Missouri supplemental route
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A supplemental route is a state secondary road in Missouri, designated with letters. Supplemental routes were various roads within the state which the Missouri Department of Transportation was given in 1952 to maintain in addition to the regular routes. The goal of the secondary highway system was to place state-maintained roads within two miles of more than 95% of all farm houses, schools, churches, cemeteries and stores. The four types of roads designated as Routes are:
- Farm to market roads
- Roads to state parks
- Former alignments of U.S. or state highways
- Short routes connecting state highways from other states to routes in Missouri
Supplemental routes make up 19,064 miles (30,681 km) (59%) of the state highway system.
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[edit] Highway designations
Various letters (but not all) are used in the designations of these highways. The letters "G", "I", "L", "Q", "S", and "X" are not used with the exception of Route AX near Axtell. With the exception of Route AR south of Bakersfield, the letter "R" is only used as discussed below. Additionally, some routes are double letters (such as Route AA, MM). Usually, but not always, double letter routes are farm to market roads which end at county roads or are former alignments of other highways.
Additionally, combinations of letters may be used, but always with "A" as the first letter (such as Route AD). The only exception is Route BA found in western St. Louis County.
Supplemental routes which connect with state parks or other recreational facilities begin with the letter "R" (such as Route RB).
These routes rarely run for more than a few miles, though they may cross county lines. But at other highway crossings, they usually (but not always) change names. For example, in Greene County, southbound Route J crosses U.S. Route 60 and becomes Route NN. But when Route MM crosses Route 360, it remains Route MM, only changing into Route B when crossing Interstate 44. The names are also reused, but not near one another. No letter is reused in a county. Route D exists in Greene County, Newton County, and in several other counties.
[edit] Signage
Supplemental routes are signed by black letters on a white background with a black border. Occasionally they will be marked with banners such as EAST, WEST, or END, but this is extremely rare. There are no business or bypass routes for the roads, however four examples exist of spur routes: Spur Route N in Cedar County, Spur Route C in Gentry County, Spur Route K (into East Lynn) in Cass County, and Spur Route Y in Montgomery County.
It is erroneously believed that due to these roads being designated by letters rather than numbers and their existing in more than one county that these roads are county roads, not state highways, with some businesses and residences located on these roads saying their address is "County Road A" for example. This may have also arisen from the signage used prior to the early 1960s, where the letter was painted black against a white background, with the words "STATE ROAD" above the letter and the county name (in all capital letters) below the letter.
