| U.S. Route 71 | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Length: | 1,532 mi[1] (2,466 km) |
| Existed: | 1926[1] – present |
| Major junctions | |
| South end: | US 190 in Krotz Springs, LA |
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I-20 from Bossier City to Shreveport, LA |
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| North end: | Highway 71 to Highway 11 / TCH at Fort Frances, ON |
| Highway system | |
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United States Numbered Highways |
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U.S. Route 71 is a north–south United States highway. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstate highways. Currently, the highway's northern terminus is in International Falls, Minnesota at the Canadian border, at the southern end of the Fort Frances-International Falls International Bridge to Fort Frances, Ontario. U.S. Route 53 also ends here. On the other side of the bridge, Trans-Canada Highway 11 is an east–west route. US 71's southern terminus is between Port Barre and Krotz Springs, Louisiana at an intersection with U.S. Route 190.[2]
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The southern terminus of U.S. 71 is in Louisiana, beginning between Port Barre and Krotz Springs, Louisiana, at an intersection with U.S. 190. The highway follows a northwesterly course through Louisiana, passing through the communities of Alexandria, Montgomery, Coushatta, and Shreveport. From its southern terminus to Shreveport, U.S. 71 has largely been superseded by Interstate 49 - which is eventually planned to roughly follow the U.S. 71 alignment as far north as Kansas City, Missouri. After Shreveport, U.S. 71 follows a northerly course, crossing into Arkansas just north of Ida, Louisiana.
U.S. 71 travels approximately 300 miles (480 km) in Arkansas entering the state approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) north of Ida, Louisiana.
The route enters Arkansas near the Red River, and runs north through the communities of Doddridge and Fouke.[3] Most motorists can now bypass US 71 from Doddridge to Texarkana via Arkansas Highway 549, a four-lane controlled-access highway which is intended to be part of the extension of Interstate 49. After approximately 30 miles (48 km) of parallaling Highway 549, the route turns west, passes the historic Averitt House and enters Texarkana. Highway 71 has a brief concurrency with Highway 237 before crossing over The Loop (future Interstate 130[4]) in the southeast part of town.
Inside the loop, Highway 71 becomes East Street, passing the Texarkana Country Club and Hobo Jungle Park before becoming Hickory Street in downtown Texarkana. The street is four-lane undivided, passing the Bottoms House and J.K. Wadley House before meeting US 67/US 82. US 71 forms a short, 2 block concurrency with US 67/US 82 before turning north along Hazel Street.[c 1] This minor city street runs northwest to intersect State Line Avenue, at this time, the northbound lanes are in Arkansas; the southbound lanes are in Texas.[3] While on State Line Avenue, US 71 intersects Loop 14 before U.S. Route 59 joins US 71 at a full cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 30.
From Arkansas Highway 296 north of Texarkana to the Red River, US 71 runs concurrent with US 59 as an expressway. Except for the northbound lanes (which return to the Arkansas side just before the Red River), this section of 3.39 miles (5.46 km) is entirely in Texas.[c 2]
The highways re-enter Arkansas (specifically Little River County, Arkansas) completely at the Red River. US 71/US 59 serve as an eastern terminus for Highway 380 upon entering Ogden. Although US 71/US 59 bypass the community as a four-lane highway, the route formerly served Ogden as Grand Street, which as of 2011 retains original 1926 US 71 paving for some of its length.[5] Further north the routes pass under Highway 32, which skirts the southern part of Ashdown. Serving Little River's county seat as Constitution Avenue, the routes become a five-lane road with center turn lane which passes within two blocks of the Little River County Courthouse. The routes intersect Highway 32B and Highway 108 before exiting town headed due north to Wilton.[6] Following the Kansas City Southern Railroad tracks, US 71/US 59 enters Wilton, where it passes the S. S. P. Mills and Son Building, Highway 234, and the Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway Depot.[7] Just north of town a former alignment comes into view for a few miles before the Mills Cemetery and the Sevier County line.
US 59 continues through Lockesburg, DeQueen and Mena, finally leaving U.S. 71 at Acorn. In addition, U.S. Route 371 overlaps U.S. 71 & 59 for approximately 14 miles (23 km) from Lockesburg to DeQueen, joined by U.S. Route 70 8 miles (13 km) east of DeQueen.
Between Acorn and Y City, US 71 overlaps U.S. Route 270.
North of Acorn, US 71 passes through Waldron, Mansfield and Greenwood before intersecting with Interstate 540 on the south end of Fort Smith. US 71 overlaps I-540 approximately 12 miles (19 km) until it reaches Interstate 40, then follows I-40 6 miles to Alma.
U.S. 71 passes through Mountainburg, Winslow, West Fork and Greenland on its way to Fayetteville. At Fayetteville, US 71 overlaps I-540 to Bentonville, as well as U.S. Route 62.
North of Bentonville US 71 continues another 12 miles (19 km) passing through Bella Vista to the Missouri State Line.
In Missouri, US 71 is a major north–south artery on the western side of the state, connecting Joplin with Kansas City. Construction is in progress to upgrade US 71 to Interstate standards as a future extension of Interstate 49. On August 15, 2007, the final section of US 71 south of Kansas City to be completed to a 4-lane divided expressway was opened in McDonald County, between the cities of Lanagan and Jane.[8] In Kansas City, US 71 is one of the components of the Grandview Triangle interchange. Though US 71 is a freeway from Harrisonville almost to downtown Kansas City, there is a 2-mile (3.2 km) section near Swope Park that has three at-grade intersections. Ample right of way exists on the corridor to upgrade to a freeway, though there are no plans to do so in the near future.[9] From downtown Kansas City, US 71 overlaps with Interstate 29 to Saint Joseph. From there, US 71 continues as an expressway to Maryville before angling towards Iowa just north of Clearmont. In 2002, US 71 was four laned from Interstate 29, northwest of St. Joseph to Maryville. From there, until it enters Iowa at Braddyville, it continues to be the only remaining rural two lane section of this highway north of Kansas City.
US 71 overlaps Interstate 70 on the east side of downtown Kansas City's freeway loop. US 71 then overlaps Interstate 35 and Interstate 29 for a segment which crosses the Missouri River via the Christopher S. Bond Bridge in Kansas City. It then continues concurrent with Interstate 29 after separating from Interstate 35 north of the Missouri River to just north of St. Joseph, Missouri where it diverges.
An alternative in the design of Interstate 29 called for it to follow US 71 on a more populated route through Maryville, Missouri and Clarinda, Iowa. However the interstate was to be routed along the more direct route to Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa and more sparsely populated Missouri River bottoms.
During the Great Flood of 1993, when the Missouri River flooded, I-29 traffic was detoured along US 71 through Maryville and Clarinda.
The four-lane segment between Savannah to Maryville was completed in 2002. It is a two lane highway north of Maryville to the Iowa state line. The long delay in bringing a four-lane highway to Maryville even as most of the highway from Savannah south to the Arkansas line has been a four lanes for some time was a source of considerable irritation for Maryville and Northwest Missouri State University.
Outlaws Bonnie and Clyde engaged in a shoot out with law enforcement officers in 1933 beside the highway at the Red Crown Tourist Court in Platte County, Missouri. The tourist court (which has been torn down) was just east of the main exit for Kansas City International Airport on I-29.
U.S. 71 passes through a rural section of western Iowa. It enters the state at Braddyville and junctions Interstate 80 near Brayton, northeast of Atlantic. North of I-80, U.S. 71 passes through Carroll, where it intersects U.S. Route 30, and overlaps U.S. Route 20 through Early and U.S. Route 18 through Spencer. The highway crosses the Iowa Great Lakes where West Okoboji and East Okoboji Lake meet before exiting the state.
U.S. 71 formerly entered Storm Lake concurrently with Iowa Highway 7 but was moved to a new alignment east of Storm Lake in 1996 to lessen travel time between Carroll and Spencer, the two largest communities on U.S. 71 in Iowa. A business route of U.S. 71 follows the highway's former alignment through Storm Lake.
A business route for U.S. 71 also passes through Clarinda on a former alignment of U.S. 71.
As in Iowa, U.S. 71 in Minnesota is largely a rural highway. It crosses Interstate 90 at Jackson and passes through Windom,intersect U.S Highway 14 at Sanborn. It passes through Redwood Falls and Willmar before its junction with Interstate 94 at Sauk Centre From there, U.S. 71 passes through Long Prairie, Wadena, and Park Rapids before touching Itasca State Park, the source of the Mississippi River. It then crosses the Mississippi and is a major route for northern Minnesota as it goes around Bemidji (the "first city on the Mississippi") and angles northeast to its end at the Canadian border in International Falls. On the Ontario side, Highway 71 links the bridge to Highway 11 in Fort Frances.
The Minnesota section of U.S. 71 is defined as Routes 4 and 141 in Minnesota Statutes §§ 161.114(2) and 161.115(72).,[10][11]
Until 1950, US 71 extended down the present-day route of U.S. Route 190 to Port Allen, Louisiana near the state capitol, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Otherwise, the route is largely intact.
In northwest Arkansas, the 1926 alignment of US 71 followed Highway 102 from Bentonville to Centerton, then north on Highway 102 Business to Highway 72 southeast of Hiwasse. From there, it followed Arkansas 72 to Gravette, where it turned north on Highway 59 to the Missouri state line. In the 1930s, US 71 was rerouted along Arkansas 72 between Bentonville and Gravette, then north on Arkansas 59. This alignment lasted until the early 1960s when it was realigned along Highway 100 between Bentonville and the Missouri state line. In Missouri, the new US 71 replaced Route 88, which had been defined in 1922, while the old US 71 became Route 59.
In southern Louisiana, US 71 originally travelled south to Lebeau, Louisiana where it turned east, passing through Melville before turning south at Ravenswood then turning east at Rosedale towards Baton Rouge.
This segment now generally follows Louisiana Highway 10 between Lebeau and Ravenswood, Louisiana Highway 77 between Ravenswood and Rosedale, and Louisiana Highway 76 to Baton Rouge.
In 2010, the historic highway was remembered in song on the Highway 71 CD by folk band 3 Penny Acre.
A large section of U.S. 71 through Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana is being upgraded to Interstate standards as an extension of Interstate 49 from Shreveport, Louisiana to Kansas City, Missouri. For more, see Interstate 49, Interstate 540 (Arkansas) (completed from Alma to Bentonville), and Arkansas Highway 549 (completed from Texarkana to just north of Louisiana state line).[12]
Auxiliary routes of U.S. Route 71
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Main U.S. Routes |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | |
| 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 | 163 | 400 | 412 | 425 | |||||||||||||||
| Lists | U.S. Routes • Bannered • Divided • Bypassed | ||||||||||||||||||
| Browse numbered routes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ← LA 70 | LA | LA 72 → | ||
| ← SH 70 | TX | SH 71 → | ||
| ← U.S. 70 | AR | Hwy. 72 → | ||
| ← I-70 | MO | I-72 → | ||
| ← Iowa 70 | IA | I-74 → | ||
| ← MN 70 | MN | MN 72 → | ||