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 sove ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. Its western terminus is at the

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

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 that exists in multiple segments: the original portion entirely within the state of Louisiana with an additional signed portion extending from I-220 in Shreveport to the Arkansas st ...

(I-49) and

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 ...

(US 71). Its eastern terminus is at

US 160 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a 1,465 mile (2,358 km) long east–west United States highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 five miles (8 km) west of Tuba City, Arizo ...

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. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...

parallel to I-49/US 71. The road crosses over North Fork Spring River 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-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

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

Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad The Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad, LLC is a Class III shortline railroad headquartered in Carthage, Missouri. It is not to be confused with the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad which connected Joplin, Missouri with Helena, Arkansa ...

, 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 (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, abbreviated 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 ...

(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 Dead End or dead end may refer to: * Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''. Film and television * ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by Davi ...

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