Route 126 is a highway located entirely within Barton County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Its western terminus is at the

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

state line, where K-126 ends. The route goes in a straight line for most of its length, and intersects

Interstate 49 Interstate 49 (I-49) is a north–south Interstate Highway with multiple segments. The original portion is entirely within Louisiana with an additional signed portion extending from Interstate 220 (Louisiana), I-220 in Shreveport, Louisian ...

(I-49) and U.S. Route 71 (US 71). Its eastern terminus is at

US 160 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a east–west United States Numbered Highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 west of Tuba City, Arizona. The eastern terminus is at US 67 and Missour ...

and Route 37 in Golden City. The route was designated in 1942, and formerly consisted of two supplemental routes.

Route description

Route 126 starts at the Kansas state line, where K-126 ends. The road travels east for around seven miles in a straight line, intersecting Route M and Route 43. Route 126 continues eastward, crossing through farmland and a few trees. After the route intersects Route J, it meets a

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. Where parallel high-speed roads are provided as part of a maj ...

parallel to I-49/US 71. The road crosses over

North Fork Spring River The North Fork Spring River is a stream in Lawrence, Dade, Barton and Jasper counties of southwest Missouri. It is a tributary to the Spring River. The headwaters are located in northwest Lawrence County at and the confluence with the Spring ...

and continues east. Soon, Route 126 intersects I-49/US 71 at 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 separation, grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. ...

, and intersects a frontage road again. The route crosses a railroad owned by

Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad The Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad, LLC is a Class II Regional Railroad in the U.S. states of Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas. The company is headquartered in Carthage, Missouri. It is not to be confused with the Missouri and North Arka ...

, and intersects Routes JJ and T. Four miles later, the route enters Golden City and becomes Main Street. It becomes concurrent with Route 37. The routes goes through downtown Golden City, and turn slightly northeast. The two routes end at US 160 at a

T-intersection A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T ...

. US 160 continues eastward toward Lockwood. In 2012,

Missouri Department of Transportation The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT, ) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri under the guidance of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC). MoDOT ...

(MoDOT) calculated as many as 840 vehicles traveling east of I-49/US 71, and as few as 480 vehicles traveling west of I-49/US 71. This is expressed in terms of

annual average daily traffic Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...

(AADT), a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year.

History

The road that became Route 126 was built and designated, as supplemental Route D around 1935. It connected from US 71 to US 160 in Golden City. By 1940, supplemental Route H was designated, connected from Route 43, to a dead end east of it. A year later, Route H was extended west to the Kansas state line. In 1942, Route 126 was designated, replacing Route H from the state line to Route 43. Around 1945-1949, Route H was extended east to Route Z, and the same route was extended east for a few miles east of Route Z in 1954. Around 1955, Route H and D were removed in the supplemental route system, and was replaced by Route 126, as the two sections became connected. Later, Route 126 was repaved in concrete, from the state line to Route 43. The whole route was repaved by 1957. In 1979, US 71 was moved to a freeway alignment, but an interchange wasn't built until 2010-2013. I-49 became co-signed with US 71 in December 2012.

Major intersections

References

{{reflist, 2 126 Transportation in Barton County, Missouri