Editing Interstate 44 (section)

===Missouri===
[[Image:I44InterchangeUS71.jpg|thumb|right|175px|I-44 approached by [[U.S. Route 71 in Missouri|US&nbsp;71]] just south of Joplin, Missouri. This photo was taken before US&nbsp;71 was upgraded to I-49.]]
{{Main|Interstate 44 in Missouri}}

I-44 enters Missouri southwest of Joplin near the [[tripoint]] of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. It misses the Kansas border by less than {{convert|200|yd|m}}. The first exit in Missouri is for [[U.S. Route 166 in Missouri|US&nbsp;166]]. I-44 continues through the southern part of Joplin, where it runs concurrently with the new Missouri segment of [[Interstate 49 in Missouri|I-49]]. East of Joplin, I-49 splits off on its own alignment to [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]].

I-44 then continues east on the former US&nbsp;166 to [[Mount Vernon, Missouri|Mount Vernon]]. At the northeast part of Mount Vernon, I-44 heads northeast, while old US&nbsp;166 continued east on [[Missouri Route 174|Route&nbsp;174]]. The section of road to [[Halltown, Missouri|Halltown]] is a completely new road, not bypassing any previous highways. At Halltown, the road follows the general pathway of US&nbsp;66 all the way to downtown St. Louis.

[[Image:Toisign1.png|thumb|left|108px|A nonstandard depiction of I-44/I-55/I-64/I-70 in downtown St. Louis]]
I-44 passes through [[Springfield, Missouri|Springfield]] on the north side of the city and continues northeast. At Waynesville, I-44 enters a very hilly and curvy area until it passes [[Rolla, Missouri|Rolla]]. Although the road still passes through some hilly areas, none are as steep as that particular stretch.

At [[Pacific, Missouri|Pacific]], I-44 widens to six lanes, later to eight lanes. The Interstate passes through the suburbs of St. Louis and then into downtown St. Louis, passing the [[Gateway Arch]] before finally terminating near the [[Mississippi River]], continuing from there as I-70 from the west end of the [[Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge]]. Until a future second span of the new bridge is completed, there will be no way for I-44 traffic to utilize the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial span without first exiting to surface streets. I-44 traffic wishing to continue northeast and east must use the [[Poplar Street Bridge]] and I-55/I-64 to cross the [[Mississippi River]].

At some places, an "Alternate I-44" is posted. One such ran between Rolla and Springfield via [[U.S. Route 60 in Missouri|US&nbsp;60]] and [[U.S. Route 63 in Missouri|US&nbsp;63]], and another ran via US&nbsp;63 and [[U.S. Route 50 in Missouri|US&nbsp;50]] between Rolla and [[Union, Missouri|Union]]. These were completed to provide traffic relief during road work. The latter of these alternate routes detoured traffic around three-hour delays due to road work near [[Cuba, Missouri|Cuba]]. <!--I don't have a reference for this, but I was on I-44 in this area at one time and MoDOT signs did post this delay time-->