Route 40 (Interstate 64)
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| Route 40 (Interstate 64) | |
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| Name | Route 40 (Interstate 64) |
| Type | Interstate |
| Route | 64 |
| Length mi | 716 |
| Established | 1957 |
| Direction a | West |
| Terminus a | Wentzville, Missouri |
| Direction b | East |
| Terminus b | Virginia Beach, Virginia |
| States | Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia |
Route 40 (Interstate 64) is a major east–west Interstate Highway traversing the Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic United States, linking the Mississippi River corridor with the Chesapeake Bay region. Beginning near St. Louis and ending at Virginia Beach, it connects a sequence of metropolitan areas, industrial centers, military installations, historic sites, and cultural institutions. The corridor serves as a trunk route for long-distance freight, passenger travel, and regional commuting, intersecting numerous federal highways, state routes, and commercial arteries.
Route description
Route 40 begins west of St. Louis, passing near Wentzville, Missouri and intersecting with I‑70 and US 40 before crossing the Missouri River toward St. Louis County, Missouri suburbs such as Chesterfield, Missouri and Clayton, Missouri. Entering Illinois, it crosses the Mississippi River at the Clark Bridge vicinity and runs close to East St. Louis, Illinois and Collinsville, Illinois, providing access to Scott Air Force Base and Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.
Continuing into Indiana, Route 40 serves the Evansville, Indiana metropolitan area and proceeds northeast toward Louisville, Kentucky, where it traverses urban districts adjacent to Fort Knox approaches and crosses the Ohio River on major river crossings near Jeffersonville, Indiana and New Albany, Indiana. In Kentucky, the route skirts the Lexington, Kentucky region, providing links to University of Kentucky corridors and agricultural supply chains, and passes close to Bluegrass Airport.
The highway then enters West Virginia, winding through the Appalachian foothills and linking towns such as Charleston, West Virginia and access points for New River Gorge National Park and Preserve and coalfield communities. In Virginia, Route 40 continues across the Shenandoah Valley approaches, serves the Hampton Roads metropolitan complex including Norfolk, Virginia and Chesapeake, Virginia, and terminates at Virginia Beach, Virginia near naval facilities like Naval Station Norfolk and recreational areas such as First Landing State Park.
History
Planning for an east–west limited‑access route through the corridor dates from pre‑Interstate highway proposals influenced by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 and earlier turnpike concepts tied to routes like the National Road and U.S. Route 40. Construction phases through the 1960s and 1970s were shaped by civil engineering challenges at the Ohio River and Appalachian crossings, with notable contracts awarded to firms linked to projects near Saint Louis University research initiatives and state highway departments of Missouri DOT, IDOT, INDOT, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, West Virginia Division of Highways, and VDOT.
Environmental reviews during route selection invoked statutes influenced by outcomes from litigated cases associated with National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 interpretations and required mitigation near Cahokia Mounds and Shenandoah National Park buffers. The highway has been the site of major upgrades tied to economic stimulus projects, including bridge reconstructions following incidents that prompted Congressional attention from delegations representing Missouri's 2nd congressional district, Indiana's 8th congressional district, and Virginia's 2nd congressional district.
Major intersections
Route 40 interconnects with multiple principal arteries and urban freeways: junctions with I‑70 near St. Louis, Missouri, I‑55 approaches, I‑57 access in Illinois, I‑64 crossings near Evansville, Indiana, and major interchanges with I‑65 serving Louisville, Kentucky. Further east it meets I‑75 and I‑77 corridors providing freight divergence to Cincinnati, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio markets, intersects I‑81 in the Shenandoah Valley, and ties into the Hampton Roads Beltway system, linking with I‑664 and I‑264 near Norfolk, Virginia and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Services and facilities
Along the corridor, travelers encounter a mix of service plazas, rest areas, and commercial truck centers operated by private firms and state departments of transportation. Facilities include travel plazas near St. Louis Lambert International Airport, truck stops servicing carriers that frequent the Port of Virginia and the Port of Indiana–Mount Vernon, and hospitality nodes proximate to institutions such as University of Louisville, Marshall University, and cultural attractions like The College of William & Mary proximities. Police and emergency response coordination involves agencies like Missouri State Highway Patrol, Illinois State Police, Indiana State Police, Kentucky State Police, West Virginia State Police, and Virginia State Police liaison units.
Medical access points and trauma center links are available at hospitals including Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Frazier Rehabilitation Institute, Methodist Hospital, University of Kentucky Hospital, and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Rest area programs coordinate with tourism boards such as Kentucky Department of Tourism and Virginia Tourism Corporation for visitor information.
Traffic and safety
Traffic volumes vary from high-density urban segments near St. Louis and Hampton Roads to lower-density Appalachian stretches adjacent to New River Gorge. Freight movements are significant due to connectivity to inland ports like Port of Huntington‑Tri‑State and military logistics to Naval Air Station Oceana. Safety programs have targeted truck rollover prevention, bridge inspection regimes after incidents similar to those prompting studies by the Federal Highway Administration, and congestion mitigation techniques implemented in partnership with metropolitan planning organizations like the St. Louis Metropolitan Transportation Study and Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization.
Fatality and crash data historically prompted corridor improvements funded through federal appropriations steered by delegations from Kentucky's 6th congressional district and West Virginia's 2nd congressional district, and safety campaigns coordinated with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiatives and trucking associations such as the American Trucking Associations.
Future developments and improvements
Planned projects include interchange modernizations, multimodal freight terminals linking to Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation lines, and resilience upgrades to address sea‑level concerns in the Hampton Roads area informed by studies from institutions like Old Dominion University and climate assessments by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Corridor investments under consideration involve pavement rehabilitation funded by federal infrastructure packages and state bond programs managed by departmental agencies including Missouri Department of Transportation and Virginia Department of Transportation.
Proposals under regional study include high-occupancy vehicle lane conversions near St. Louis Lambert International Airport, bridge capacity expansions at Ohio River crossings with potential coordination with Army Corps of Engineers civil works permitting, and intelligent transportation systems deployments tied to research at universities such as Purdue University, University of Kentucky, and Virginia Tech.