U.S. Route 67

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U.S. Route 67
Length: 1560 mi[1] (2511 km)
Formed: 1926[1]
South end: Presidio, TX at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Major
junctions:		 I-10 near Fort Stockton, TX
I-35W at Alvarado, TX
I-20/I-30/I-35E/US 77 in Dallas, TX
I-30 at Benton, AR
I-40 at North Little Rock, AR
I-55 at Festus, MO
I-70 in St. Louis, MO
I-72 at Jacksonville, IL
US 34 at Monmouth, IL
I-74 in Bettendorf, IA
I-80 near Le Claire, IA
North end: US 52 at Sabula, IA
United States Numbered Highways
List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 67 is a 1,560 mile (2,511 km) long north-south U.S. highway in the Midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues south as Mexican Federal Highway 16 upon crossing the Rio Grande. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 52 in Sabula, Iowa.

US 67 crosses the Mississippi River twice along its routing. The first crossing is at West Alton, Missouri, where US 67 utilizes the Clark Bridge to reach Alton, Illinois. 240 miles (390 km) to the north, US 67 crosses the river again at the Rock Island Centennial Bridge between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. Additionally, the route crosses the Missouri River via the Lewis Bridge a few miles southwest of the Clark Bridge.

Contents

[edit] Route description

[edit] Texas

Throughout Texas, US 67 runs from north to south, in a primarily east-west manner, apparently, but not actually, violating the norms for numbering U.S. highways as odd-numbered routes are typically north-south in orientation.

US 67 is part of the La Entrada al Pacifico international trade corridor from its southern terminus to an intersection with US 385 in McCamey, where the corridor follows US 385 to Odessa, Texas.

Between Dallas and Weaver, the highway runs concurrent with Interstate 30. From Weaver to Texarkana, US 67 basically runs parallel to I-30.

Major cities

East of the Interstate 35E/Interstate 30 "mixmaster" in Downtown Dallas, U.S. Route 67 follows Interstate 30. West of the "mixmaster," U.S. Route 67 follows I-35E south through Oak Cliff. Along this portion, the U.S. Route 67 shield is also alongside the Interstate shield. Just north of Kiest Boulevard, U.S. Route 67 breaks off from Interstate 35E and maintains controlled-access ("Interstate grade") status down to Midlothian, where it becomes a four-lane divided highway to the western edge of Cleburne.

[edit] Arkansas

In Arkansas, U.S. Route 67 runs parallel with Interstate 30 from Texarkana to Benton, where it then runs concurrent with I-30 to North Little Rock. It then runs concurrent with Interstate 40 East for about 2 miles (3.2 km), then branches off northeast as a freeway to Newport U.S. Route 67 travels west a short distance along Arkansas Highway 18 at the end of the freeway to its old 2-lane alignment, where it continues north toward Hoxie. Just south of Hoxie, 67 is east routed along the U.S. Route 63 bypass for a short distance, then north on a short section of freeway bypassing Hoxie and Walnut Ridge. Just north of U.S. Route 412, the freeway ends at a large, partially complete interchange, and U.S Route 67 becomes a 5-lane undivided highway north to Pocahontas. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is currently constructing the future U.S. Route 67 freeway to the north from Newport which will eventually connect directly to the short stretch of freeway at Hoxie.

From Pocahontas, 67 turns northeasterly as a 2-lane highway to Corning, then turns north again and crosses into Missouri. The AHTD will one day construct the freeway north from its current end at U.S. Route 412 directly toward Corning, roughly paralleling the Union Pacific Railroad line and Arkansas Route 90, eliminating the "dogleg" in U.S. Route 67. However, no funds have been dedicated to this portion of the route at this time.

[edit] Missouri

Going from south to north, US 67 enters Missouri at the Arkansas state line. About 10 miles (16 km) north of the state line, it intersects US 160. At the southwest corner of Poplar Bluff, Business Route 67 goes into Poplar Bluff while US 67 bypasses Poplar Bluff to the west on a freeway-grade highway. It then joins US 60 at the northwest corner of Poplar Bluff. Both 60 and 67 then follow a four-lane route to an interchange about 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Poplar Bluff, where US 60 heads west toward Springfield, Missouri. Three miles north of the interchange with US 60, US 67 goes down to two lanes. From there, it continues north and passes through Greenville, Missouri. Just south of Fredericktown, Missouri, US 67 becomes a four-lane highway again and remains as a four-lane highway until it reaches the Illinois state line just north of St. Louis. The Missouri Department of Transportation is currently working to expand US 67 to a 4-lane divided highway from Poplar Bluff to Fredericktown. This work is scheduled to be completed by 2012. From Fredericktown, US 67 passes through Farmington, Missouri and Park Hills, Missouri. About 25 miles (40 km) north of Park Hills, US 67 crosses Interstate 55 and enters Festus, Missouri and Crystal City, Missouri and becomes known as Jeffco Boulevard from that point until it exits Jefferson County, Missouri and enters St. Louis County, Missouri.

[edit] St. Louis County

When US 67 reaches St. Louis County, It travels Lemay Ferry Road (Route 267) until it reaches Lindbergh Boulevard. There it travels Lindbergh Boulevard (known as Kirkwood Road in Kirkwood and Highway 67 in Florissant), named for aviator Charles Lindbergh, until it reaches Lewis & Clark Boulevard (Route 367). From there, it continues north to West Alton, Missouri and then crosses the Mississippi River and enters Alton, Illinois.

The only vehicular tunnel in Missouri is located on US 67 at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, where the road tunnels under the runway.

[edit] Illinois

Main article: U.S. Route 67 in Illinois

In the state of Illinois, U.S. 67 runs north from the Clark Bridge in Alton through the Forgottonia region of western Illinois. It runs near the cities of Jacksonville, Beardstown, Macomb and Monmouth before crossing into Iowa across the Rock Island Centennial Bridge.

[edit] Iowa

U.S. 67 enters Iowa in Davenport. It follows an alignment through Bettendorf and Clinton which parallels the Mississippi River. Near Sabula, U.S. 67 meets U.S. Route 52 and ends.

[edit] History

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US 67 is one of the older US highway corridors in Madison County, Missouri. The northern terminus of US 67 was in Missouri under the original US highway numbering scheme of 1926, likely due to limited bridge crossings over the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. In Missouri, US 67 replaced Route 23, created in 1922 from Arkansas to Fredericktown. By 1932, with a Mississippi River crossing route determined, US 67 was extended north along Illinois Route 3 to Rock Island, Illinois.

Even though the old Clark Bridge had been opened to traffic across the Mississippi River at Alton in 1928 , US 67 originally crossed the Mississippi River with US 66 via the McKinley Bridge from St. Louis to Venice. From Venice, US 67 headed north along what had been IL 3 via Alton to Rock Island, Illinois. The original route of IL 3 from Alton to Jacksonville that became US 67 went through East Newbern, Jerseyville, and Carrollton.

US 67 had several routes over the years. The Illinois section was likely not included in original US highways in 1926, due to limited bridge crossings. The history of US-67 through Illinois is almost as storied as the famous highway to its east U.S. Route 66 that follows the old Illinois Route 4.

[edit] Changes to routing

The northern terminus was at Alt. US 61 near Fredericktown, Missouri, in 1926. The route was extended north on Illinois Route 3 (through western Illinois) to its northern terminus in Rock Island, Illinois by 1932 . Sometime after 1940, US 67 was routed into Madison County. Then, it was co-signed with Route 66 as both routes went across the McKinley Bridge.

By the mid 1940s, US 67 had been rerouted from St. Louis to Alton via the Lewis Bridge over the Missouri River and the Clark Bridge (formerly the Old Clark Bridge) over the Mississippi River. The Alton to Jerseyville section now passed through Godfrey and Delhi. By the mid 1950s, a more direct route for US 67 from Godfrey towards Jacksonville via Greenfield had opened. Heading north from Downtown Alton, US 67 was rerouted via an abandoned railroad grade to the north end of town.

Between Fort Bellefontaine, Missouri (near Lewis Bridge) and south of St. Louis, US 67 followed 2 different routes. US 67 originally followed Lewis and Clark Boulevard, Florissant Avenue, 7th Street, and Broadway south through St. Louis. US 67 Bypass followed Lindbergh Boulevard around the city. Route 99 was an inner bypass within the city limits, following Kingshighway Boulevard and Riverview Boulevard between Route 30 (Gravois Road) and US 67 (Florissant Avenue). US 67 replaced Route 99 in the mid-1950s, using Loughborough Avenue at the south end, and the old route south of downtown became an extension of US 67 Alternate, which had begun downtown and crossed into Illinois towards Alton. (The old US 67 north of downtown was mostly US 66 City.) Later, in the late 1960s, US 67 moved to the bypass, and the old route, where not turned back to the city, became Route 267 and Route 367.

In 1962 another reroute occurred, due to the completion of a new river bridge over the Illinois River at Beardstown. A new direct route was constructed from this bridge at Beardstown to Rushville, eliminating the earlier US-67 eastern route northeast along current IL-100 to Frederick then turing north to Rushville. A western by-pass of downtown Rushville was completed a couple of years later.

In 1964, US 67A was replaced by Route 3 as St. Louis started to get rid of highways such as 67A. A new four-lane Route 3 opened a few years later.

In 1968, US-67 was rerouted on a more western route between Jacksonville and Beardstown. The route was the existing IL-104 (Jacksonville to near Merodosia) and IL-100 (Near Merodosia to Beardstown). The original US-67 road passed through Virginia on what is now IL-78 (Jacksonville to Virginia) and then on IL-125 (Virginia to Beardstown), which follows the historic post road between Springfield and Beardstown.

Before 1994, US 67 went through Alton on Belle Street and crossed the river by the Colonial Bread store. After 1994, US 67 got a new bridge as well as a new route through Alton. In the summer of 1994, parts of the road were blown up in a span of 8 to 10 weeks. Today, planners from Godfrey and Jerseyville are talking about building a new US 67 that would take a western route along the current IL 267.

  • US 67 Branches: These branches remained relevant with the locals even after they were decommissioned in 1964.
    • Alt US 67: There were two Alt US 67's in Madison County. The first started south of Alton, the second, north. When US 67 was switched to the Clark Bridge sometime before the mid 1940s, The earlier route of US 67 from St. Louis to Alton became Alt US 67. In the mid 1940s, Alt US 67 was switched from the McKinley Bridge to the MacArthur Bridge. By 1965, the Alt US 67 designation had been dropped and the IL 3 designation had returned to this route. The original IL 3 roadway had been replaced by new alignments in places over the years, however.

When US 67 was shifted to a more direct route north of Alton between Godfrey and Jacksonville by the mid 1950s, the old route via Jerseyville and Carrollton became Alt US 67. This designation lasted until around 1965 when the route became IL 267.

  • Illinois 267: This route was once Alt US 67 from the mid 1950s to 1965 as it went from Godfrey through Jerseyville on its way to meet up with US 67 about 20 miles (32 km) south of Jacksonville. This route, despite being one of the most dangerous in central Illinois, has remained unchanged over the years.

In 2001, IDOT rerouted US-67 back onto the original (1940) routing (western route) north of Alton to Murrayville and IL-267 was put onto the newer alignment (eastern route) from near Murrayville through Greenfield to Medora. South of Medora to Godfrey the road retained only IL-111, a second number on this section. The rerouting was to accommodate a future "Corridor 67" expressway that will be built within the next decade or so. IDOT construction began in 2004 near Jacksonville. The new expressway is supposed to follow the corridor through White Hall, Carrollton, and Jerseyville and will eventually end in Godfrey.

From Macomb north to Monmouth US-67 is currently a "Super Four" 65 MPH, 4 lane highway. The Roseville Bypass was completed in 2003.

[edit] Historic termini

  • The route was extended across West Texas to its present-day southern terminus in 1930.
  • The route was extended north on Illinois Route 3 (through western Illinois) to its northern terminus in Rock Island, Illinois by 1932.
  • The 1934 extension left the last 35 miles (56 km) of US 67, south of Dubuque, co-signed with the extended US 52. In 1967 , the US 67 designation was removed from this section, ending US 67 at Sabula, Iowa.

[edit] See also

[edit] Related U.S. Routes

[edit] Bannered and suffixed routes

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b US Highways from US 1 to US 830 Robert V. Droz

[edit] External links


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Main U.S. Routes
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20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
80 81 82 83 84 85 87 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
101 400 412 425
Lists  U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Bypassed - Portal
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< Route 66 MO Route 68 >
< US 66 IL IL 68 >
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