Missouri Route 76

Route 76
Route information
Maintained by MoDOT
Length:	189 mi (304 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
West end:	E0250 Road at the Oklahoma state line near Tiff City
East end:	US 60 / US 63 / Route 137 at Willow Springs
Highway system
Missouri State Highway System Interstate US State Supplemental ← Route 75 Route 77 →

Route 76 is a highway in the west half of southern Missouri running between U.S. Route 60 and U.S. Route 63 at Willow Springs and the Oklahoma state line near Tiff City where it continues as a county road. It is the most famous road in Branson where it is known as "76 Country Boulevard" and features many of the entertainment theaters for which Branson is famous. The road runs for its entirety through the Missouri Ozarks, and is at times very hilly and curvy.

Route description

Route 76 begins at Willow Springs. Within a couple of miles, the highways enters the Mark Twain National Forest, which it leaves after 17 miles (27 km). At the Douglas County line it begins a 5-mile (8.0 km) concurrency with Route 181. North of Vanzant is an intersection with Route 95, and 23 miles (37 km) further west is the northern junction with Route 5. On the west side of Ava, Route 76/Route 5 has an intersection with Route 14, and south of Ava, Route 76 will turn west off Route 5.

At Brownbranch, the highway enters another part of the Mark Twain National Forest, and at Bradleyville, it has a short concurrency with Route 125. At Kissee Mills, the road turns west with U.S. Route 160 and the two are united to Forsyth. At Forsyth, Route 76 leaves US 160 and crosses Bull Shoals Lake. At Branson, the road crosses Lake Taneycomo and crosses over U.S. Route 65.

West of US 65 through Branson, the road is known as 76 Country Boulevard and features many of the entertainment theaters for which Branson is famous. The road itself has three lanes (including a turn-only center lane) which can be plagued with traffic during much of the day and especially towards show times (usually from 6-8 PM) and after they get out (around 9-10PM). In the theater area, Route 76 intersects Route 165, Route 376, and Route 465. On the west side of Branson, a concurrency with Route 265 begins; at Branson West, a concurrency with Route 13 begins. At Reeds Spring, Route 76 turns west towards Cape Fair. At Cape Fair is the southern terminus of Route 173.

At the Barry County line, Route 76 enters the Mark Twain National Forest for a third time. Eight miles (13 km) into the forest is a short, one-mile (1.6 km) concurrency with Route 39. At the west limits of the national forest, Route 76 unites with Route 86; they are concurrent for 16 miles (26 km). At Cassville is a short concurrency with Route 112 and an intersection with Route 37. The road becomes less winding and hilly in this area.

At Wheaton, Route 86 turns north. Route 76 continues west through McDonald County. At Anderson, Route 76 has an interchange with Interstate 49/U.S. Route 71, and just west is a two-mile (3 km) concurrency with Route 59. Seven miles west of Anderson, the highway joins Route 43, turning north with that highway three miles. At the northwest junction, Route 76 turns west for one mile (1.6 km) and enters Tiff City. The western limit of Tiff City is the Oklahoma state line, where Route 76 becomes a county road on the county line of Ottawa County and Delaware County, Oklahoma.

History

Route 76 was initially designated in 1922, running from south of Spokane to Forsyth. The longer Route 78 passed through Forsyth on its path between Branson and the northeast corner of Taney County. In about 1929, Route 76 was extended west to Reeds Spring, and in the early 1930s Route 78 was extended northeast to Ava. With the extension of Route 80 west from Gainesville in the 1930s or 1940s, Route 78 west of Forsyth became part of Route 80, and the rest was absorbed into Route 76, which now connected Reeds Spring to Ava. US 160, designated in Missouri in the mid-1950s, initially followed Route 80 to Branson. It later moved to Route 76 west of Forsyth, and Route 76 was extended west via Branson, replacing part of Route 148 and much of Route 44. Route 44 had been designated in 1922 from Anderson to Abesville, and later extended west to Tiff City and east to Rockaway Beach. In the late 1950s, it was split up due to I-44, becoming Route 76 west of Cassville, Route 148 from Cassville to Galena, and a new Route 176 from Galena to Rockaway Beach.

In 1967-68 Route 76 was extended from Route 5 two miles north of Ava east along former State Route F through northeast Douglas County and other county roads to US 60/US 63 at Willow Springs in Howell County.^[1][2] This added approximately 53 miles plus a four-mile concurrence with Missouri Route 5 west of Ava.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
McDonald	Tiff City			E 240 Road	Oklahoma state line
	​			Route 43 north – Seneca	west end of Route 43 overlap
	​			Route 43 south – Southwest City	east end of Route 43 overlap
	Anderson			Route 59 south – Lanagan	west end of Route 59 overlap
				US 71 Bus. north / Route 59 north – Goodman, Neosho	east end of Route 59 overlap; west end of US 71 Bus. overlap
	​			US 71 Bus. south	east end of US 71 Bus. overlap
	​			I-49 / US 71 – Joplin, Fort Smith, AR	I-49 exit 10
Barry	​			Route 86 west – Wheaton	west end of Route 86 overlap
	Cassville			Route 37 – Purdy, Washburn, Seligman	west end of Route 112 / Route 37 Bus. overlap
				Route 37 Bus. north (Main Street) – Monett	east end of Route 37 Bus. overlap
				Route 248 east
	Hilltop			Route 112 south – Seligman, Roaring River State Park	east end of Route 112 overlap
	Bates Corner			Route 86 east – Eagle Rock	east end of Route 86 overlap
	​			Route 39 north to Route 248 – Aurora	west end of Route 39 overlap
	Hill City			Route 39 south – Shell Knob	east end of Route 39 overlap
Stone	Cape Fair			Route 173 north to Route 248
	Reeds Spring			Route 265 / Route 413 – Galena, Kimberling City, Historic Downtown Reeds Spring
				Route 13 north – Reeds Spring Junction	west end of Route 13 overlap
	Branson West			Route 265 north / Route 413 north – Reeds Spring	west end of Route 265 overlap
				Route 13 south – Kimberling City	east end of Route 13 overlap
	​			Indian Point Road - Silver Dollar City, Indian Point
	​			Route 265 south to Route 376 / Route 165 – Branson, Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery, Table Rock Dam and Visitor Center, Table Rock State Park	east end of Route 265 overlap
	​			Route 465 north (Ozark Mountain Highroad) to US 65	interchange
Taney	Branson			Route 376 west / Yellow Route east / Red Route east (Shepherd of the Hills Expressway)
				Route 165 south / CR 165 / Blue Route east (Gretna Road) to Yellow Route – Table Rock Dam and Visitor Center, Table Rock State Park
				Yellow Route (Fall Creek Road)
				Blue Route west (Roark Valley Road)
				US 65 – Springfield, Harrison	interchange; west end of US 65 Bus. overlap
				Red Route west (Veterans Boulevard)
	Hollister			US 65 Bus. south / Branson Landing Boulevard – Hollister	roundabout; east end of US 65 Bus. overlap
	Forsyth			US 160 west – Forsyth	west end of US 160 overlap
	​			US 160 east – Kissee Mills, Gainesville	east end of US 160 overlap
	Bradleyville			Route 125 north – Garrison	west end of Route 125 overlap
	​			Route 125 south – Rueter	east end of Route 125 overlap
Douglas	Ava			Route 5 south / Route 5 Bus. north – Gainesville	west end of Route 5 overlap
				Route 14 / Route 5 Bus. south (Northwest 12th Avenue) – Sparta
	​			Route 5 north / Route B north – Mansfield, Mount Zion	east end of Route 5 overlap
	​			Route 95 to Route 14 – Mountain Grove
	​			Route 181 north – Cabool	west end of Route 181 overlap
	​			Route 181 south	east end of Route 181 overlap
Howell	Willow Springs			US 60 / US 63 / Route 137 north – Cabool, West Plains	interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. Missouri State Highway Map, 1967
2. Missouri State Highway Map, 1968