Roadtrip report from Joplin

I left Lawrence after 7:15, and headed to Kansas City to “find” Ben. I found him, and he informed me that personal issues had come up (namly, relatives in and the baby is trying to come out early.

I leave the metro by heading down the “Freeway of Love,” AKA US 69. Four-laning of the highway is complete from Louisburg to 359th. Both Carriageways have been paved with concrete. South of 359th to the Linn County Line, work includes grade-seperations of the current intersections. In Linn County, it appears to have insufficient ROW to four-lane, this probably means KDOT will have to purchase it (I’m presuming this *has* been financed)

I turned east on K-52/MO 52 to catch US 71. I caught a pic of a bridge on Miami Creek west of Butler.

I also made a run around through Neosho to kill a little time (I was at the US 71/I-44 interchage at 11, I said noon 🙂 I took MO 59 south to where it re-joins US 71 at Neosho, turned back north to Joplin

I arrived at Pizza by Stout at Noon. The younger David Backlin was already there, and the Older David soon followed. We all tried to get separate tables, but we settled for a corner booth while we talked shop and had the Pizza Buffet. After Lunch, Young David and his friend departed, but not before I got a couple pics outside. I cleared a spot for the older David in the shotgun spot in my Buick.

We went west on MO 66 out to Galena. We made a loop around on a bypassed section of 66, then turned south of 26 (along the entire route) and turned east onto an older stretch of 166 that returned us to Joplin, to which we turned north of 71 toward Carthage.

In Carthage, we headed north on MO 571 (stopping at a roundabout for
pics) to MO 96 which, besides being an extension of “Hockaday’s number,” is also part of the old route 66. Along the route (on the old pavement) are three truss bridges: One single-span thru truss, one three-span pony, and one single-span pony.

At Halltown, we turned south on the “lettered roads” to MO 174, which itself was a part of 166. 174 heads due west until 44 cuts across. From there, 166 ran along what is now I-44, and portions of the old
route are still used as “outer road.” We followed the old two-lane 166 route until it ended, then rejoined 44 back to Joplin.

After bringing David back to his vehicle, I headed back to Galena. There was a interesting sign for the Will Rogers Turnpike (!) just south of the 26/66 intersection. I got a pic of the Will Rogers sign, along with the north end of K-26 (got the south end on the “first pass”), then headed for US 69A at Riverton. From Riverton, I turned north to the US 69/160/400 Junction, and turned east on Old K-96 back to Missouri. I
turned north at 43 to a lettered road, then headed back to 71. There was a pony truss bridge on the route I was on, but didn’t get a pic. I took 71 north to the Grandview Triangle, then 435 and K-10 home

Total miles on the Buick: 595, with good mileage 🙂


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