Interstate 435

Interstate 435 (I-435) is an Interstate Highway beltway that encircles much of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the states of Kansas and Missouri in the United States.

Route description
I-435, a loop route of I-35, is 83.02 mi long and intersects with nearly every other Interstate Highway in the Kansas City area (except for I-635 and I-670). An additional 2.8 mi near Kansas City International Airport is signed along with I-29 and U.S. Route 71 (US 71), making I-435 the second-longest complete beltway numbered as a single Interstate Highway in the US and seventh longest in the world after I-275 in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 83.71 mi; Beltway 8 in Houston, Texas, at 88 mi; Bundesautobahn 10 in Berlin at 122 mi; and M25 motorway in London at 117 mi; as well as 7th and 8th ring roads in Beijing. The majority—52.8 mi—of I-435 is within the state of Missouri, and most of that roadway lies within the city limits of Kansas City. The first/last exit is at I-435's parent route, I-35, in Lenexa, Kansas. Going clockwise around Kansas City, the next interchange is exit 1A for Lackman Road. The milepost numbers do not start over when I-435 crosses the state line, but where it shares the same roadway as I-29, the latter's milepost (and therefore exit) numbering takes precedence.

The section of I-435 from mile marker 63.4 to mile marker 54.2 is designated as the Lamar Hunt Memorial Highway in honor of Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs. This section of the highway passes near Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs' home stadium.

History
I-435 in Kansas City was built piece by piece starting in the mid-1960s and not finished until 1987.

In 1965, the first segment of I-435 was built and opened between I-35 and US 69 (which, at that time, was signed with Metcalf Avenue) near Overland Park, Kansas. A second segment was opened the same year between I-70 and US 50 in eastern Kansas City, Missouri, but the two were not connected. The eastern segment of I-435 was extended south to Gregory Boulevard and north past 22nd Street/Route 78 by 1968. By 1969, I-435 was fully built between these two segments, through southern and eastern Kansas City. The freeway was extended from 22nd Street/Route 78 to US 24 two years later. In 1973, I-435 was extended north from the former terminus of US 24 across the Missouri River to I-35 in Claycomo. It now extended halfway around the city. In 1983, a small segment was opened on the outskirts of Kansas City north between US 169 and Route 291 near Kansas City International Airport (KCI). Later, this small segment was connected with the rest of the freeway. A segment was built heading almost due north from I-35 in Claycomo to Route 291/Cookingham Drive at North Reinking Road, curving due west from there to US 169. In this year, the southwest end was also extended to K-10. In 1987, the freeway was opened all the way around the city. The northwest end was signed on I-29 for 8 mi northwest, then exited near Platte City and bore south on the westside of KCI. It crossed several small highways before crossing the Missouri River into Wyandotte County, Kansas. It continued generally south or southwest, crossed several state highways and I-70, then the Kaw River, before connecting with the former southwest end at K-10.