Missouri Route 5 is the longest state highway in

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 ...

and the only Missouri state highway to traverse the entire state. It is part of a three state, 650 mile highway 5. To the north, it continues into Iowa as

Iowa Highway 5 Iowa Highway 5 is a highway in southern Iowa. It is a north–south highway with a length of . It is the northernmost segment of a three-state "Highway 5" also involving Missouri Route 5 and Arkansas Highway 5. Portions of the highway are ...

and to the south it enters Arkansas as

Highway 5 Route 5, or Highway 5, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * Asian Highway 5 * European route E05 * European route E005 Argentina * National Route 5 Australia New South Wales * M5 Motorway (Sydney) * The De ...

. With only a few exceptions, it is two-lane for its entire length. Business Route 5 serves Milan and Ava.

Route description

Route 5 begins at the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

state line in

Ozark County Ozark County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,553. The largest city and county seat is Gainesville. The county was organized as Ozark County, named after th ...

as a continuation of

Arkansas Highway 5 Highway 5 (AR 5, Ark. 5, and Hwy. 5) is a designation for three state highways in Arkansas. The southern segment of runs from Highway 7 in Hot Springs north to US Highway 70 (US 70) in Little Rock. A northern segment of be ...

. Approximately to the north of the state line, Route 5 meets U.S. 160 after which it forms a east-west concurrency to the east where it enters Gainesville. After leaving its U.S. 160 concurrency to the north, Route 5 continues northwest for approximately before forming a north-south

wrong-way concurrency A concurrency in a road network is an instance of one physical roadway bearing two or more different route numbers. When two roadways share the same right-of-way, it is sometimes called a common section or commons. Other terminology for a concurr ...

with

Route 95 Route 95, or Highway 95, may refer to routes in the following countries: __TOC__ International * European route E95 Australia * Great Northern Highway (Western Australia) * Fossickers Way (New South Wales) Canada * British Columbia Highway 95 * ...

into Wasola. Route 5 enters Douglas County north of Wasola. Thirteen miles into Douglas County, Route 5 forms a four-mile north–south concurrency with Route 76 past Ava, and serves the town itself with a business route. Within the northwest part of Ava, the concurrent routes intersect Route 14. After Route 76 leaves the concurrency to the east, Route 5 continues for 10 miles before entering Wright County. Shortly after entering Wright County, Route 5 forms a one-mile east–west concurrency with U.S. 60 (as a

limited-access highway A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

) in Mansfield. After leaving its U.S. 60 concurrency to the north, the route intersects with

Route 38 The following highways are numbered 38: Australia * A38 (Sydney) Canada * Alberta Highway 38 * Ontario Highway 38 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 38 Czech Republic * I/38 Highway; Czech: Silnice I/38 Germany * Bundesautobahn 38 India * N ...

in Hartville 11 miles later, and then continues for 24 miles into Laclede County. MO 5 turns onto MO 64 (Jefferson Ave) in Lebanon

In Laclede County, Route 5 passes through

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

, intersects

I-44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major 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 Fal ...

, Route 32 and Route 64 in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, and enters Camden County 16 miles north of Lebanon. Between Lebanon and Camdenton, the road has been realigned and straightened, and several older alignments are visible. Just south of Camdenton, Route 5 forms an 11-mile north–south concurrency with Route 7 which continues through the town and intersects

U.S. Route 54 U.S. Route 54 (US 54) is an east–west United States Highway that runs northeast–southwest for from El Paso, Texas, to Griggsville, Illinois. The Union Pacific Railroad's Tucumcari Line (former Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific and ...

. After Route 7 leaves the concurrency to the west, Route 5 leaves the

Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

and crosses the

Lake of the Ozarks Lake of the Ozarks is a reservoir created by impounding the Osage River in the northern part of the Ozarks in central Missouri. Parts of three smaller tributaries to the Osage are included in the impoundment: the Niangua River, Grandglaize Cr ...

at the

Hurricane Deck Bridge The Hurricane Deck Bridge was a truss arch bridge located on Lake of the Ozarks in Camden County, Missouri. It carried Missouri Route 5 across the Osage Arm of the lake. It was perhaps one of the most distinctive features on the lake. It was the o ...

, passing through Sunrise Beach shortly before entering Morgan County. Twenty miles north into Morgan County, Route 5 forms a short east–west concurrency with

Route 52 The following highways are numbered 52: Australia * Kings Highway (Australia) * Isis Highway ( Childers to Ban Ban Springs) - Queensland State Route 52 (Wide Bay–Burnett Region) * Gillies Highway - Queensland State Route 52 (Far North Queensl ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

. After leaving its Route 52 concurrency to the north, it continues north for 14 miles and enters

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

, in which the route forms a four-mile east–west concurrency with

U.S. 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

. Soon after leaving its U.S. 50 concurrency to the north, Route 5 enters Cooper County. In Cooper County, Route 5 continues north for 20 miles before intersecting

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 c ...

just south of Boonville. Three miles north of I-70, the route enters Boonville and forms a triple concurrency with U.S. 40 and Route 87. All three routes together cross the Missouri River into Howard County. Immediately after entering Howard County, Route 87 leaves the concurrency to the west, and less than a mile thereafter, U.S. 40 leaves the concurrency to the east. From there, Route 5 continues north to Fayette, in which it forms a nine-mile concurrency with Route 240 that starts with a north–south alignment, but becomes an east–west alignment after intersecting Route 3. Shortly thereafter, Route 240 leaves the concurrency to the south (ultimately heading west), and Route 5 enters

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, after which it returns to a north–south alignment and enters Chariton County. Thirteen miles to the north of the Chariton County line, Route 5 forms a five-mile east–west concurrency with U.S. 24 and enters Keytesville, where it leaves the concurrency to the north and enters Linn County 21 miles later. After entering Linn County, Route 5 immediately passes through Marceline and forms a 12-mile east–west concurrency with U.S. 36 (proposed future

Interstate 72 Interstate 72 (I-72) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61 (US 61); its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champ ...

) past Brookfield, where they intersect Route 11 together. In Laclede, the route leaves the concurrency to the north at its intersection with Route 139, and passes through Linneus before entering Sullivan County. In Sullivan County, Route 5 forms an eight-mile concurrency with Route 6 as they bypass

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

to the south and east. Business Route 5 serves Milan directly, using an older alignment of the route, and ends north of the town where Route 6 leaves the concurrent bypass to the east. From there, Route 5 enters Putnam County 15 miles later. In Putnam County, Route 5 forms a brief east–west concurrency with

U.S. Route 136 U.S. Route 136 is an east-west U.S. highway that is a spur route of U.S. Route 36. It runs from Edison, Nebraska, at U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 34 to the Interstate 74/Interstate 465 interchange in Speedway, Indiana. This is a distance of . U ...

in Unionville. After leaving its U.S. 136 concurrency to the north, the route crosses the

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

state line and turns into

in Appanoose County. Route 5 from I-44 in Lebanon to U.S. 50 in Tipton is a part of the National Highway System, a system of highways important to the nation's defense, economy, and mobility.

History

As built in the original 1922 road system, the route is largely unchanged from its first path. Most of the paths bypassed are now business routes through cities. In the 1950s a section of the route in Wright, Douglas and Ozark counties between Mansfield and Gainesville was straightened and widened. At this time the city of Ava was bypassed and the old route through the center of the town became business Route 5. In 2009, a section of the route in Camdenton was rerouted onto a new four-lane highway. The old section became business Route 5.

Improvements between Lebanon and Camdenton

Beginning in the summer of 2008,

MoDOT 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. MoDOT designs, ...

began a project to convert Route 5 into a "shared four-lane" highway, with continuous passing lanes based on the European

2+1 road 2+1 road is a specific category of three-lane road, consisting of two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other, alternating every few kilometres, and usually separated with a steel cable barrier. The second lane allows faster-moving ...

model, between Lebanon and Camdenton. A shared four-lane road can be constructed largely within the same footprint as a two-lane road, but allows for alternating passing lanes in each direction. A number of roadways in Europe are built in this way, but Missouri is among the first to do so in the U.S., having first used the method on separate segments of

US 63 U.S. Route 63 (US 63) is a , north–south United States Highway primarily in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at Interstate 20 (I-20) in Ruston, Louisiana; the northern terminus is at US&nbs ...

and Route 37. The project was completed in 2010.

Major intersections

Business routes

Ava route

A two-mile business route of MO 5 exists in Ava.

Camdenton route

A five-mile business route of MO 5 exists in Camdenton.

Milan route

A three-mile business route of MO 5 exists in Milan.

References

External links

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