page_title: Interstate 44
section_title: Missouri
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 44 / Route description / Missouri
caption_attribution_description: This is a picture I took in downtown St. Louis of an Interstate highway shield with 4 interstate highways on it (I-44, I-55, I-64, I-70).
context_page_description: Interstate 44 is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, Texas, at a concurrency with U.S. Route 277, US 281, and U.S. Route 287 in Texas; its eastern terminus is at I-70 in St. Louis, Missouri. I-44 is one of five Interstates built to bypass U.S. Route 66; this highway covers the section between Oklahoma City and St. Louis. Virtually the entire length of I-44 east of Springfield, Missouri, was once US 66, which was upgraded from two to four lanes from 1949 to 1955. The section of I-44 west of Springfield was built farther south than US 66 in order to connect Missouri's section with the already completed Will Rogers Turnpike, which Oklahoma wished to carry their part of I-44.
context_section_description: I-44 enters Missouri southwest of Joplin near the tripoint of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. It misses the Kansas border by less than 200 yards (180 m). The first exit in Missouri is for US 166. I-44 continues through the southern part of Joplin, where it runs concurrently with the new Missouri segment of I-49. East of Joplin, I-49 splits off on its own alignment to Kansas City.
  I-44 then continues east on the former US 166 to Mount Vernon. At the northeast part of Mount Vernon, I-44 heads northeast, while old US 166 continued east on Missouri Route 174. The section of road to Halltown is a completely new road, not bypassing any previous highways. At Halltown, the road follows the general pathway of US 66 all the way to downtown St. Louis.
  I-44 passes through Springfield on the north side of the city and continues northeast. At Waynesville, I-44 enters a very hilly and curvy area until it passes Rolla. Although the road still passes through some hilly areas, none are as steep as that particular stretch.
  At Pacific, I-44 widens to six lanes, later to eight lanes. The interstate passes through the suburbs of St. Louis and then into downtown St. Louis, passing the Gateway Arch before finally terminating near the Mississippi River, continuing from there as I-70 from the west end of the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge. Until a future second span of the new bridge is completed, there will be no way for I-44 traffic to utilize the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial span without first exiting to surface streets. I-44 traffic wishing to continue northeast and east must use the Poplar Street Bridge and I-55/I-64 to cross the Mississippi River.
  At some places, an "Alternate I-44" is posted. One such ran between Rolla and Springfield via US 60 and US 63 and another ran via US 63 and US 50 between Rolla and Union. These were completed to provide traffic relief during road work. The latter of these alternate routes detoured traffic around three-hour delays due to road work near Cuba.
caption: A nonstandard depiction of I-44/55/64/70 in downtown St. Louis
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