Image:US_69.svg The '''18th Street Expressway''' is a freeway in Kansas_City,_Kansas that runs from Interstate_35 north to Interstate_70/U.S._Route_40. It carries the U.S._Route_69 designation its entire length. ==History== The 18th Street Expressway was the result of one of four feasibility studies conducted by the Kansas_Turnpike_Authority to extend the turnpike by providing easy access to northeast Johnson_County,_Kansas. It was the only one of the four studies to be followed upon, with completion of the bridge over the Kansas_River completed in 1959. It replaced the Argentine Boulevard bridge over the river behind the modern-day BNSF railroad yard that brought K-58 over the river. Upon completion of the bridge, US_69 was rerouted onto the expressway from Southwest_Boulevard (whose particular section today is Merriam Drive). In 1979, the K-58 designation disappeared from the expressway, upon its decommissioning. This left the southern leg of the expressway south of I-35 with no highway designation whatsoever. Between 1988 and 1991, massive construction projects were undertaken to turn the expressway from I-35 to I-70 into a controlled-access freeway. A new bridge was completed over Turkey_Creek and the Burlington_Northern railroad tracks in 1988, to provide a 4-lane connection to Interstate_35, and new bridge was built over the Union_Pacific railroad yard on the north end of the expressway in 1991. Both projects replaced older 2-lane bridges. The speed limit was then raised to 55 MPH, with the exception of within a half-mile of both interstates, where the limit drops to 45 MPH. In 1996, extensive reconstruction was completed in Roeland_Park,_Kansas, where K-58 formerly traveled. As a result, the former Skyline Drive interchange was transformed into an at-grade intersection, also eliminating the Skyline tunnel underneath the expressway. When this was completed, Johnson_County,_Kansas renamed the segment from Shawnee_Mission_Parkway to I-35 as "Roe Boulevard", a continuation of "Roe Avenue" from Fairway,_Kansas to I-35. ==Highway Route== ===Current highways=== *20px U.S._Route_69 - Has always followed 18th Street Expressway since its completion from I-35 to I-70 ===Decommissioned highways=== *20px K-58 - Followed the 18th Street Expressway for its entire length at completion; decommissioned in 1979 ==Exit list== Italicized exits have been turned into at-grade intersections. The year this occurred is listed. '''Northbound traffic''' (from former Shawnee_Mission_Parkway terminus): *''Johnson Drive {{scaps|West}}'' (2003) '''''Current expressway route begins''''' *20px Interstate_35 {{scaps|North}} *20px 20px Interstate_35/U.S._Route_69 {{scaps|South}} *Steele Road *Metropolitan Avenue/Ruby Avenue *20px K-32 {{scaps|West}}, Kansas Avenue *20px 20px 20px Interstate_70/U.S._Route_40 {{scaps|East}}/U.S._Route_69 {{scaps|North}} *20px 20px Interstate_70/U.S._Route_40 {{scaps|West}} '''Southbound traffic''' (from Interstate_70 terminus): *20px K-32 {{scaps|West}}, Kansas Avenue *Metropolitan Avenue/Ruby Avenue *Steele Road *Merriam Drive *20px 20px Interstate_35/U.S._Route_69 {{scaps|South}} *20px Interstate_35 {{scaps|North}} '''''End of current expressway route''''' *''48th Street/Skyline Drive'' (1996) *''Johnson Drive {{scaps|West}}'' (2003) *20px 26px U.S._Route_56 {{scaps|West}}/U.S._Route_169 {{scaps|South}}, Shawnee_Mission_Parkway {{scaps|West}} Category:Wyandotte_County,_Kansas Category:Kansas_City_metropolitan_area