18th Street Expressway | |
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Major junctions | |
South end: | I-35 / US-69 south in Kansas City |
K-32 in Kansas City | |
North end: | I-70 / US-24 / US-40 / US-69 north in Kansas City |
Highway system | |
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The 18th Street Expressway (often shortened to 18th Street in everyday speech) is a freeway in Kansas City, Kansas that runs from Interstate 35 north to Interstate 70/U.S. Route 24/U.S. Route 40. It carries the U.S. Route 69 designation its entire length.
Exit 232B from Interstate 35 is a diamond interchange with traffic lights north of the Johnson County line, just inside Kansas City. This diamond interchange serves as the northern terminus of Roe Boulevard from Roeland Park, as well as the southern terminus of the 18th Street Expressway. US-69 northbound leaves I-35 northbound at this interchange, turning north to travel along the expressway. The expressway bridges the BNSF rail line as well as Merriam Lane, and has a partial diamond interchange with the latter (the ramps from Merriam to southbound 18th Street and from northbound 18th Street to Merriam are omitted due to the proximity of the I-35 interchange).
18th Street continues northward through Kansas City, with exits at Steele Road and Ruby Avenue, a residential street (this second interchange, a parclo interchange, also serves Metropolitan Avenue, a more major arterial.) The freeway then crosses the Kansas River and the east end of the BNSF rail yard on the 18th Street Expressway Bridge. After coming off the bridge, the freeway meets the eastern terminus of K-32, which runs along Kansas Avenue. K-32 is the only other numbered route that 18th Street Expressway intersects aside from those at its termini. The K-32/Kansas Avenue interchange is also of the parclo design.