 in Columbia US 54 in Kingdom City, Missouri I-64 / US 40 / US 61 in Wentzville I-270 in Maryland Heights I-170 in Berkeley I-44 in St. Louis
East end:	I-70 at Illinois state line
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Missouri State Highway System Interstate US State Supplemental ← US 69 US 71 →

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.

Route description

Kansas City

While passing through Kansas City, I-70 is known as the "George Brett Super Highway", named after the former third baseman of the Kansas City Royals who is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Truman Sports Complex, which houses the Royals' and Chiefs' stadiums, is located along I-70 at I-435.

Beginning 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-35 becomes concurrent with I-70 as soon as the highway gets into the Loop, and maintain the concurrency until 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 as the Loop reaches the northeastern corner.^[4] When it does reach the corner, US 24 splits to the east, I-29 ends, and US 71 joins.^[5]

After that, the freeway turns south, with interchanges to more roads. At the southeastern end, I-70/US 40/US 71 exit the Loop, where I-70/US 40 split off to the east and US 71 continues south. I-670 ends where I-70/US 40 usurp the alignment.^[6] Soon after usurpation, I-70/US 40 turn southeast, and at exit 7A, US 40 departs from I-70.^[7] Soon after that, I-70 interchanges with I-435, the beltway around Kansas City.^[8]

Independence to Wentzville

I-70 in Saline County

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

I-70 west of St. Louis; shown here is rush-hour traffic congestion. Since this photograph was taken, this section has been widened to 4 lanes in each direction.

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 the 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. The former stretch of I-70 now continues as I-44.

History

Prior to 2014, I-70 traveled through downtown St. Louis near the Gateway Arch.

I-70 had been criticized for cutting off downtown St. Louis from the Mississippi River waterfront particularly at the Gateway Arch. St. Louis is considering 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.^[18] Tolling the Interstate has become a possible alternative, although the public does not support this idea. According to the improveI70.com website, tolling would not start until all 189 miles (304 km) of I-70 is reconstructed.

A March 2010 study^[19] 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.

Exit list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Jackson	Kansas City	0.000	0.000		I-70 west / US-24 west / US-40 west / US-169 south	Continuation into Kansas
		0.845	1.360	2B	Beardsley Road	Eastbound exit only; no exit 2B westbound
		0.886– 1.041	1.426– 1.675	2A	I-35 south – Wichita	West end of I–35 / Downtown freeway loop concurrency
		1.060	1.706	2C	US 169 north (Arrowhead Trafficway) – Downtown	East end of US 169 concurrency
		1.303	2.097	2D	Delaware Street
		1.651	2.657	2E	Route 9 north (Oak Street)	Westbound exit is via exit 2H
		1.775	2.857	2F	Oak Street, Grand Avenue, Walnut Street	Westbound exit only; eastbound exit via exit 2E
		1.853– 2.028	2.982– 3.264	2G–H	I-29 north / I-35 north / US 71 north – St. Joseph, Des Moines US 24 east (Admiral Boulevard)	East end of I-35 and US 24 concurrencies; west end of US 71 concurrency
		2.273	3.658	2J	11th Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		2.375– 2.295	3.822– 3.693	2L–M	I-670 west to I-35 south – Topeka, Wichita US 71 south to I-49 south – Joplin	East end of the Bruce Watkins Drive Memorial Parkway; East end of US 71 and Downtown freeway loop concurrency; westbound exit is via exit 3A
		2.668	4.294	2K	Harrison Street, Troost Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		2.944	4.738	3A	The Paseo	No eastbound exit
		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	US 40 east / 31st Street	East end of US 40 overlap
		7.675	12.352	7B	Manchester Trafficway
		8.078– 9.105	13.000– 14.653	8	I-435 – Wichita, Des Moines	I-435 exits 63A-B; signed as exits 8A (south) & 8B (north).
		9.338	15.028	9	Blue Ridge Cutoff – Truman Sports Complex	Eastbound exit 9 is via exit 8B
		10.848	17.458	10	Sterling Avenue	Eastbound exit only; westbound exit is via exit 11
	Independence	11.101– 11.122	17.865– 17.899	11	US 40 (Blue Ridge Boulevard)
		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 south / Route 291 – Lee's Summit, Liberty	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	Route 7 – Blue Springs, Lake Lotawana
		21.625	34.802	21	Adams Dairy Parkway – Blue Springs
	Grain Valley	24.412	39.287	24	US 40 west / Route AA west / Route BB north – Grain Valley, Buckner	West end of US 40 concurrency
	Oak Grove	28.169	45.334	28	Route F south / Route H north – Levasy, Oak Grove
Lafayette	Bates City	31.431	50.583	31	Route D north / Route Z south – Bates City, Napoleon
	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	Route 131 – Odessa, Wellington	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	Route M south / Route O north – Lexington, Mayview
	​	45.382	73.035	45	Route E south / Route H north – Mayview
	Higginsville	49.387	79.481	49	Route 13 – Higginsville, Warrensburg
	​	52.839	85.036	52	Route T north – Aullville
	Concordia	58.569	94.258	58	Route 23 – Waverly, Concordia
Saline	Emma	62.574	100.703	62	Route VV north / Route Y south – Emma
	Sweet Springs	66.891	107.651	66	Route 127 – Sweet Springs, Mt. Leonard
	​	71.383	114.880	71	Route EE north / Route K south – Houstonia
	​	74.606	120.067	74	Route YY north
	​	78.173	125.807	78	US 65 – Sedalia, Marshall	Signed as exits 78A (south) and 78B (north)
	​	84.614	136.173	84	Route J
Cooper	​	89.918	144.709	89	Route K north / Route M south – Arrow Rock, Blackwater
	​	98.000	157.716	98	Route 41 north / Route 135 south – Arrow Rock, Pilot Grove
	Boonville	101.781	163.801	101	Business Loop I-70 east / US 40 east / Route 5 south (Ashley Road) – Boonville, Tipton	East end of US 40 overlap
		103.551	166.649	103	Route B (Main Street) – Boonville, Bunceton
	​	106.382	171.205	106	Business Loop I-70 west / Route 87 (Bingham Road) – Boonville, Prairie Home
	​	111.455	179.369	111	Route 98 / Route 179 south – Overton, Wooldridge
Missouri River		114.714	184.614	Rocheport Interstate 70 Bridge; Cooper–Boone county line
Boone	​	115.505	185.887	115	Route BB north / Roby Farm Road – Rocheport
	​	117.687	189.399	117	Route J north / Route O south – Huntsdale, Harrisburg
	​	121.178	195.017	121	US 40 west / Route 240 west / Route UU south – Fayette	West end of US 40 concurrency
	Columbia	124.398	200.199	124	Route 740 east (Stadium Boulevard) / Route E north – Columbia
		125.543	202.042	125	Business Loop I-70 east / West Boulevard, Creasy Springs Road – Columbia
		126.545	203.654	126	Route 163 south (Providence Road) – Columbia
		127.019	204.417	127	Route 763 (Range Line Road) – Columbia, Moberly
		128.287	206.458	128	Business Loop I-70 west – Columbia	Westbound left exit and eastbound entrance. No access to exit if entering from US 63
		128.887	207.424	128A	US 63 – Jefferson City, Moberly	Indirect access via I-70 Connector
		130.984	210.798	131	St. Charles Road, Lake of the Woods Road
	​	133.644	215.079	133	Route Z north / Range Line Road – Centralia
Callaway	​	137.729	221.653	137	Route DD north / Route J south – Millersburg
	​	144.193	232.056	144	Route HH south / Route M north – Hatton
	Kingdom City	147.963	238.123	148	US 54 – Auxvasse, Mexico, Fulton, Jefferson City
	​	155.426	250.134	155	Route A north / Route Z south – Bachelor, Calwood
	​	161.318	259.616	161	Route D south / Route YY south – Williamsburg
Montgomery	​	170.374	274.190	170	Route 161 north / Route J south – Danville, Montgomery City
	New Florence	174.975	281.595	175	Route 19 – New Florence, Hermann
	High Hill	179.797	289.355	179	Route F north – High Hill
	Jonesburg	183.780	295.765	183	Route E north / Route Y south – Jonesburg
Warren	​	188.445	303.273	188	Route A north / Route B south – Truxton
	Truesdale–Warrenton line	193.484	311.382	193	Route 47 – Warrenton, Hawk Point
	Wright City	198.962	320.198	199	Route H – Wright City
		200.000	321.869	200	Route F south / Route J north – Wright City	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, other half of interchange is via exit 199
Saint Charles	Foristell	203.750	327.904	203	Route T south / Route W north – Foristell
	Wentzville	208.231	335.115	208	Wentzville Parkway
		209.412	337.016	209	Route Z south / Church Street – New Melle
		210.090– 211.002	338.107– 339.575	210	I-64 east / US 40 east / US 61 – Chesterfield, St. Louis, Wentzville, Hannibal	East end of US 40 concurrency; signed as exits 210A (east/south) and 210B (north); I-64 exits 1A-B
	Lake Saint Louis	211.948	341.097	212	Route A north / Freymuth Road
		213.950	344.319	214	Lake St. Louis Boulevard – Lake St. Louis
	O'Fallon	215.977	347.581	216	Bryan Road
		217.759	350.449	217	Route K south / Route M north (Main Street) – O'Fallon
		218.929	352.332	219	T.R. Hughes Road, Belleau Creek Road
	Saint Peters	220.381	354.669	220	Route 79 north / Salt Lick Road – Elsberry, Louisiana
		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 east	SR 370 exits 0A-B.
		225.129	362.310	225	Cave Springs Road, Harry S. Truman Road
	Saint Charles	226.933	365.213	227	Zumbehl Road
		228.277	367.376	228	Business Loop I-70 east (First Capitol Drive) / Route 94 – St. Charles, Weldon Spring
		229.379	369.150	229	Business Loop I-70 west (Fifth Street) – St. Charles	Signed as exits 229A (south) and 229B (north) westbound
Missouri River		230.128	370.355	Blanchette Memorial Bridge; St. Charles–St. Louis county line
Saint Louis	Maryland Heights	231.507	372.574	231	Route 141 (Earth City Expressway (north), Maryland Heights Expressway (south))	Signed as exits 231A (Maryland Heights Expressway) and 231B (Earth City Expressway)
	Maryland Heights–Bridgeton line	232.222– 233.024	373.725– 375.016	232	I-270 – Chicago, Memphis	Signed as exits 232A (south) and 232B (north) westbound
	Bridgeton	234.180	376.876	234	Route 180 (St. Charles Rock Road)
		235.096	378.350	235	US 67 (Lindbergh Boulevard)	Signed as exits 235A (south) and 235B (north)
		235.626	379.203	235C	Route B (Natural Bridge Road) / Cypress Road – Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
	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	Route 115 east (Natural Bridge Road)	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	I-170	Signed as exits 238B (south) and 238C (north); I-170 exits 7A-B.
		239.783	385.893	239	Hanley Road	Westbound exit is via exit 240
	Cool Valley	240.393	386.875	240	Route N (Florissant Road, University Boulevard)
	Normandy	240.920	387.723	241A	Bermuda Road
	Northwoods–Norwood Court line	241.691	388.964	241B	Route U (Lucas & Hunt Road)
	Pine Lawn	242.774	390.707	242	Jennings Station Road
City of Saint Louis		243.09	391.22	243A	Goodfellow Boulevard	Eastbound exit is via exit 242
		243.345	391.626	243B	Route 367 north (Riverview Boulevard)	Westbound exit only
		244.062	392.780	243C	Bircher Boulevard	Eastbound exit only
		244.255	393.090	244A	Union Boulevard
		244.579	393.612	244B	Kingshighway Boulevard	Eastbound exit is via exit 244A
		245.013	394.310	245A	Shreve Avenue
		245.643	395.324	245B	West Florissant Avenue
		246.111	396.077	246A	Broadway – O'Fallon Park
		246.622	396.900	246B	Adelaide Avenue
		247.218	397.859	247	Grand Boulevard
		248.068	399.227	248A	Route 115 west (Salisbury Street) – McKinley Bridge
		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	I-44 west to I-55 south – Tulsa, Memphis	Former route of I-70 through Downtown St. Louis
		249.335	401.266	249B	Tucker Boulevard – Downtown St. Louis	Signed as Exit 249 westbound, no access from Tucker to WB I-70
Mississippi River		250.063	402.437	Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge; Missouri-Illinois state line
Saint Clair	East Saint Louis				I-70 east – Indianapolis	Continuation into Illinois
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Notes

1. ^ I-670 in Bing also has I-70 on it because I-670 is designated "Alternate I-70".

References

1. Missouri Department of Transportation (April 12, 2014). Flex Map Viewer (Map). Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
2. Google (2007-07-08). "Alphabet Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
3. Google (2007-07-08). "A closer look of the Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
4. Google (2007-07-08). "Northern part of the Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
5. Google (2007-07-08). "Northeastern corner of the Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
6. Google (2007-07-08). "Eastern part of the Loop" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
7. Google (2007-07-08). "I-70 between the Loop and US 40" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
8. Google (2007-07-08). "I-70 at I-435" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
9. Google (2007-07-24). "I-70 at I-470" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
10. "I-70 at Route 7". Microsoft TerraServer. United States Geological Survey. 1996-02-28. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
11. Google (2007-07-24). "I-70 at the Missouri River near Columbia" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
12. Google (2007-07-24). "I-70 at US 63" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
13. "I-70 Reversibles To Remain Eastbound All Day" (Press release). Missouri Department of Transportation. 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
14. City leaders pitch local control of Arch grounds – St. Louis Post Dispatch – August 29, 2007
15. Sharon A. Brown. "Jefferson National Expansion Administrative History". National Park Service. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
16. "New Mississippi River Bridge Project". Newriverbridge.org. 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
17. "The Facts". Improve I-70. Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
18. "What are the Benefits?". Improve I-70. Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
19. "Draft I-70 First Tier Environmental Impact Statement (FTEIS)" (PDF). Missouri Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-03-30.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Media related to Interstate 70 in Missouri at Wikimedia Commons