U.S. Route 54 in Missouri

 

In Missouri, US 54 runs from the southwest portion of the state to the northeast. It is a major conduit through the Ozarks and is the primary access road to Pomme de Terre Lake and Lake of the Ozarks.

After entering the state from neighboring Kansas, the route moves eastward through many rural towns and communities. It passes through Nevada, where it serves as the main access road to the town's business market. In Nevada, the route intersects with I-49 and US 71 as exits 102A and 102B on I-49/US 71. Here, it also passes by the Nevada Municipal Airport. Moving eastward, the route continues through El Dorado Springs, Collins, Weaubleau, and Wheatland where Lucas Oil Speedway is located. It passes through Hermitage and Preston, where it intersects with US 65 at a four-way stop. US 54 intersects northern end of Route 73 then passes through Macks Creek.

 

The route continues eastward and begins to enter the areas surrounding the Lake of the Ozarks, a popular tourist destination and lake. It first crosses over the lake's Niangua Branch near Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It then passes through Camdenton. In Camdenton, the road intersects with MO 5 and MO 7 at an interchange. These routes provide access to Lebanon and I-44. After leaving Camdenton, the route becomes a four-lane divided highway and remains that way to Mexico. US 54 then passes through Linn Creek and enters Osage Beach. The route continues on a new expressway path initially built in 2010 and 2011. It crosses Lake of the Ozarks a second time on the Grand Glaize Bridge. The route then briefly enters Lake Ozark and Lakeland, although access to these towns is only provided by exits from the highway. The route then leaves the Lake of the Ozarks area before bypassing Eldon.

US 54 then goes through Jefferson City, where it crosses US 50 and crosses the Missouri River via the Senator Roy Blunt Bridge and briefly overlaps US 63. Just north of the bridge, it splits then leaves the Ozark Plateau before passing through Fulton, crossing I-70 and US 40 at Kingdom City, passes through Auxvasse, then bypassing Mexico where it turns into a two-lane highway. US 54 then turns right and continues on. Future plans call for passing lanes on US 54 from Mexico to the Missouri town of Louisiana.^[3] At a roundabout, US 54 picks up a concurrency with Route 19 and then passes through Laddonia. North of Laddonia, US 54 splits from Route 19 before passing just north of Vandalia, bypasses Bowling Green crossing US 61, and ultimately crossing the Mississippi River via the Champ Clark Bridge into Illinois at Louisiana.

US 54 is a part of the National Highway System, a system of highways important to the nation's defense, economy, and mobility.^[4]

US 54 was originally formed in Missouri after changing from US 26, however the routing went from Cedar County to Polk County, then Dallas County, then into Camden County. In 1932, the highway was rerouted into Saint Clair County and then Hickory County, and paved over.^[2]

In Macks Creeks, a well known speed trap existed on US 54 upon entering the town until 1995 when a law named Macks Creek Law was passed.^[5]

In the Lake of the Ozarks area, US 54 was rerouted onto a new 4 lane highway in 2010 and another part of US 54 was rerouted in 2011 in the Lake of the Ozarks area.^[6][7] The old US 54 was renamed "Osage Beach Parkway."

The original Champ Clark Bridge opened in 1928. In 2019, a replacement bridge opened and the old one was torn down.

All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Vernon	Coal Township	0.000	0.000	US-54 west – Fort Scott	Continuation into Kansas
		1.807	2.908	Route T – Swart
	Deerfield	5.807	9.345	Route H – Richards
	Deerfield Township	9.805	15.780	Route 43 – Moundville, Bronaugh
	Nevada	14.071	22.645	Route BB / Route W
		14.562	23.435	I-49 BL north (Osage Boulevard)	Western end of Loop 49 overlap
		15.056	24.230	I-49 BL south (Austin Boulevard)	Eastern end of Loop 49 overlap
		15.864– 15.883	25.531– 25.561	I-49 / US 71 – Joplin, Kansas City	I-49 exit 102A
	Walker Township	21.782	35.055	Route C – Walker
	Clear Creek Township	27.439	44.159	Route K – Nevada
		27.650	44.498	Route AA – Schell City
Cedar	Box Township	31.173	50.168	Route HH – Virgil City
	El Dorado Springs	33.673	54.191	Route 82 – Osceola
		34.215	55.064	Route 32 – Stockton
	Cedar Township	40.832	65.713	Route 39 / Route DD – Stockton
St. Clair	Roscoe Township	45.899	73.867	Route K
	Washington Township	50.082	80.599	Route V – Vista
		51.687	83.182	Route J – Stockton
	​	53.832	86.634	Route PP – Stockton
	Collins	56.578	91.053	Route 13 – Humansville, Osceola
		56.756	91.340	Route 13 Bus.
	​	59.466	95.701	Route MM
Hickory	Weaubleau	61.246	98.566	Route 123 – Humansville
	Weaubleau Township	62.857	101.159	Route H
	Montgomery Township	65.101	104.770	Route AA
		67.333	108.362	Route 83 – Warsaw	Western end of Route 83 concurrency
	Wheatland	71.367	114.854	Route 83 / Route B – Bolivar	Eastern end of Route 83 concurrency
	Hermitage	76.298	122.790	Route 254 – Galmey
	Center Township	77.488	124.705	Route U – Cross Timbers
	Preston	82.203	132.293	Route D
		82.697	133.088	US 65 – Urbana, Cross Timbers
	Stark Township	85.157	137.047	Route F
Camden	Branch	93.976	151.240	Route 73 – Tunas, Buffalo
	Macks Creek	97.224	156.467	Route O / Route W
		97.326	156.631	Route N – Climax Springs
	Russell Township	101.301	163.028	Route J / Route U
	​	104.956	168.910	Route AA
	Niangua Township	107.780	173.455	Route D	Access to Ha Ha Tonka State Park
	Camdenton	110.243	177.419	Route 5 Bus.
		110.934– 110.954	178.531– 178.563	Route 5 / Route 7 – Sunrise Beach, Lebanon	Interchange
	Linn Creek	112.745	181.445	Route V – Hugo
	Osage Township	114.074	183.584	Route A – Richland	J-turn intersection
		116.148	186.922	Route Y	Interchange
	Osage Beach	118.900	191.351	Route KK	West end of freeway; access to Grand Glaize-Osage Beach Airport
		119.607	192.489	Nichols Road	Access to Lake Regional Hospital
		120.807	194.420	Case Road	Access to Lake of the Ozarks State Park
		121.571	195.650	Business 54 (Jefferies Road to Osage Beach Parkway)	No westbound entrance
		121.819	196.049	Grand Glaize Bridge over the Lake of the Ozarks
		122.675	197.426	Business 54 (Passover Road to Osage Beach Parkway)	Southern terminus of US 54 Business
		124.283	200.014	Route 42 / Business 54 (Osage Beach Parkway)	Western terminus of Route 42; access to Lake of the Ozarks State Park
		124.487	200.342	Creek Cove Lane	Right-in/right-out interchange; westbound exit and entrance only
Miller	Lake Ozark	126.211	203.117	Route 242 (Bagnell Dam Boulevard)     To Route 5 – Sunrise Beach	East end of freeway
		129.045	207.678	Route W – Bagnell Dam, Lake Ozark	interchange replacing an intersection opened April 21, 2021[8][9]
	Franklin Township	130.059	209.310	Route V – Bagnell
		136.583	219.809	US 54 Bus. north / Route 52 – Eldon, Tuscumbia	Interchange
	Eldon	139.738	224.887	Route 87 / Route M – Eldon	Interchange; Access to Saline Valley Conservation Area
		140.901	226.758	US 54 Bus. – Eldon	Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	​	142.277	228.973	Route FF – Mount Pleasant
	​	145.180	233.645	Route MM
	Saline Township	148.289	238.648	Route AA – Russellville
Cole	Clark Township	149.156	240.043	Route 17 – Eugene, Fort Leonard Wood	Interchange
	Brazito	155.930	250.945	Route E – Wardsville, Henley
	​	157.906	254.125	Route D – Lohman
	​	163.155	262.573	Route CC
	Jefferson City	165.064	265.645	Route 179 / Route B – Wardsville	West end of freeway; access to SSM St. Mary’s Health Center
		166.231	267.523	Route C (Southwest Boulevard) / Ellis Boulevard
		167.231	269.132	Stadium Boulevard / Tanner Bridge Road / Jefferson Street	Access to Lincoln University and Capital Region Medical Center
		167.271	269.197	Madison Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; access to Business District and Capital Region Medical Center
		168.188	270.672	US 50 Bus. (Missouri Boulevard)	Access to the Missouri State Capitol
		168.444	271.084	US 50 / US 63 south – St. Louis, Sedalia	Western end of US 63 concurrency
		168.534	271.229	McCarty Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		168.726	271.538	Main Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; access to the Missouri State Capitol
Cole–Callaway county line		168.821– 168.950	271.691– 271.899	Jefferson City Bridge over the Missouri River
Callaway		169.582	272.916	Route W	Access to Jefferson City Memorial Airport
		170.036	273.646	US 63 north / Route 94 – Columbia, Mokane	Eastern end of US 63 concurrency
	Summit Township	170.965	275.141	Summit Drive	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Holts Summit	173.995	280.018	Center Street
		175.215	281.981	Route OO / Route AA – Holts Summit
	Cedar Township	178.492	287.255	Route AE / Route TT
	New Bloomfield	180.184	289.978	Route J (Redwood Drive) / CR 436 – Guthrie	East end of freeway
	East Fulton Township	184.830	297.455	Route BB – Dixie
	Fulton	189.020	304.198	Route H / US 54 Bus. – Fulton	Interchange
		190.944	307.295	Route F – Millersburg, Fulton	Interchange; access to Historic Downtown Fulton, Westminster College, Fulton Medical Center, the National Churchill Museum, the Missouri School for the Deaf, and Little Dixie Lake Conservation Area
		193.017	310.631	Route HH	Interchange; access to William Woods University
		194.510	313.034	US 54 Bus. – Fulton	Interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Kingdom City	198.277– 198.290	319.096– 319.117	I-70 / US 40 – Columbia, St. Louis	I-70 exit 148; future Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI)[10]
		198.616	319.641	Route FF
		203.729	327.870	Route T
	Auxvasse	204.819	329.624	Route B (Harrison Street) / Route E – Montgomery City, Hatton	Interchange
Audrain	Salt River Township	208.453	335.473	Route HH
	Mexico	211.877	340.983	US 54 Bus. / Route 15 north / Route 22 west to Route D – Mexico	Interchange
	Vandiver	216.380	348.230	US 54 Bus. south – Mexico	Access to the Missouri Military Academy
		216.992	349.215	Route JJ
	Linn Township	220.6299	355.0694	Route A – Benton City
		222.683	358.374	Route B – Rush Hill
		226.672– 226.756	364.793– 364.928	Route 19 / Route BB – Martinsburg, Wellsville, Montgomery City	Western end of Route 19 concurrency; roundabout
	Laddonia	231.805	373.054	Route K / Route KK
	Prairie Township	234.853	377.959	Route 19 / Route J – Perry, New London	Eastern end of Route 19 concurrency; roundabout
	Farber	238.477	383.792	Route AA
		238.648	384.067	Route PP
	Vandalia	243.167	391.339	Route P – Center
		243.805	392.366	Route F / Route W
Ralls	No major junctions
Pike	Spencer Township	248.664	400.186	Route 154 – Perry, Paris
	Curryville	252.279	406.004	Route E / Route M
	​	254.816	410.087	Route U
	Bowling Green	258.291	415.679	US 54 Bus. – Bowling Green
		259.630	417.834	US 61 Bus.
		260.144– 260.161	418.661– 418.689	US 61 (Avenue of the Saints) – Hannibal, St. Louis
	Tarrants	261,171	420,314	US 54 Bus. – Bowling Green
	Buffalo Township	267.574	430.619	Route UU – Bowling Green
		268.122	431.501	Route NN
	Louisiana	271.194	436.444	Route 79 / Great River Road north – Hannibal	Western end of Route 79/Great River Road concurrency
		271.444	436.847	Route 79 / Great River Road south – Clarksville	Eastern end of Route 79/Great River Road concurrency
Mississippi River		271.508	436.950	Champ Clark Bridge; Missouri–Illinois line
				US 54 east – Pittsfield	Continuation into Illinois
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access