Interstate 470 (Missouri) - Route Description

Route Description

I-470 begins in southern Kansas City at the Grandview Triangle interchange. The freeway, concurrent with US 50, travels east through grasslands before meeting the westernmost interchange, a diamond interchange with Blue Ridge Boulevard. A rail line belonging to Kansas City Southern Railway passes under the freeway west of the interchange. The concurrent highways continue east through lightly populated Jackson County past a light residential zone, towards an interchange with Raytown Road. Raytown Road provides access to Longview Lake to the south of I-470. Crossing into urbanized Lee's Summit, the Kansas City Metropolitan Junior College is accessible from the View High Drive interchange. The city line between Kansas City and Lee's Summit is near View High Drive. Exit 7 consists of a cloverleaf interchange with the southern end of Route 350 and US 50, as well as Northwest Blue Parkway and Northwest Pryor Road. Two rail lines surround the cloverleaf interchange, both operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, however only the eastern line is operational. US 50 leaves the freeway and travels southeast as I-470 curves to the north near the Lee's Summit Municipal Airport.

A partial interchange with Northeast Colburn Road is quickly followed by a partial interchange with Route 291, which becomes concurrent with I-470 as it heads north towards Independence. Just north of the airport is an interchange with Strother Road, followed by an interchange with Woods Chapel Road. Lakewood Lakes, a pair of connected lakes, passes to the west of the freeway as it travels north. Lakewood Lakes was home to the Lollapalooza music festival in 1996. An interchange with Northeast Bowlin Road serves as an access road to Blue Springs Lake to the east of the freeway. US 40, which parallels I-70 through most of Missouri is the penultimate exit, serving the southern portions of Independence and Blue Springs. US 40 is named after Corporal Michael E. Webster, a Missouri State Highway Patrol officer who was killed in the line of duty by a drunk driver. The northern terminus of I-470 is at a cloverleaf interchange with I-70 southwest of the Independence Center mall. The roadway continues north after the interchange with I-70 as Route 291 towards its ultimate end point at in interchange with I-435.

Every three years, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2009, MoDOT calculated that as few as 38,152 vehicles traveled along the highway at the northern terminus just north of the interchange with I-70, and as many as 75,647 vehicles used the highway just east of the Grandview Triangle. As part of the Interstate Highway System, the entire route is listed on the National Highway System, a system of roads that are important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.