​Looking Back: New US 40 Highway

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
 
Today, US 40 enters Missouri in Kansas City along a concurrency with I-70. It leaves I-70 at exit 7A. US 40 parallels I-70 to the north through Kansas City until exit 11, where it crosses and parallels it to the south through the suburbs of Independence, rural Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, and Grain Valley before it rejoins I-70 at exit 24. An older alignment carries the designation "Old US 40", AA Highway or Eagles Parkway.

In 1948 one section of US 40 was changed from just east of Noland Road in Independence to Oak Grove. Following the depression years and after World War II, an increasing number of people found employment, especially in automobile factories, in Kansas City. The winding, two-lane highway was no longer carrying sufficient for the increasing volume  of traffic.

Thus, US 40 became a 4-lane highway east to Blue Springs.  There it took a completely different, and straighter course through Grain Valley and east to what is today the Lefoltz bridge over I-70. There, Old 40, on the south side of Grain Valley meets up with “New 40” on the north side of downtown and continues on to Bates City, and beyond. If you meet up with an” old timer,” like me, we could take you all the way to Sweet Springs on US 40. But, in some spots you would have to have traveled US 40 to find it!

Historically, US 40 in many places replaced the National Road, built between 1811 and 1834 to reach the western settlements. The National Road, in many places now known as Route 40, was built between 1811 and 1834 to reach the western settlements. It was the first federally funded road in U.S. history.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson believed that a trans-Appalachian Road was necessary for unifying the young country. In 1806, Congress authorized construction of the road, and President Jefferson signed the act establishing the National Road. In 1811, the first contract was awarded, and the first 10 miles of road were built. As work on the road progressed, a settlement pattern developed that is still visible. Original towns and villages are still found along the National Road. The road, also called the Cumberland Road, National Pike, and other names, became Main Street in these early settlements, earning it the nickname “The Main Street of America.”

In the 1800s, it was a key transport path to the West for thousands of settlers. In 1912, the road became part of the National Old Trails Road, and its popularity returned in the 1920s with the automobile. Federal aid became available for improvements in the road to accommodate the automobile. In 1926, the road became part of U.S. 40 as a coast-to-coast highway running from Atlantic City to San Francisco.

I still find it amazing that this historic and, in some way, “famous” road passed through our town!