The Downtown Loop, also called the Alphabet Loop, is a complex layout of

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

s in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

involving 23 exits, four

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

s, four

U.S. Highways The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

and numerous city streets. Each exit in the highway loop is numbered 2 and suffixed with every letter of the alphabet except I, O, and Z (I and O look similar to 1 and 0 on the exit tabs; Z is not needed). The entire circumference of the loop is just over .

Description

Alphabetically, the letter suffixes begin with A in the northwest corner of the loop and proceed forward in a clockwise direction around the loop. Eastbound on the north side of the loop (EB I-70/NB I-35), one encounters A through G; then H through M southbound on the east side (EB I-70/SB US 71); then N through U westbound on the south side (WB I-670); and finally V through Y northbound on the west side (NB I-35 alone).

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

enters the southeast corner of the loop and moves north forming the east and north sides of the loop and exiting in the northwest corner. Exits on I-70 range from 2A to 2M.

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 ...

enters the loop at its northeast corner, joining I-70 on the north side and forming the west side of the loop before exiting in the southwest corner. Exits on I-35 range from 2F to 2A while it overlaps I-70, and 2Y to 2U after I-70 exits the loop.

Interstate 29 Interstate 29 (I-29) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70, to the Canada–US border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba ...

does not enter the loop. It begins at the northeast corner and continues north, concurrent with I-35. These two leave the loop via the Christopher S. Bond Bridge and split several miles north. Interstate 670 forms the south side of the loop. I-670 splits from I-70 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 ...

, crosses over I-70 and enters the loop in the southwest corner, rejoining I-70 and ending in

in the southeast corner of the loop. I-670 is also signed as Alternate I-70.

U.S. Route 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstat ...

is a highway that enters the loop in the southeast corner and leaves the loop with I-29 and I-35 in the northeast corner.

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, Mic ...

is a major city street which enters the loop in the northeast corner and follows I-35 and I-70 along the north side of the loop. Former US 24 now US-Bus 24 is also known as Independence Ave/Blvd and provides a street-level connection to Independence, Missouri. U.S. Route 40 overlaps I-70 throughout the northern and eastern sections of the loop.

U.S. Route 169 U.S. Route 169 (US 169) is a north-south U.S highway that currently runs for 966 miles (1,555 km) from the city of Virginia, Minnesota to Tulsa, Oklahoma at Memorial Drive. Route description Oklahoma US 169 is a major north–south ...

enters the loop in the northwest corner from the

Buck O'Neil Bridge The Buck O'Neil Bridge is a triple arch bridge that spans the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. It first opened for traffic September 9, 1956 as the Broadway Bridge. It was built at a cost of $12 million. It was a to ...

, and joins I-70, continuing westward. Route 9 also provides access to the loop, ending at I-70 after crossing the

Heart of America Bridge The Heart of America Bridge is a vehicular girder bridge over the Missouri River, in Kansas City, Missouri. It carries Route 9. It was the vehicular replacement for the upper level of the ASB Bridge, and runs next to it a few hundred yards dow ...

from

North Kansas City North Kansas City is a city in Clay County, Missouri, United States. It is also enclaved in Kansas City. Even though the name is similar to its larger counterpart, Kansas City, it is an independent municipality part of the Kansas City metropo ...

History

Before the west side of the loop was built, there was a scenic road called Kersey Coates Drive in that place. There were many affluent homes that were built along the road, and stairs that led down from Case Park immediately to the east. When the loop was completed, the multi-lane Interstate cut further into the bluff and these homes were razed. The stairs leading down from Case Park were cut off halfway and still remain today, between exits 2W and 2X. A March 2010 preliminary study of the Kansas City I-70 corridor made several innovative suggestions to relieve congestion in the downtown area. One proposal was to make the loop unidirectional, where the loop would essentially become a large

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

Exit list

The following is the list of exits inside the loop in order as encountered if entering the loop from eastbound

I-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 ...

.maps.google.com August 24, 2017

Clockwise exits

Counterclockwise exits

References