U.S. Route 281

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U.S. Route 281

Length:

1872 mi^[1] (3013 km)

Formed:

1931^[2]

South end:

Brownsville, TX

North end:

MB-10, U.S./Canada border

United States Numbered Highways

U.S. Highway 281 is a north-south United States highway. It is the longest three-digit US route in the country at 1,872 miles^[1] (3,013 km) long.

1 Termini
2 States traversed
3 Intersections
4 Related US routes
5 References

[edit] Termini

The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at the Canadian border, where it continues as Manitoba provincial highway 10. The route between Dunseith and the border is shared with North Dakota Highway 3. The southern terminus of US 281 is in Brownsville, Texas, just short of the Mexican border.

[edit] States traversed

Major cities
Brownsville, Texas San Antonio, Texas Wichita Falls, Texas Lawton, Oklahoma Great Bend, Kansas Grand Island, Nebraska Aberdeen, South Dakota Jamestown, North Dakota

The highway passes through the following states:

[edit] Texas

In San Antonio, US 281 mulitplexes with Interstate 410 on the south side of the city until the interchange with Interstate 37. US 281 then multiplexes with I-37 north into downtown San Antonio until I-37 ends at Interstate 35. US 281 continues north from downtown San Antonio as freeway to State Highway Loop 1604 with access to the San Antonio International Airport. There currently a project underway to construct a stack interchange at interchange of US 281 and I-410 on the north side of the city. Currently there is no direct access between the two freeways and surface streets are required to connect to each freeway. North of San Antonio, US 281 is not a freeway and is the Main Street of Blanco. It multiplexes with U.S. Route 290 south of Johnson City. US 290 continues toward Austin, and thus US 281 and US 290 are used as an alternate route from San Antonio to Austin to avoid congestion on Interstate 35 and to be more scenic.

[edit] Oklahoma

[edit] Kansas

Passing largely through sparsely populated areas of central Kansas, U.S. 281 enters the state at Hardtner and passes through Pratt and Great Bend. It intersects Interstate 70 at Russell and exits the state north of Lebanon. All portions of U.S. 281 in Kansas are two-lane.

[edit] Nebraska

U.S. 281 enters Nebraska south of Red Cloud. It is designated as the Tom Osborne Expressway between Hastings and Grand Island after the former Nebraska Cornhuskers football coach and U.S. Representative. The U.S. 281 expressway continues to St. Libory. From there northward, U.S. 281 is a two-lane undivided highway passing mostly through unpopulated areas, with the exception of the regional trade center O'Neill, where it junctions U.S. Route 20 and U.S. Route 275. U.S. 281 exits the state north of Spencer.

[edit] South Dakota

U.S. 281 enters South Dakota in Gregory County. It crosses the Missouri River at Fort Randall Dam. U.S. 281 and Interstate 90 intersect at Plankinton. U.S. 281 becomes an expressway at South Dakota Highway 20. This expressway continues through Aberdeen to a point near Westport. It exits the state north of Frederick.

[edit] North Dakota

In North Dakota, U.S. 281 is a major north-south artery. It enters south of Ellendale and intersects Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 52 at Jamestown, ND. 281 and 52 remain paired together to Carrington. From there, U.S. 281 continues northward to North Dakota Highway 5 at Rocklake. U.S. 281 follows ND 5 westward to Dunseith, where 281 turns northward to its end at the Canadian border in the International Peace Garden. The northernmost section of U.S. 281 passes through North Dakota's Turtle Mountains.