MO-FL-MO road trip

I drove down to Florida and back for Thanksgiving. Here are some
random observations:

US-60/US-63 eastern junction ("Hillbilly Junction") in Howell County,
Mo. -- The grade-separated interchange is now complete.

US-62/US-63 Hardy bypass in Sharp County, Ark. -- The Hardy bypass is
open! It's four-lane with no grade separations, and a stop sign at the
eastern eastbound terminus.

US-63 in Lawrence County, Ark. -- Construction is well under way on
four-laning US-63 from Hoxie to the Craighead County line near
Sedgwick. When completed, US-63 will be four-lane (in some cases a
freeway, I-555) from Hoxie to I-55 in Crittenden County.

US-63 near Jonesboro in Craighead County, Ark. -- The pesky traffic
signal on the west side of Jonesboro has been replaced by a grade
separation!

US-78 (future I-22) in Marion and Walker counties in Alabama -- I drove
thru on Sunday, 20 November. A VMS was announcing that the freeway
section between AL-129 and Jasper would open on Tuesday, 22 November!

AL-157 in Cullman, Morgan, and Lawrence counties in Alabama -- The
construction of an addition of a dual carriageway continues with all
deliberate speed. Maybe next year?

US-45 near Jackson in Madison County, Tenn. -- The rebuilding of US-45
on the south side of Jackson is essentially complete.

US-412 near Bells in Crockett County, Tenn. -- The BGS on eastbound
US-412 before the interchange with US-70A/US-79 STILL has shields for
TN-70A and TN-79. 8-(

US-412 in Pemiscot and Dunklin counties in Missouri -- The dual
carriageway is now open from I-55 west to State Road NN at the
Pemiscot/Dunklin County line. Work continues in Dunklin County to
Kennett.

MO-72 at Fredericktown in Madison County, Mo. -- MO-72 has been
re-routed south of the courthouse square in Fredericktown.

MO-72 northwest of Salem in Dent County, Mo. -- Construction is well
along on replacing MO-72 with a new roadbed between Salem and State
Road FF. When completed, MO-72 will be a "Missouri Super-2" (wider,
straighter, and flatter, but with intersections at grade and driveway
entrances allowed where necessary) beween Salem and Rolla.

Mark Stauter
Rolla, Mo.

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