Interstate 55 in Missouri

Interstate 55 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by Missouri DOT
Length:	210.45 mi[1] (338.69 km)
Formed:	1956
South end:	I-55 at Arkansas state line
Major junctions:	I-155 near Hayti I-57 / US 60 in Sikeston I-255 / I-270 in St. Louis I-44 in St. Louis I-64 / I-70 / US 40 in St. Louis
North end:	I-55 / I-64 / I-70 / US 40 at Illinois state line
Missouri Highways < US 54 US 56 > Supplemental

In the U.S. state of Missouri, Interstate 55 runs from the Arkansas state line to the Poplar Street Bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Louis.

Route description

Interstate 55 enters Missouri at the Arkansas border near Cooter. It runs northward through mostly flat land in the Bootheel, where it has an interchange with U.S. Route 412 and Interstate 155. The highway continues over flat land through or near the towns of Hayti, Portageville, and New Madrid before reaching an interchange with U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 57 just south of Sikeston. The next interchange, U.S. Route 62, provides access into the city of Sikeston and one of its most popular attractions, Lambert's Cafe, the "Home of the Throwed Rolls".

North of Sikeston, I-55 begins to traverse rolling terrain on its way to Cape Girardeau. Exit 95, Route 74 east, provides direct access to the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge into southern Illinois. The heart of the city of Cape Girardeau as well as Southeast Missouri State University can be reached by taking either Exit 96 or Exit 99.

I-55 then goes through rural areas again as it makes a north-northwesterly run through the towns of Perryville and Ste. Genevieve before entering the southern reaches of the St. Louis metro area at the interchange with U.S. Route 67 and the Twin Cities of Festus and Crystal City. U.S. Route 61 and 67 run concurrently immediately east of I-55 nearly due north through the Jefferson County towns of Herculaneum, Pevely, Barnhart (where the interstate expands from 4 lanes to 8), Imperial, and finally Arnold before crossing the Meramec River into St. Louis County.

From Richardson Road in Arnold to I-270, I-55 is 10 lanes wide. The interstate narrows back down to 8 lanes past I-270, through southern St. Louis County, and into the city of St. Louis. In the last few miles of I-55 in the state of Missouri, there is an interchange with Interstate 44 before reaching the Poplar Street Bridge crossing into Illinois.

History

Sponsorship controversy

The white supremacy group Ku Klux Klan began fighting several court battles with the state of Missouri after the state disputed its right to sponsor a stretch of freeway. In March 2004, after a U.S. District Court judge found that blocking the Klan's sponsorship was unconstitutional, the Court of Appeals ruled that the state must erect signs announcing the group's sponsorship. However, the Missouri Legislature later voted to rename the stretch of I-55 the "Rosa Parks Freeway" in honor of the Montgomery civil rights hero who began the Montgomery bus boycott. The Klan were eventually dropped from the scheme on April 4, 2005, on the grounds that for the duration of their sponsorship, they had not once cleaned the freeway.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Pemiscot			1	Route O to US 61 – Holland
			4	Route E – Cooter, Holland
			8	US 61 south / Route 164 – Steele	South end of US 61 overlap
			14	Route U / Route H / Route J – Caruthersville, Braggadocio
			17	I-155 east / US 412 – Caruthersville, Dyersburg, Hayti, Kennett	Signed as exits 17A (east) and 17B (west)
	Hayti		19	Route 84 – Hayti, Caruthersville
			27	Route K / Route A / Route BB – Wardell
New Madrid	Portageville		32	US 61 north / Route 162 – Portageville	North end of US 61 overlap
	Marston		40	Route EE (St. Jude Road) – Marston
	New Madrid		44	I-55 Bus. north / US 61 / US 62 – New Madrid, Howardville
			49	I-55 Bus. south / US 61 / US 62 – New Madrid, Kewanee
			52	Route P – Kewanee
			58	Route 80 – Matthews, East Prairie
Scott	Sikeston		66	I-57 north / US 60 – Dexter, Poplar Bluff, Chicago	Signed as exits 66A (north/east) and 66B (west)
			67	US 62 – Sikeston, Bertrand
			69	Route HH – Miner, Sikeston
			80	Route 77 – Benton, Diehlstadt
	Scott City		89	US 61 south / Route M / Route K – Scott City, Chaffee	South end of US 61 overlap
			91	Route AB – Cape Girardeau Regional Airport
Cape Girardeau	Cape Girardeau		93	I-55 Bus. north / US 61 north / Route 74 west – Dutchtown, Cape Girardeau	North end of US 61 overlap; south end of Route 74 overlap; signed as exits 93A (west) and 93B (north) northbound
			95	Route 74 east – Cape Girardeau	North end of Route 74 overlap
			96	Route K – Cape Girardeau, Gordonville
			99	I-55 Bus. / US 61 / Route 34 – Cape Girardeau, Jackson
			105	I-55 Bus. south / US 61 – Fruitland, Jackson
			111	Route E – Oak Ridge
			117	Route KK – Old Appleton
			123	Route B – Biehle
	Perryville		129	Route 51 – Perryville
			135	Route M – Brewer
Ste. Genevieve			141	Route Z – St. Mary
			143	Route N / Route J / Route M – Ozora
			150	Route 32 / Route B / Route A – Ste. Genevieve, Farmington
			154	Route O – Ste. Genevieve, Rocky Ridge
			157	Route Y – Bloomsdale
			162	Route DD / Route OO
Jefferson			170	US 61
	Crystal City		174	I-55 Bus. north / US 67 – Crystal City, Farmington, Bonne Terre	Signed as exits 174A (north) and 174B (south)
	Festus		175	Route A – Hillsboro, Festus
	Herculaneum		178	I-55 Bus. south – Herculaneum
	Pevely		180	Route Z – Pevely
	Barnhart		185	Route M – Barnhart, Antonia
	Imperial		186	Imperial Main Street
	Arnold		190	Richardson Road
			191	Route 141 – Arnold, Fenton
St. Louis County			193	Meramec Bottom Road
			195	Butler Hill Road
			196	I-255 east / I-270 west  – Chicago, Kansas City	Signed as exits 196A (east) and 196B (west)
			197	US 61 / US 67 / US 50 (Lindbergh Boulevard)
			199	Reavis Barracks Road
			200	Union Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			201A	Bayless Avenue
			201B	Weber Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
City of St. Louis			202A	Carondelet Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			202B	Germania Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			202C	Loughborough Avenue
			203	Virginia Avenue, Bates Street
			204	4500 South Broadway
			205	Gasconade Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			206A	Potomac Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			206B	3200 South Broadway	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			206C	Arsenal Street
			207A	Gravois Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			207B	I-44 west  – Tulsa	Signed as exit 207 southbound
			290C	12th Street, Gravois Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			207C	Lafayette Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former proposed Route 755
			208	Park Avenue, 7th Street
			251C	Memorial Drive – Downtown St. Louis, Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium
			40C	I-64 west / US 40 west – St. Louis	South end of I-64 / US 40 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance
			209B	I-70 west / Memorial Drive – Kansas City	South end of I-70 overlap
			Poplar Street Bridge over the Mississippi River (state line)

References

Interstate 55
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