Passing through the Metro KC area, my first attempt on I-670 was thwarted so I tried again on I-70 East as we cover the area inside the I-435's. Music & Gear FAQ's are in the closing credits.
Even though Missouri is a Midwestern state, I could get the feel of Missouri being in the south especially in Springfield and other parts of Southern Missouri. However, it feels more Midwestern in Northern Missouri.
Excellent looking video and an absolutely amazing ride. Even with all the traffic and slow drivers. The music was the best. Gary Hoary on guitar sounded great and you can never go wrong with Bonnie. Thanx for posting this.
Thanks for another great ride, Jim. I didn't realize how many left exits and sharp curves there could be in such a short stretch of highway. No wonder there were so many slow drivers.
And that home is in Smallville - a town that is west of both Manhattan and Lawrence (which actually IS a college town - specifically the University of Kansas - home of the Jayhawks and alma mater of Wilt Chamberlain). West of Lawrence (and east of Manhattan) is Leavenworth (Prison City USA - literally; there is United States Penitentiary Leavenworth and United States Disciplinary Barracks (a military prison); rather oddly, there is both the United States Army Combined Arms Center and the Command and Staff College here as well). Manhattan is home to Fort Riley and the 1st Armored Division (The Big Red One).
Finally had a chance to sit down, watch this vid- very nice ride! Yeah- you did hit some heavy traffic in Kansas City- but was a nice ride! Great track to go with it! Very well worth the wait til Thursday to see the vid! Looking forward to seeing St. Louis!
About 4 years ago I went on a road trip to the Grand Canyon and Vegas via I-40 and the on the way back I took I-15 and I-70. The latter interstate is the longest such road I've been on in my life. I, and the small group with me, stopped at two hotels and stayed on I-70 all the way to Indianapolis where we got on I-74 east to Cincinnati. That was a fun trip. :)
Such a shame with the traffic. KC has cramped freeways that don't necessarily accomodate rush hour traffic very well. Living on the Missouri side in the Northland, I rarely go downtown so I am grateful for your videos for showing me those freeways.
Great choices on the soundtracks. Sorry your lane change to continue on your way didn't happen like you thought it would; that's happened to me on a couple of recording occasions as well. Kansas City = one of the most underrated driving cities? Thanks for the video, enjoyed it!
+FreewayBrent Thanks, yes it's just one of those things, forgot it was one lane to get through there. I agree, KC is a pretty good driving city for its size, some interesting features.
Wow I didn't know that there is also traffic jams. In the two times I went there via I-49, US-71, there were a ton of traffic in every lane, but everyone was going nice and fast with no frustration. I live in the southwest part of Missouri and rarely travel over 100 miles in a trip. But if I do travel, I'm most likely am going to Tulsa, where there is constantly traffic jams in or out of the city, mainly because of construction or road maintenance. Anyways, nice video. It's pretty nice to see downtown again after almost a year.
You should do Omaha metro in a couple of years, maybe 2020. Council Bluffs is re-building their entire freeway system. I think the final price tag will be over a billion $. There are now 2 brand new interchanges with long sweeping flyovers. I-80 will be 12 lanes divided into 6 express in the middle and 6 local on the outsides. Thanks for making so many great ride alongs over the years. Its a great, entertaining way to see what different places around the country look like.
i was in Omaha last year at this time...and wowee construction all the way thru that town.but what got me was when stopping at the lights the potholes were so deep i took a pic of rebar showing...2 alignment and a set of tires after getting done in that town
Good video. Unfortunately missed the two best Interstate views of the city. The first being westbound I-70 at Exit 11. When you crest the hill you can see the stadiums straight ahead at a distance. The other being the I-670 trek underneath downtown (although the author tried twice in this case). Another notable Interstate oddity is the "bridge to nowhere" built but never used. Its concrete edges can just barely be seen on the left edge around 7:14. You'll have to check it on street view. I-70 eastbound at exit 4A.
While I also like the drive through the city's basement afforded by 670 east of 35, the two arched bridges over 670 as it cuts through that ridge make for a classic entry to the city. I strongly suspect that the designers chose the arched shapes there instead of the boxier (but still pleasing) bridge designs used elsewhere on KC's freeways for that reason. I liked the trip around the north side of the downtown box, too!
The Lewis and Clark Viaduct is currently being replaced resulting in the long-term closure of I-70 westbound between I-35/I-670 and the Kansas Turnpike which has created major traffic headaches on I-670...
Nice ride Jim, I share your displeasure for the traffic jams, but what can you do in densely populated cities, but handled it like a champ as usual! I kind of notice the similarity of (Bonnie Raitt)"s song Spit Of Love sounded very similar to (Stevie Wonders) song, Living For The City.
Yes, you made it a very entertaining video, but did you notice the similarity of Bonnie Raittts song to Stevie Wonder's song (Living for the city)? I love the work you do, it gives me a sense of relaxation from a invigorating day at work! One thing I can count on, is your consistency of a pleasurable journey in your videos!!!!! (GVJ)
Thanks as always for the kind words, I do get what you are saying but don't necessarily share the sense of those two songs being that similar other than the tempo and the fact they are both good.
Ever thought about heading to Iowa? I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by my home state, especially the Northeast part around Dubuque, Iowa. Lots of high hills in the city that affords one awesome views of the Mississippi River, and the states of Illinois and Wisconsin. Also check out SW Wisconsin on Hwy. 58, the route into Madison. It really looks like Norman Rockwell's America---lots of rolling hills and hay bales during the Summer, with steep highway climbs and low valleys. Solarcatcher has many videos of the area.
+Jolly Dayz I've just never had a reason to go through Iowa. In 2013 I took I-29 up from KC hoping to film Council Bluffs and Omaha but we got rained out.
Understandable...not much to do...lol. Seriously, if you ever roll through the state, avoid I-35 north of Des Moines. Atrocious landscape. It felt like the end of the earth rolling to the Twin Cities at night, and looked even worse during the day trip back down.
+Jolly Dayz Not just that but I live in Atlanta so it's just not along the way to anyplace I've gone or plan to go anytime soon. I purposely went out of my way in 2013 to go to Omaha.
The Manchester bridge has been completed. As a matter of fact, there have been a few changes since your last visit! The traffic and the drivers, unfortunately, have not changed!
Holy crap, you're a modern day Rand McNally that likes cool music. Is traveling business or pleasure? Either way you sure make it look interesting! Subscribed
Did socarboy film this route it the other direction a few years ago, or did I dream that? I was looking for that video as well as one of his of I-64 West through Louisville. Also whatever happened to FreewayTitan?
+Oscar 370 Unlikely...I drove parts of it this last trip, it would take weeks to do the whole Lincoln Higwhay, and then get back to Atlanta.....I don't have that kind of vacation time.
Kansas City definitely look like a city that need more renovations with their interstate system. Even other cities like Oklahoma City and New York City have the same issues as Kansas City.
I live here and drive through downtown very often and there has been quite a lot of construction going around on the interstate highways. Recently I drove through Oklahoma City on I-35 and those roads are extremely outdated but construction was present on the south end.
Wesley Tran I can agree with you. America really need to make more lanes for their interstates. Rush-hour is a very busy time and interstates need to fit thousands of people every day.
I don't see exit 2N. My name does start with N. I did saw exits 2L and 2M. I think that the way that you drove was the way to I-70. Exit 2N might not go through I-70.
BlueCarGamer I think he meant the traffic. KC has the most highway miles per capita so traffic is pretty nonexistent here aside from normal rush hours. In terms of interstate systems, Denver's roads look nicer but I think KC has more wow factor in terms of design.
It's time to say goodbye to the I-70 I-435 interchange at the end of the vid, MoDot will reconfigure it to be a partial turbine interchange they have already started to put up signs and block the eastbound i-70 exit to Manchester Traffic way and the eastbound I-70 exit to northbound I-435 and on Wednesday modot will close westbound i-70 to southbound i-435 and Manchester traffic way on to westbound I-70 yes all those will be closed. Then sometime this year modot will re-pave I-70 from Manchester traffic way to I-470 and also sometime this year modot will have a rehabilitation of the chestnut bridge over I -70 near prospect and also rehabilitate the 8th, 9th, and 10th street bridges over I-70 northbound and southbound on the east side of downtown Kansas City. And right now MoDot is still working on adding the 5th lane to I-435 at the granview triangle to state line road, MoDot is also reconstructing the I-435 and U.S Route 210 interchange just north of the I-70 I-435 interchange
Arggh, don't you hate when you get boxed in an exit - only lane? Also, down with left lane exits in metro areas. I'm done complaining. At least you were flexible enough to film a nice ride. Cool info about Alphabet City too.
Awesome video +Freewayjim. I never get tired of watching I-70 footage. Not surprised you had to detour from I-670, navigating the downtown loop can be a bit of a challenge on most afternoons. I suspect you might have hit some early Royals traffic that day. Some of the locals like to arrive at The K early and tailgate.
I guess my co workers were right. KC does have worse traffic than Denver. Everytime I drive through KC it's dead. The highways there are a mess of confusion compared to Denver and Phoenix which are the two cities I've driven in most. STL is the same. You have 270 which bypasses the city and brings you back to 70.
+Phil Vancleave I spend a ton of time in Phoenix as my company has a office down there and I now have good friends there. I thought Phoenix rush hour was a breeze compared to Denver. The 10 and 60 I've never really seen backed up except the 10 through downtown. I mainly took the 10 from ray Rd up to the 60 to Mc Clintock and sometimes I took the 101 to the 202 over to val Vista when visiting friends in Queen creek. The freeways are much wider and more modern than Denver though. I still can't get over the landscaping on the side of the freeways. So beautiful.
When we go through KC on 70, either East or West, we always take 435. That little mess downtown sucks, we would rather take a little longer and miss it.
Lambs loved this drive, though the traffic. This lamb is sure there is no political will to fix the bottlenecks due to aging infrastructure and growth.
