US 60 in Missouri
| US 60 | |||
| Begin | Seneca | ||
| End | Cairo | ||
| Length | 348 mi | ||
| Length | 560 km | ||
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According to bestitude, US 60 is a US Highway in the US state of Missouri. The road forms an east-west route through the south of the state, from the Oklahoma border at Seneca through Neosho, Springfield and Sikeston to the Illinois border at Cairo. The road is 560 kilometers long.
Travel directions
De freeway in Springfield.
At Seneca, US 60 in Oklahoma from Bartlesville enters the state of Missouri in the southwest corner of the state. The road then continues for about 20 kilometers to the east and crosses Interstate 49 at the town of Neosho. The area here consists of meadows and already quite large forests in a rolling landscape. After Neosho, US 60 runs remotely parallel to Interstate 44to Springfield, which is nearly 100 miles away. The road passes through a plain that lies between two parts of the Ozark Mountains. One passes through small towns like Monett and Aurora before reaching larger Springfield. Springfield is one of the larger cities in Missouri. US 60 then forms a highway south of the city and crosses US 160 and on the southeast side of the city US 65.
After Springfield, US 60 has 2×2 lanes for a fairly long distance, until Willow Springs, 140 kilometers to the east. This area is a bit more hilly, but one crosses very few major roads, the occasional state route. Around Mountain Grove, up to Cabool, US 60 is a freeway. At Cabool the US 63 merges from Rolla, both roads are then double-numbered for about 25 kilometers until Willow Springs. The road curves slightly to the southeast here and passes through the Mark Twain National Forest. US 63 then exits to West Plains and Jonesboro in Arkansas. The US 60 then continues as a single-lane road further east, through large nature reserves. This area is densely forested and forms one of the largest forest areas between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. The route to Poplar Bluff is 160 kilometers long, and leads through a fairly sparsely populated area. Just before Poplar Bluff, US 67 merges from Park Hills and is then briefly double-numbered. US 60 is from here a freeway around Poplar Bluff, after which US 67 exits to Pocahontas in Arkansas. After this, US 60 is a main route with alternating 2×2 at-grade and highway sections. The transition from the mountain area to the Mississippi River plain is quite sudden around Poplar Bluff.
De Cairo Mississippi River Bridge.
You pass Dexter and then after about 80 kilometers you reach the town of Sikeston, where you first cross US 61, and merge US 62 from New Madrid. Shortly afterwards you cross the Interstate 55. US 60 then runs parallel to Interstate 57. At Charleston, it crosses I-57 and US 60 continues to the southern tip of the state of Illinois, around the town of Cairo, where the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers meet. US 60 in Illinois then continues through Cairo to Paducah in Kentucky.
History
According to biotionary, US 60 was created in 1926. The western starting point at the time was the city of Springfield, Missouri. In 1931, the route was required westward to Texas and the current route through Missouri was created. East of Springfield, the route is of more through importance and has therefore been doubled to 4 lanes since the 1970s. The first section widened ran from Springfield to Willow Springs, and then from Poplar Bluff to Sikeston. The middle section was mainly tackled after 2005, and was completely widened to 4 lanes on 9 July 2010.
Springfield
The James River Freeway has been constructed along the south side of Springfield. Construction of the highway began in the early 1990s. The first section to open was between Kansas Expressway and Campbell Avenue which opened in or before 1990. Shortly thereafter, the eastward extension from Campbell Avenue to US 65 was constructed, which opened circa 1992. The third and final section was between US 60 and Kansas Expressway, which opened circa 1995-1996. Later, another section west of US 60 opened as State Route 360 in 2002.
The interchange between US 60 and US 65 on the southeast side of Springfield was originally a cloverleaf without shunting lanes. This has been converted in phases between 2009 and 2011 with large flyovers for traffic from south to west and from west to north. The other connections still go through clover loops.
Springfield – Rogersville
Between September 2014 and November 2016, US 60 between Springfield and Rogersville was converted to a freeway. The project was called “Project Freeway” and involved 11 miles of US 60 between US 65 in Springfield and the east side of Rogersville. The project built three new connections, built parallel roads and removed existing intersections. The project was completed on November 1, 2016.
Future
US 60 is planned east of Springfield in the distant future as part of Interstate 66. A number of bypasses are already freeway, namely around Mansfield, Mountain Grove, Cabool, Poplar Bluff and Dexter.
Traffic intensities
Every day, 7,700 vehicles drive near the Oklahoma border and the section to Springfield still has a fair amount of traffic with 6,000 to 12,000 vehicles. Up to 67,000 vehicles drive through Springfield, descending to 12,000 vehicles on the 2×2 section to Willow Springs. To the east of this is less traffic, about 5,000 vehicles. After Poplar Bluff, this increases again to about 11,000 vehicles. The section parallel to I-57 has 3,000 vehicles.
