Route 59 is a highway in southwest Missouri running from the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

state line north to

I-44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, T ...

I-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 I-220 in Shreveport to the Arkansas state line, three ne ...

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. It replaced a large section of U.S. Route 71 and Alternate US 71 in sections. The first section was designated in 1960 between Lanagan and the Arkansas state line when US 71 was moved down the former Route 88. In the 1990s, US 71 was moved and upgraded to interstate standards from Neosho to Lanagan and Route 59 was extended north to Neosho. When US 71 was moved east of Joplin in the late 1990s, Alternate US 71 was deleted, and Route 59 was extended north to replace that highway. The highway was numbered after Arkansas Highway 59.

Route description

Route 59 is a two-lane highway for its entire length except for a short section in southern Neosho where it forms 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 ...

with Business I-49. The highway begins at the Arkansas state line where it is continued from

Arkansas Highway 59 Arkansas Highway 59 is a north–south List of Arkansas state highways, state highway in Northwest Arkansas. The route runs from Arkansas Highway 22 in Barling, Arkansas, Barling north to the Missouri state line through Van Buren, Arkansas, V ...

. The road runs ''under'' some of the bluffs along the Elk River (with signs warning of low clearance for trucks). It also runs into a very scenic area, squeezed between steep bluffs and the railroad then passes through Noel and briefly has a

with Route 90 then curves east where it runs next to the

Kansas City Southern Railway The Kansas City Southern Railway Company is an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operated in 10 Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ark ...

for several miles then passes through Anderson. At Anderson, there is a short concurrency with Route 76 then has a concurrency with Business US 71 and turning into a windy road until it intersects with

at a partial interchange. Then, it leaves McDonald County before passing through Goodman. In Neosho, Route 59 picks ups a concurrency with

U.S. Route 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as General Booth Bouleva ...

and then picks up Route 86 for a brief moment. There is an interchange with the northern junction with

northeast of Neosho where US 60 concurrency ends. The road remains two lanes (US 60 is also two lanes here) for the interchange. Next, Route 59 passes through

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

. Finally, the highway becomes a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

and ends at I-44/I-49/US 71 at a

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), 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 passe ...

where the road continues north as I-49/US 71 heading towards

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Major intersections

References

{{Reflist 059 U.S. Route 71 Transportation in Jasper County, Missouri