Transportation

In my corner of the Ozarks, transportation has always been a problem. The rugged terrain makes road-building (railroads and highways) difficult. During the Civil War, much of the Ozarks was spared from large armies of either side because of transportation problems. Of course, that didn't keep small parties of bushwackers from terrorizing the countryside.

U. S. Highway 60 runs coast-to-coast through Mountain View, Missouri. From my personal perspective, going through Mountain View makes Rt. 60 a significant transportation route. When we lived in Virginia in 1970, we saw the eastern terminus of Rt. 60 at Virginia Beach. Last year we drove on a stretch of Rt. 60 in southern California.

Currently, Rt. 60 is undergoing an upgrade from 2-lanes to 4-lanes in our area. When this 59 mile stretch is completed in about a year, travelers can take 4-lanes all across southern Missouri between Illinois and Oklahoma, mostly on U. S. 60.

On December 3rd the completion of the lane expansion through Mountain View was dedicated. Pictured here is U. S. Senator Kit Bond cutting the ribbon at the opening. Actually through the town of Mountain View, we have 5 lanes including the center turning lane.

I remember when Rt. 60 was re-aligned in the late 1950's. The earlier alignment had followed the ridge-tops and snaked its way generally east and west through the southern part of the state. The 1950's version was a major improvement with a much straighter alignment. The trip to Springfield was reduced by about a half hour.

This photo is an example of the straighter, but still 2-lane Rt. 60 of the late 1950's. From about Winona west to Springfield, most of the highway was fairly straight. The section between Van Buren and Poplar Bluff was the most crooked and that stretch was improved and widened to 4 lanes a couple of years ago.

Some sections of the Rt. 60 of the 1940's and early 50's are still in use. There were many sharp curves and several were locally called "Dead Man's Curve". This photo is one of those old sections of highway.

Now we have a modern highway through Mountain View. Soon the whole project will be complete and we'll really "be on the map". That means our friends can find us here in our corner of the Ozarks.