page_title: Interstate 49
section_title: Arkansas and Missouri
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 49 / History / Arkansas and Missouri
caption_attribution_description: English: Northern end of the future Bella Vista Bypass. The closed segment visible will be an on-ramp onto the Bypass. This photo was taken from US 71 in Missouri north of Bella Vista, AR. The bypass will be a part of an extended Interstate 49.
context_page_description: Interstate 49 is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in multiple segments: the original portion entirely within the state of Louisiana with an additional signed portion extending from I-220 in Shreveport to the Arkansas state line, four newer sections in Arkansas, and a new section that opened in Missouri. Its southern terminus is in Lafayette, Louisiana, at I-10 while its northern terminus is in Kansas City, Missouri at I-435 and I-470. Portions of the remaining roadway in Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas, which will link Kansas City with New Orleans, are in various stages of planning or construction.
  Although not part of the original 1957 Interstate Highway plan, residents of Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana began campaigning for the highway in 1965 via the "US 71 - I-29 Association". The campaign called for I-29 to be extended south from Kansas City to New Orleans following much of the route along US 71. The plan called for creating a limited access expressway from New Orleans to the Canadian border and on to Winnipeg. When I-49 is complete, the goal of the association will have been accomplished, with only a brief gap and name change in Kansas City.
context_section_description: Arkansas and Missouri have been pursuing an I-49 designation for U.S. 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 Interstate 44 west of Joplin and Interstate 40 at Fort Smith, once a new bypass of U.S. 71 had been completed around Bella Vista, Arkansas and north to Pineville, Missouri. However, the AASHTO Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbers and Interstate Highways denied the I-49 designation at their annual meeting in September 2007 because none of the new roadway was yet under construction. During this time, there was also some debate as to whether the Interstate 29 designation should be extended farther south from its current terminus in Kansas City, to either Joplin or all the way to Fort Smith.
  The I-49 designation, consisting of 180 miles (290 km) in Missouri, became official at noon on December 12, 2012. The designation applies to current US 71 between I-435 in south Kansas City and Route H at Pineville (McDonald County), which was upgraded to Interstate standards beginning in 2010. The last of the upgrade projects was completed in December 2012. I-49 also runs concurrently with I-44 between interchanges 11 and 18 east of Joplin.
  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 was covered or turned from view until the I-49 designation received final approval by FHWA. This includes mile markers at 0.2-mile (0.32 km) intervals along the entire alignment apart from I-44.
  The US 71 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, announced indefinite postponement of its portion of the Bella Vista bypass project, citing a $139-million dollar funding gap in Arkansas between construction costs and toll revenues, and Arkansas' commitment to only a two-lane bypass constructed over six years. 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.
  Most of the 10.2-mile corridor, constructed between 1990 and 2001, was built to Interstate standards. However, three at-grade intersections—at Gregory Boulevard (71st Street), 59th Street and 55th Street—prevent the I-49 designation from being extended all the way to downtown. All three of these intersections were on the Kansas City Police Department's 2010 list of "Top 20 Crash Sites in Kansas City", at #9, #6 and #4 respectively and Watkins Drive has the reputation among commuters as "one of the city's most accident-prone stretches of road". Many neighborhood associations in Kansas City have historically objected to upgrading Watkins Drive to a freeway. MoDOT has gone on record stating a court order keeps them from removing the stoplights, making conversion of this stretch unlikely. As for any future upgrade, a MoDOT blog post says "Ample right of way was acquired to someday allow MoDOT to reconstruct the three signal-controlled, at-grade intersections to grade-separated interchanges, allowing traffic on Bruce R. Watkins Drive to flow unimpeded. Neither MoDOT nor the city of Kansas City can initiate this change. It is up to the citizens, who must raise the issue again through the court system to amend the class-action agreement."
  The I-49 designation carries through the Three Trails Crossing (aka the Grandview Triangle) interchange to guide motorists onto US 71 north of I-435 and terminates north of I-435 and south of Bannister Road (Route W) around the 190.0 mile marker. From this point north, US 71 follows Bruce R. Watkins Drive,
  a parkway which directly connects the I-70 / I-670 interchange in downtown Kansas City, as well as the I-35 / I-29 / I-70 interchange just to the north, to south Kansas City and I-435, I-470 and I-49.
  I-130, the former designation from 1999-2000, was removed and no longer 
caption: Closed ramp which will serve as the northern end of the Bella Vista Bypass upon completion.
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