US-71 North to Kansas City

[@casmatori]

Wow, that road was spectacularly landscaped, looked beautiful!

[@FreewayBrent]

(Part 1 of 2): This is some great stuff. I've been waiting for a long time for one of the major freeway videographers to film US 71 through Kansas City. Really appreciate this one. The Triangle is probably my favorite interchange in the Midwest. So many different ramps in all sorts of directions, but I never did drive straight through the entire thing, so this was very neat to see from the US 71 perspective...

[@FreewayBrent]

(Part 2 of 2): Those overpasses along US 71 along Bruce Watkins Drive are some of the most aesthetically pleasing ones I've seen in North America. MDOT did a GREAT job with this project. Add in the great views of downtown KC, and you've got one hell of an urban freeway. Putting this one on my favorites list.

[@CptSchmidt]

This looks like a very nice drive. Nice and hilly. The eastern US is beautiful.

[@georgiaroadgeek]

Great ride. One of the nicest stretches of roads I've seen.

[@EuropeanRoads]

Love the bridges! Nice parkway-ish design :)

[@jcrockett001]

All this time I thought US 71 was a freeway from 435 up to downtown. It is a nice touch to see a boulevard in a park-esque setting! MoDot did a great job.

[@PeteTheChopp]

Awesome! I've always come into KC from the east or west on I-70. Cool to see it from another perspective.

[@George50809]

I don't know if Kansas City is a great city, but people from the area simply love it.

[@strifecaecus]

@Bryant5493 Many people not familiar with that particular area of US 71 would eventually ask, "Why are there three traffic lights on this highway?" The result is due to the community having to deal with being uprooted out of the path of the freeway decades prior to construction. Not wanting to have some freeway running through the middle of the community, they filed a lawsuit in the 1970s stalling construction for around a decade.

[@Vgrmstr]

Aewsome video! I really like the stop lights.

[@AlvinHDavernport]

@simplykristib I agree! It's good to have a volunteering experience, because for instance I learned to really appreciate Kansas Citians for who they are and not for what they have. But I think it would be great to now get back to the city and appreciate it for what it has. I only tangentially drove by the better areas of the city, and they did look beautiful. Plus, the barbecue really is amazing (take it from a Texan!).

[@KristiBranstetter]

@vikingscool It is a court order due to some businesses along Prospect Avenue which ruins parallel to the west of Bruce Watkins Drive. It took decades for the roadway to be built. The first phase (southern part) of the roadway was begun in the late 1980s and it was finally hooked up with the SE part of the downtown KCMO loop in the early 2000s.

[@jmsmontecarlo87]

I must say driving that every day for a while as a commercial driver it is the prettiest highway in the city. But also one of the most insane. ;P Some drivers have no problem going around 30 miles an hour over that 55 posted limit. Also it is too bad that court order prevented the full I-49 changeover to happen. But hopefully the dangers of those traffic lights will be realized eventually. After all the place is already set up to be able to accept and elevated highway with bridges and ramps.

[@AlvinHDavernport]

Yes, Texans are a fine bunch of people in general :) I may disagree with the State's politics a lot, but one of the things I miss the most about the state every time I'm out is how warm and kind and patient everyone is down here. Except if I'm in the Midwest - you just can't beat that Midwestern hospitality!

[@rodshelley1170]

I've driven this route soooooo many times...

[@kctransplant70]

Thanks! I've been to Texas MANY times. I've had a LOT of good experiences with Texas and the people who call the Lone Star State home! There's some damn good barbecue down in Texas too!!!

[@George50809]

Very good barbecue.

[@NorthernWindNut]

I-49 shields unveiled today!!

[@Freewayjim]

Excellent video, KC is full of all kinds of interesting things, man you weren't kidding about some of those overpasses on US-71. 5*

[@coreysmith8560]

A part of US 71 functions as a parkway. It's not that bad but maybe they can turn into a freeway someday. It may not happen due to a court order that prevents that from happening because they figure it would a nearby neighborhood.

[@strifecaecus]

The compromise is a sort of parkway for the stretch from Gregory Blvd (71st St.) to 53rd St. It was considered a big win for the local community. However, they didn't foresee the side-effect of potential pedestrian accidents as a result of the decision. So while there is enough right-of-way to fix this, it would take an amendment to the court order by the very community that created it years ago.

[@AlvinHDavernport]

@CptSchmidt Technically KC is the Midwest (and the western part of it, actually), but I also like how hilly it is. I spent a week there doing some volunteer work and didn't think much of the city (especially compared to Chicago, which is where I was moving back then), but even then I appreciated the beauty of its highways. In retrospect, though, KC is a fine city, and my low opinion of it was solely due to the fact that I spent most of my time there in a really bad area of the city.

[@deangmoxon]

awesome video tres clear !

[@kctransplant70]

Apparently you've never dealt with them during rush hour!!! You'd learn to despise them like everybody else if you did!!

[@atworkstation]

@eluko79 It also will reach New Orleans at some point. US 90 is the future I-49 in Louisiana.

[@apeanut4031]

The Grandview Triangle confused the SHIT out of me when I would go to Kansas City.

[@Zeakthecat]

@eluko79 in your opinin what is a good computer brand hp, dell, or toshiba

[@dave11686]

Keep up the good work!

[@KristiBranstetter]

@AlvinHDavernport There are some beautiful parts to the city and much to do here in KC. You need to come back just to visit the city!

[@coldsteel2204]

What about converting I-435 to I-49 between the 3-trails interchange to I-29? That way, it would follow around KC and continue the New Orleans to Winnipeg route as I've seen in pictures? Does I-49 really have to go through the heart of KC, much more that signalized area?

[@genhirsi76]

coldsteel2204 abc

[@lunawolf7678]

I thank my Lord, that we are still in one piece.But I can't stop throwing up.

[@keokiracerhalsteren]

Very nice video Eluko79 :) Very nice editing. 65.000 vehicles, is that the max in this area, because if it is: that's kinda low. ;)

[@rolandorodriguez5436]

I've saw the construction of I-49 in Arkansas around there

[@cnreddy9682]

nice composing video.

[@1867Phoenix]

2:27 Where did you get information on that court order, about the traffic lights?

[@strifecaecus]

I don't see this being fixed anytime soon since there are not enough people in the community wanting that kind of change. The best that can be done in the meantime are other methods like traffic light synchronization, tougher speed limit enforcement, pedestrian walkways, etc. More info can be found about this, but I can't post the links here for some reason...

[@kctransplant70]

They intentionally left enough space in between the lanes to do so in the future.... If the idiotic court order requiring the at grade intersections and traffic lights is ever overturned. Those intersections are so incredibly stupid and dangerous, those responsible for them SHOULD be held liable for all of the carnage (including deaths) they have caused. But yes, they DID leave space for freeway lanes in the center with the hope they can get rid of the intersections some day.

[@lextacy2008]

US 71 a freeway? Might as well call it a stopway L0o0oL

[@SlowedByCinnamxn]

+lextacy2008, Nice One, nice one 👍👍👏👏

[@reggiebazemore4031]

RIP mac dre

[@cparkes92]

Will I-49 piggyback on I-435 to reach I-70 and/or I-35?

[@PelicanGuy]

Looks like they can build he freeway in the median where the traffic lights are. Are they gonna do that someday?

[@coreysmith8560]

There is a court order that says that Modot is not allowed to eliminate or bypass the stoplights.

[@dvferyance]

@eluko79 And don't forget Minnesota Ave in Sioux Falls SD.

[@KristiBranstetter]

@vikingscool That will not be part of I-49. I-49 will end at the I-435/I-470 interchange.

[@kctransplant70]

Those traffic lights are by FAR the most moronic idea I've seen in a LONG time. Mayor Cleaver didn't want to break up the black neighborhoods with a freeway, so the lights were installed. Not only was the decision racist, it was INCREDIBLY stupid! The lights make the highway even MORE disruptive. worse yet, they create three of the most dangerous and deadly intersections in the Kansas City metro area. Wrecks happen daily. Pedestrians get hit (and often killed) by cars. Just Idiocy!

[@Comrade005]

wtf? a court order to not remove the stoplights on 71?

[@dvferyance]

The court order was 30 years ago I would think it wouldn't mean anything now.

[@coreysmith8560]

They figure it divide a nearby neighborhood.

[@jaelinratcliffe7141]

Route 71 is a stoplight highway is on Kansas City with a Creeper who plays Minecraft. Kansas City is a normal-main city. Route 70? Goes to Wheeling?

[@KristiBranstetter]

@cparkes92 I-49 will end at the I-435/I-470 interchange.

[@vikingscool]

@simplykristib Thanks.

[@vikingscool]

@simplykristib Good to know.

[@adrianroam95]

@thomasrosiefan1 Yeah, why?

[@WarshMeh]

1st! woot