400 needs 4 lanes

[Tobina+1]

The part that is scary to me is the section between Rosalia road heading West to the top of the hill before you go down into Leon.  That entire section is a passing zone, but there are areas where there are slight hills and it's a little scary to see some people passing in that area.  I think they should have some no-passing zones in that section, as well as another passing lane section, too.

[Marcia Moore]

     You are right, Pam.  The state owns enough right-of-way for four lanes on Hwy. 400.  Now if they just had the money to build the other two lanes.  But there are a lot of other roads needing attention, also, such as Highway 99 from the Oklahoma line to the Nebraska line, (excluding the new highway from Severy to Howard), which happens to be wonderful.

[W. Gray]

The U.S. 400 right of way is intended as a forerunner for I-66 (No relation to route 66).

I-66 was originally intended to be a transcontinental roadway from Washington DC to California via Wichita.

The road west of Wichita has been canceled but is still alive, barely, from Virginia to Wichita.

I-66 is supposed to enter Missouri from Kentucky headed for Cape Girardeau and then head for a concurrent run with I-44 in Missouri.

At Joplin I-66 will leave along the US 400 corridor headed for Wichita.

I-66 currently terminates in Virginia but is planned to go to Kentucky. Nothing is going on in Virginia but Kentucky is actively working on their portion that will get the road to Missouri.

When the Howard population gets to around 500, residents might have an Interstate only twelve miles away.

[Tobina+1]

Wow, I'm in awe.  We have our own version of an encyclopedia on here!  The Encyclopeia W. Gray.  Maybe that's what Wikipedia was named after.  It should have been Wgraypedia.

[Flintauqua]

Traffic counts from maps found at   http://www.ksdot.org/maps.asp :

Point                               1998 Cars    2008 Cars   % Change   1998 Trucks   2008 Trucks  % Change

K99/US400 Duplex             3370            4220            25.22           845             1190           40.83
US400 West of K99            3865            4250             9.96            845             1375           62.72   
US400 East of K99             3200            4520            41.25           430               850            97.67
K99 South of US400           1330            1330              0.00           220               250           13.64
K99 North of US400            1000            980             - 2.00           135               155            14.81

[Flintauqua]

When the Howard population gets to around 500, residents might have an Interstate only twelve miles away.

Or many miles to the south!  I have seen several proposals for this old/new corridor, and many of them have the corridor following US 412 through northern Arkansas and Oklahoma, rather than through Missouri and Kansas.  It will come down (as always) to lobbyist dollars and political clout.

[Roma Jean Turner]

By the time I get out of Springfield and off I 44 I can't wait to hit the back roads and go through the little towns. From Coffeyville on I finally feel free.

[greatguns]

So it is politics.

[Flintauqua]

So it is politics.

Of course!

Transportation is just like everything else when it comes to massive gov't spending.  Keep an eye on the "players" on Sebelius's new transportaion task force.  We get these task forces every 8-10 years.  They meet, and meet, and meet some more, all the time being "informed" by everyone that wants a project built, or wants to do the building.  And when it's over with, we have a highway construction plan for the next decade.

[W. Gray]

A reason for killing I-66 west of Wichita was a lack of interest from the states west of Kansas.

Additionally, the National Park service said "No way" because the route was slated to go through Death Valley.