U.S. Highway 71
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U.S. Highway 71 | |
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Length | 1532 miles (2465km) |
General direction | North/South |
From | International Falls, Minnesota |
To | Krotz Springs, Louisiana |
Major cities | International Falls, MN; St. Joseph, MO; Kansas City, MO; Joplin, MO; Fayetteville, AR; Fort Smith, AR; Shreveport, LA; Alexandria, LA |
Established | 1926 |
System | U.S. Highway system |
United States Highway 71 is a north-south United States highway. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstate highways.
Contents |
Termini
As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is in International Falls, Minnesota at the Canadian border, at the southern end of a toll bridge to Fort Frances, Ontario. U.S. Highway 53 also ends here. On the other side of the bridge, Trans-Canada Highway 11 is an east-west route. US 71's southern terminus is between Opelousas and Krotz Springs, Louisiana at an intersection with U.S. Highway 190.
Historic termini
Until 1950, US 71 extended down the present-day route of U.S. Highway 190 to Port Allen, Louisiana near the state capitol, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Otherwise, the route is largely intact.
US 71 and Interstate 49
A large section of US 71 through Arkansas and Missouri is being upgraded to interstate standards as a potential extension of Interstate 49 from Shreveport, Louisiana to Kansas City, Missouri. All of US 71 from Anderson, Missouri to Joplin, Missouri has already been upgraded to interstate standards and most of the highway from Joplin to Kansas City is at interstate standards, the only sections that aren't are already divided highways and easily upgradeable. A short bypass of Joplin, Missouri State Highway 249 is being built to continue I-49 north without continuing several miles to the east with US 71. In southern Kansas City, there have been many objections to upgrading US 71 to an interstate.
In Arkansas, Interstate 540 from Alma to Bentonville will become part of future I-49, and work is underway to build a toll section further into Missouri. In Missouri, the current law prohibits the Missouri Department of Transportation from constructing toll roads. Many voters in Missouri have objected to the possibility of any toll roads in that state (primarily in reaction to nearby Oklahoma's turnpikes), so the future of that still remains unknown.
A section of Future Interstate 130 at Texarkana, Arkansas is also to become part of Interstate 49.
In December 2004, a section of Arkansas State Highway 549 opened between Texarkana, Arkansas and Fouke, Arkansas that will eventually become part of I-49. Another section between Fouke and Doddridge, Arkansas opened October 2005.
Business and Alternate US 71
Two rather long sections of Business US 71 exist. The Joplin and Northwest Arkansas alignments each run through several cities and total about 30 miles length each. Part of the Joplin section runs several miles as freeway.
- Business US 71 — Clarinda, Iowa
- Business US 71 — Maryville, Missouri
- Business US 71 — Kansas City, Missouri - Decommissioned
- Business US 71 — Nevada, Missouri
- Alternate US 71 — Carthage, Missouri - Neosho, Missouri Decommissioned
- Business US 71 — Carthage, Missouri to Tipton Ford, Missouri
- Business US 71 — Neosho, Missouri
- Business US 71 — 2 miles south of Goodman, Missouri to south of Anderson, Missouri
- Business US 71 — Bentonville, Arkansas - Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Business US 71— Alma, Arkansas - Fort Smith, Arkansas
- Business US 71 — Waldron, Arkansas
- Business US 71 — Alexandria, Louisiana
States traversed
The highway passes through the following states:
- Minnesota
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Arkansas (With U.S. Highway 59 from Acorn to Interstate 30 at Texarkana, U.S. Highway 270 from Acorn to Y City and U.S. Highway 62 from Fayetteville to Rogers.
- Texas (southbound lane only; the northbound lane is physically located in Arkansas; the road is locally designated as State Line Boulevard)
- Louisiana
Related US Routes
- U.S. Highway 171
- U.S. Highway 271
- U.S. Highway 371
- U.S. Highway 71 Alternate
- List of United States Highways
Sources and external links
- Endpoints of US highways (used with permission)
Primary U.S. Highways | ![]() |
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | |
40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 48 | 49 | |
50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 |
60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 |
70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 87 | 89 | ||
90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 |
101 | 163 | ||||||||
400 | 412 | 425 | |||||||
Lists List of U.S. Highways - Bannered U.S. Highways |