The 18th Street Expressway (often shortened to 18th Street in everyday speech) is a freeway in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

that runs from

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

north to

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is in Independence Township, M ...

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

. It carries the

U.S. Route 69 U.S. Route 69 (US 69) is a major north–south United States highway. When it was first created, it was only long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's southern terminus (as well as ...

designation its entire length.

Route description

Exit 232B from Interstate 35 is a

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

with

traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...

s north of the Johnson County line, just inside Kansas City. This diamond interchange serves as the northern terminus of Roe Boulevard from

Roeland Park Roeland Park is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and located within the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,871. History The community was named after John Roe, an immigrant f ...

, as well as the southern terminus of the 18th Street Expressway. US-69 northbound leaves I-35 northbound at this interchange, turning north to travel along the expressway. The expressway bridges the

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes tha ...

rail line as well as Merriam Lane, and has a partial diamond interchange with the latter (the ramps from Merriam to southbound 18th Street and from northbound 18th Street to Merriam are omitted due to the proximity of the I-35 interchange). 18th Street continues northward through Kansas City, with exits at Steele Road and Ruby Avenue, a residential street (this second interchange, a

parclo interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

, also serves Metropolitan Avenue, a more major arterial.) The freeway then crosses the

Kansas River The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwesternmost part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwesternmost portion of the extensive Mississippi River dr ...

and the east end of the BNSF rail yard on the

18th Street Expressway Bridge The 18th Street Expressway Bridge is a one level deck truss, four lane crossing of the Kansas River in Kansas City, Kansas. It was built in 1959, to replace the Argentine Bridge The Argentine Bridge was a one lane, thru-truss bridge over the ...

. After coming off the bridge, the freeway meets the eastern terminus of K-32, which runs along Kansas Avenue. K-32 is the only other numbered route that 18th Street Expressway intersects aside from those at its termini. The K-32/Kansas Avenue interchange is also of the parclo design. North of the K-32 interchange, 18th Street passes over another rail yard, this one belonging to

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

. On the northern edge of this rail yard lies I-70. 18th Street provides access to this highway via a traditional

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...

. This interchange, Exits 420A–B from I-70, also serves as the official eastern terminus of the

Kansas Turnpike The Kansas Turnpike is a , freeway-standard toll road that lies entirely within the US state of Kansas. It runs in a general southwest–northeast direction from the Oklahoma border to Kansas City. It passes through several major Kansas cities ...

, though the actual tolled section ends further west. The expressway ends at I-70, with northbound US-69 joining I-70 eastbound in a

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

. North of this interchange, the mainline drops the word "Expressway" from its title to become 18th Street. It continues north as a typical urban arterial.

History

The 18th Street Expressway was the result of one of four feasibility studies conducted by the

Kansas Turnpike Authority The Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA) is the organization that owns and maintains the Kansas Turnpike. Authority board The KTA is headed by a board of five members, two of which are appointed by the governor of the state. In addition, the Chairm ...

to extend the turnpike by providing easy access to northeast Johnson County. It was the only one of the four studies to be followed upon, with completion of the 18th Street Expressway Bridge over the

completed in 1959. It replaced the Argentine Boulevard bridge over the river behind the modern-day BNSF railroad yard. Originally, the highway was part of the original K-58. Upon completion of the bridge, US-69 was rerouted onto the expressway from Southwest Boulevard (the section of which has since been renamed to Merriam Drive). In 1979, the K-58 designation was removed. The section of 18th Street between I-70 and the south end of the Kansas River bridge was tolled at least as late as 1984.

Exit list

References

{{Reflist Transportation in the Kansas City metropolitan area Transportation in Kansas City, Kansas Freeways in the United States U.S. Route 69 Former toll roads in Kansas