U.S. Route 69

U.S. Route 69

Length:

1136 mi^[1] (1828 km)

Formed:

1926 (extended north 1934, south 1935)^[1]

South end:

SH 87 at Port Arthur, TX

Major
junctions:

I-10 at Beaumont, TX

I-20 at Lindale, TX

I-30 at Greenville, TX

I-40 at Checotah, OK

I-44 at Big Cabin, OK/Vinita, OK

I-35 near Kansas City, KS

I-70 at Kansas City, KS

I-80 at Des Moines, IA

North end:

MN 13 at Albert Lea, MN

United States Numbered Highways
U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 69 is a north-south United States highway. When it was first created, it was only miles ( km) long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's southern terminus (as well as those of US 287 and US 96) is in Port Arthur, Texas at an intersection with State Highway 87. Its northern terminus is in Albert Lea, Minnesota at Minnesota State Highway 13.^[2] US 69 is noteworthy as having had numerous reassurance shields stolen because of the sexual connotation of its route number.^{[citation needed]}

Route description

Texas

Major cities
Port Arthur, Texas Beaumont, Texas Lufkin, Texas Tyler, Texas Greenville, Texas Denison, Texas Durant, Oklahoma McAlester, Oklahoma Muskogee, Oklahoma Pittsburg, Kansas Frontenac, Kansas Fort Scott, Kansas Overland Park, Kansas Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, Missouri Lamoni, Iowa Indianola, Iowa Des Moines, Iowa Ankeny, Iowa Ames, Iowa Forest City, Iowa Albert Lea, Minnesota

Oklahoma

Main article: U.S. Route 69 in Oklahoma

Kansas

Missouri

Iowa

In Iowa, U.S. 69 parallels (and has largely been replaced by) Interstate 35. Indeed, the two highways intersect exactly at the Iowa/Missouri state line south of Lamoni. U.S. 69 joins with U.S. Route 65 south of Indianola. The two highways separate just south of the Des Moines city limits. U.S. 65 bypasses the city to the east, while U.S. 69 enters Des Moines, following East 14th Street through the city. It passes directly to the east of the Iowa State Capitol and intersects Interstate 235 just to the north of the capitol complex. The highway then runs directly past Grand View College before leaving the city proper and serving the suburbs of Saydel and Ankeny.

North of the Des Moines area, U.S. 69 passes through Ames, home of Iowa State University. It intersects U.S. Route 20 just south of Blairsburg and U.S. Route 18 at Garner. Iowa Highway 9 follows U.S. 69 from Forest City to a point north of Leland. U.S. 69 exits the state six miles north of Lake Mills.

Minnesota

U.S. 69 enters Minnesota at Emmons. It passes through Twin Lakes before ending at the junction of Minnesota State Highway 13 just inside the city limits of Albert Lea. The highway's total length in Minnesota is approximately 12 miles.

U.S. 69's northern terminus is two miles from Interstate 90. While it is unusual for a U.S. highway to end at a state highway when an Interstate is nearby, this particular terminus dates back to the time when U.S. Route 16 followed the alignment currently used by Minnesota 13 west of downtown Albert Lea. U.S. 16 was decommissioned after Interstate 90 was completed, but the terminus of U.S. 69 was never relocated.^[3]

At U.S. 69's terminus, Minnesota 13 turns 90 degrees, so that a driver traveling northbound on U.S. 69 will continue on Minnesota 13. West of U.S. 69's terminus, the former alignment of U.S. 16 is known as County Road 16. The entire segment of U.S. 69 in Minnesota was once designated as part of Minnesota 13.^[4]

Legally, the Minnesota section of US 69 is defined as Route 195 in Minnesota Statutes § 161.115(126).^[5]

History

When it was first commissioned in 1926, US 69 extended only from Leon, Iowa to Kansas City, Missouri.

Bannered routes

Business loops and spurs

Frontenac, Kansas
Pittsburg, Kansas
Durant, Oklahoma
Mc Alester, Oklahoma
Checotah, Oklahoma
Eufaula, Oklahoma
Greenville, Texas
Lufkin, Texas

There was also a Business U.S. 69 in Fort Scott, Kansas (about 25 minutes north of the Frontenac, Kansas area), from about 1965 to 1990. Signs from the former Business Route still exist today; however, it no longer officially exists.

Alternate routes

Alternate US 69 shield in northeastern Oklahoma

As of 2004, Alternate US 69 has a northern terminus in the southeast corner of Kansas, in rural Cherokee County. It rejoins US 69 five miles (8 km) north of Miami, Oklahoma. While the main line of US 69 turns due west to serve Columbus, Kansas, Alternate US 69 continues directly south towards Baxter Springs, Kansas. From Riverton, Kansas on towards Miami, Alt US 69 follows the original routing of historic Route 66.

References

^ ^a ^b Droz, Robert V. U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US 830). URL accessed 22:46, 20 February 2006 (UTC).
^ Endpoints of US highways
^ Details of Routes 51-75 at The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed 12 February 2007.
^ Details of Routes 1-25 at The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed 12 February 2007.
^ Minnesota Statutes

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Lists		U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced - Portal