Missouri Route 13

Route 13
Route information
Maintained by MoDOT
Length:	296 mi (476 km)
Existed:	1922 – present
Major junctions
South end:	AR 21 in Blue Eye
	US 60 / US 160 in Springfield Route 413 in Springfield I-44 in Springfield US 54 in Collins Route 7 / Route 52 in Clinton US 50 in Warrensburg I-70 / US 40 near Higginsville US 24 / Route 224 in Lexington US 36 / Route 110 in Hamilton I-35 in Bethany
North end:	US 69 / US 136 in Bethany
Highway system
Missouri State Highway System Interstate US State Supplemental ← Route 12 Route 14 →

Route 13 is a highway in Missouri which runs almost the entire north–south length of the state. Its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 69/136 in Bethany. Its southern terminus is at the Arkansas state line in downtown Blue Eye, Missouri–Arkansas where it continues as Highway 21. It is one of the original state highways of Missouri.

The road serves as an important corridor between Springfield and Kansas City, two of the three largest cities in the state. Heading north from Springfield, Route 13 intersects Route 7 at Clinton which in turn carries traffic to Interstate 49/U.S. Route 71 at Harrisonville. I-49/US 71 then continues on into downtown Kansas City. Route 13, Route 7, and I-49/US 71 now provide a four-lane highway (much of it freeway) between Springfield and Kansas City since the completion of the final widening project between Collins and Clinton.

Several sections from north of Reeds Spring through Branson West have been widened, rebuilt, moved, and renamed to help ease traffic congestion through the towns. Drivers regularly use these routes to get to many of the lakes in southern Missouri and this has caused a major headache in recent years. One section of road has been renamed Route 413 and travels north to Springfield. In June 2009, the nation's first diverging diamond interchange, a style of interchange where traffic crosses to the left-side of the road, opened to traffic. The interchange is located at the I-44/MO-13 junction in Springfield.^[1]

In 2006 the portion through Caldwell County, Missouri was named the Zack Wheat Memorial Highway in honor of the Baseball Hall of Fame player.

Route description

Route 13 begins at the Arkansas state line in Blue Eye. After leaving the town, it runs through the rugged countryside of the southwest Missouri Ozarks, part of the Mark Twain National Forest. Route 13 forms a 3 miles (4.8 km) concurrency with Route 86 before bridging Table Rock Lake south of the town of Branson West. In Branson West, it leaves the national forest and forms a concurrency with Route 76 and Route 265. North of this, Route 13 runs concurrent with Route 248 for 2 miles (3.2 km). At Reeds Spring Junction is the southern terminus of Route 413, and old alignment of Route 13, changed in the early 2000s (decade). Also at Reeds Spring Junction, U.S. Route 160 joins to form another concurrency with Route 13. At Spokane, the two routes are joined by a third route, Route 176.

Route 13 and US 160 intersect Route 14 in Nixa. The two roads continue north into Greene County, where they enter Springfield running along Campbell Avenue. At the James River Freeway, Route 13 and US 160 turn off Campbell to run along the freeway with U.S. Route 60. Route 13 splits off the freeway at the next exit to turn north along Kansas Expressway. At Sunshine Street is the northern terminus of Route 413. On the north side of Springfield, Route 13 crosses Route 744 (Kearney Street) and Interstate 44 less than a mile north. It then passes near the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds and the Dickerson Park Zoo and leaves the city as a divided highway. A project begun in 2009 and completed on June 21 of that year, turned the existing Route 13 and I-44 interchange into a diverging diamond, which was the first of its kind in the nation. In addition to costing $2.5 million compared to around $8 million for a complete rebuild, this has also helped ease congestion at the interchange by making lefts onto the on-ramps "free lefts" by lanes shifting into opposite lanes when passing over the bridge.^[2][3]

South of Bolivar, the divided highway splits apart, with the northbound lanes being the older highway, though an even older alignment runs further to the east. Because of the situation, numerous "Do not enter" signs are posted to help prevent local traffic from driving on the wrong lanes of the highway. Near Brighton is a short concurrency with Route 215. Construction began in summer of 2008 to build new northbound lanes next to the straighter southbound lanes. This project was completed in 2010 and the old northbound lanes will be designated county roads when the project is completed.

At Bolivar, in addition to the intersection with Route 32, is another business route. The business route ends, along with Route 83 at an interchange on the southern part of the town. South of Humansville is the intersection with Route 123. At Collins is an interchange with U.S. Route 54. At Osceola, Route 13 crosses a branch of the Harry S. Truman Reservoir.

At Deepwater, Route 13 forms a concurrency with Route 52. The two routes cross Harry S. Truman Reservoir twice before heading into Clinton. Routes 13 and 52 serve as the eastern terminus of Route 18. Route 7 joins the concurrency at the same intersection as Route 18's terminus, and the three routes continue around the northeastern part of the town, where Route 52 splits off, and eventually Routes 7 and 13 go their separate ways.

North of Post Oak, the highway has an intersection with Route 2. East of Warrensburg is an intersection with U.S. Route 50. South of Higginsville, Route 13 crosses Interstate 70/U.S. Route 40. At Higginsville is the western terminus of Route 20.

Route 13 is concurrent with U.S. Route 24 for approximately two miles immediately south of Lexington, site of a Civil War battlefield and the route's northernmost business route. It leaves U.S. Route 24 east of Lexington where it intersects Route 224 and then crosses the Missouri River. From U.S. Route 24 in Lexington to the intersection with Route 10 in Richmond, the road is a four-lane limited access highway. North of Richmond, it returns to a two-lane highway flanked by a lot of crop land. At Polo the road forms a short concurrency with Route 116, and further north, at Hamilton is an intersection with U.S. Route 36. Near Gallatin, it turns east forming a concurrency with Route 6 for 3 miles (4.8 km), then turns north again. A few miles north is a junction with Interstate 35. Then, Route 13 ends at US 69/Route 136 in Bethany.

History

The original southern terminus of the highway (as laid out in 1922) was at Route 71 (now U.S. Route 65) in Buffalo. With the creation of the U.S. Highway system in 1926, it was realigned to absorb the Bolivar-Springfield Route 69, which had been created in 1922; the former piece from Bolivar to Buffalo became an extension of Route 66, which quickly became part of US 54 (and is now part of Route 32). Route 13 took over Route 43, established in 1922 from Marionville south to the Arkansas state line, in about 1930.^[4]

Route 123 is the old alignment of Route 13 all the way to Fair Play, where Route 13 turned east (now Route 32) back to Bolivar.

Route 13 Business

• Richmond
• Lexington
• Higginsville
• Warrensburg
• Clinton
• Osceola
• Collins
• Bolivar

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[5][6][7]	km	Destinations	Notes
Stone	Blue Eye	0.0	0.0	AR 21 south	Southern terminus, Arkansas state line
		0.9	1.4	Route 86 east to US 65 – Table Rock Lake	south end of Route 86 overlap
	​	4.4	7.1	Route 86 west – Carr Lane	north end of Route 86 overlap
	Branson West	18.7	30.1	Route 76 east / Route 265 south – Branson West	south end of Route 76 / Route 265 overlap
		19.6	31.5	Route 265 north / Route 413 north – Reeds Spring	north end of Route 265 overlap
	Reeds Spring	21.4	34.4	Route 76 west – Reeds Spring, Cape Fair	north end of Route 76 overlap
		23.4	37.7	Route 248 west – Reeds Spring	south end of Route 248 overlap
	Reeds Spring Junction	24.2	38.9	US 160 east / Route 248 east – Branson	north end of Route 248 overlap; south end of US 160 overlap
Christian	​	28.8	46.3	Route 176 west – Galena	south end of Route 176 overlap
	Spokane	31.4	50.5	Route 176 east – Spokane	north end of Route 176 overlap
	Nixa	44.9	72.3	Route 14 (Mount Vernon Street) – Clever, Ozark
Greene	Springfield	51.3	82.6	US 60 east (James River Freeway) – Rogersville	interchange; south end of US 60 overlap
		52.9	85.1	US 60 west / US 160 west (James River Freeway) – Republic	interchange; north end of US 60 / US 160 overlap diverging diamond interchange,[8] converted from existing interchange August 18, 2013[9]
		55.7	89.6	Route 413 south (Sunshine Street) to US 65 – Republic
		58.0	93.3	Business Loop I-44 (Chestnut Expressway) to I-44 / US 65
		59.8	96.2	Route 744 / Historic US 66 (Kearney Street) to US 65 / US 160
		60.5	97.4	I-44 – Joplin, Rolla	I-44 exit 77 Diverging diamond interchange, first in the United States[3]
Polk	Brighton			Route 215 south – Pleasant Hope, Brighton	south end of Route 215 overlap
	​			Route 215 north / Route 215 Spur east – Morrisville	north end of Route 215 overlap
	Bolivar	83.8	134.9	Route 13 Bus. north / Route 83 – Bolivar	interchange
		86.0	138.4	Route T – Bolivar, Aldrich	interchange
		87.6	141.0	Route 13 Bus. south / Route 32 – Bolivar, Fair Play	interchange
	Humansville	87.6	141.0	Route 123 / Route 13 Bus. north – Dunnegan, Humansville
				Route 13 Bus. south / Route N – Humansville, Caplinger Mills	interchange
St. Clair	​	109.5	176.2	US 54 – Collins	interchange
	​	120.5	193.9	Route 82 / Route 13 Bus. north – Osceola, Harper
	Osceola			Route 13 Bus. south
Henry	​	136.3	219.4	Route 52 west – Montrose	interchange; south end of Route 52 overlap
	​			Route 52 Bus. west – Deepwater
	Clinton			Route 13 Bus. north – Clinton
		144.4	232.4	Route 7 south / Route 18 west – Clinton, Warsaw, Historic Downtown Clinton	south end of Route 7 overlap
		145.8	234.6	Route 52 east – Windsor	interchange; north end of Route 52 overlap
		146.7	236.1	Route 7 north / Route 13 Bus. south – Harrisonville, Clinton	north end of Route 7 overlap
Johnson	​	161.5	259.9	Route 2 – Chilhowee, Leeton
	Warrensburg			Route 13 Bus. south – Warrensburg	roundabout
				Route DD – Warrensburg, Whiteman AFB	roundabout
		174.5	280.8	US 50 – Lee's Summit, Warrensburg, Jefferson City, Sedalia	interchange
				Route 13 Bus. north – Warrensburg	roundabout
Lafayette	Higginsville	190.1	305.9	I-70 / US 40 – Kansas City, Columbia	I-70 exit 49
				Route 13 Bus. north (Fairground Avenue)
	​	195.4	314.5	Route 13 Bus. south / Route 20 east – Higginsville, Confederate Memorial State Historic Site
	​			Route 13 Bus. north
	Lexington			US 24 / Lewis and Clark Trail – Lexington, Waverly	Interchange
		209.6	337.3	Route 224 / Route 13 Bus. south – Lexington	Interchange
Ray	​	213.3	343.3	Route J – Hardin	interchange
	​	216.3	348.1	Henrietta	interchange
	Richmond	218.6	351.8	Route 10 / Route 13 Bus. north / Lewis and Clark Trail to Route 210 – Excelsior Springs, Carrollton	interchange
				Route 10 Bus. / Route 13 Bus. south – Excelsior Springs, Hardin, Business District
Caldwell	Polo	239.2	385.0	Route 116 west – Lathrop	south end of Route 116 overlap
	​	240.2	386.6	Route 116 east – Cowgill, Braymer	north end of Route 116 overlap
	Hamilton	252.3	406.0	US 36 / Route 110 (CKC) – Cameron, Chillicothe	interchange; south end of US 36 Bus. overlap
				US 36 Bus. west (West Berry Street)	north end of US 36 Bus. overlap
Daviess	Gallatin	266.7	429.2	Route 6 west – Altamont	south end of Route 6 overlap
	​			Route 6 east – Jamesport	north end of Route 6 overlap
Harrison	​			I-35 – Kansas City, Des Moines	I-35 exit 88
	Bethany			US 69 / US 136 – Bethany, New Hampton	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References