K-4 (Kansas highway)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| K-4 |
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| Maintained by KDOT | |||||||||
| Length: | 367 mi (591 km) | ||||||||
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| West end: |  US-83 north of Scott City |
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| East end: |  US-59 in Nortonville |
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| Counties: | Scott, Lane, Ness, Rush, Barton, Rice, Ellsworth, McPherson, Saline, Dickinson, Morris, Wabaunsee, Shawnee, Jefferson | ||||||||
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K-4 is the longest designated state highway in Kansas traversing from north of Scott City at US-83 to US-59 near Nortonville in northeast Kansas. A segment of the highway in McPherson County overlaps Interstate 135, and a section in Topeka runs concurrent with Interstate 70.
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[edit] Route description
[edit] Western Kansas
K-4 roughly parallels K-96 between its western terminus and the K-14 junction in Rice County. The route begins in rural Scott County at an intersection with U.S. Route 83. Sixteen miles[1] (26 km) east of here, it passes through the town of Healy. Six miles[1] (10 km) further east, it has a 2 mi[1] (3 km) concurrency with K-23. K-4 next serves the towns of Shields, Utica, Arnold, and Ransom, before intersecting US-283. After passing through Brownell, K-4 serves as the southern terminus of K-147. K-4 then turns southward to bisect McCracken before turning to the east to cross US-183 in La Crosse, the county seat of Rush County.
From La Crosse, K-4 heads due east, running through Otis as it approaches the Barton County line. It then meets US-281 in a T-intersection and begins an overlap with it. This overlap carries the two routes through to Hoisington, where they split up. K-4 then runs through Redwing and Claflin. East of Claflin, K-4 has a full folded diamond interchange with K-156. K-4 bypasses Bushton (which can be accessed via K-171) and cuts through Frederick before having a junction with K-14. It then runs just north of Geneseo and along the Rice/Ellsworth County line. The highway then moves fully into Ellsworth County, where it meets the south end of K-141.
[edit] Central Kansas
K-4 then enters McPherson County. It runs just north of Marquette (which lies at the opposite end of K-175) before heading to downtown Lindsborg. In Lindsborg, K-4 encounters US-81 Business, which it concurs with heading north of town and into Saline County. US-81 BUS then ends at Interstate 135/US-81. K-4 merges onto the northbound Interstate at Exit 78. It splits off again at Exit 82. It then bypasses Assaria to the west before heading north to spawn a child route, K-104, after which it turns due east once again. K-4 next serves Gypsum and Carlton before intersecting K-15. It then continues east to Hope, serving as the southern terminus for K-43 in the latter.
K-4 then runs north of the town of Herington. Near Herington, K-4 junctions with two north-south highways that connect through town: K-218 and US-77. Also near Herington, K-4 gets within two miles of US-56, but never actually intersects it.[1] It then zig-zags northeast through Latimer before turning north at the northern end of K-149. K-4 then runs through White City and Dwight, where K-4 serves as a terminus yet again, this time for K-57. K-4 then has a brief concurrency with K-177, and 14 miles[1] (23 km) after that concurrency ends, it forms another one with K-99. The two routes split apart in Eskridge. K-4 then serves Dover before merging onto eastbound Interstate 70 at Exit 353.
I-70 and K-4 (which are also concurrent with US-40 at this point) then enter the state capital, Topeka. The next interchange, Exit 355, is for Interstate 470 and is also where US-75 joins, forming a four-way overlap. US-75 then splits off on its own freeway at Exit 358A. The freeway then snakes around downtown Topeka. At the East Topeka interchange, the Kansas Turnpike joins the mainline, and I-70 merges onto it. US-40 and K-4 split off to the north to their own freeway.
[edit] East of Topeka
US-40 splits off K-4 at the first interchange north of I-70. K-4 then downgrades to a Super-2 freeway. The next interchange (with Seward Avenue) serves Philip Billard Municipal Airport. K-4 then crosses the Kansas River and merges onto the US-24 expressway before splitting off again at the next interchange. K-4 then returns to its normal rural highway configuration.
K-4 then curves southeast of Meriden (K-245 exists to connect the town to K-4). It then passes the west end of K-92 near Rock Creek. It then has a brief overlap with K-16 in the Valley Falls area. K-4 then angles northeast to pass just south of Nortonville. Finally, K-4 comes to an end at US-59 just southeast of Nortonville.
[edit] Bannered highways
Alternate K-4 serves Nortonville. It goes north from K-4, passes through Nortonville, then turns east at an intersection with US-159. The two highways turn east together and both end at an intersection east of Nortonville at US-59.
[edit] History
[edit] Original alignment
Originally, K-4 began at then-K-1 (now U.S. Route 183) in La Crosse.[2] From La Crosse, K-4 followed its current alignment east to Herington.[2][3] Past Herington, K-4 continued east on modern U.S. Route 56 to Council Grove, where it then followed a series of now unnumbered roadways to rejoin its present alignment at Eskridge. From Eskridge to west of Topeka, K-4 was identical to its current routing; however, at the intersection of SW Auburn Road and SW 21st Street, where K-4 currently continues north to access Interstate 70, K-4 turned east, following SW 21st Street into Topeka. At Topeka Boulevard, K-4 turned north, following the street out of the city.[3]
K-4 remained on Topeka Boulevard north to an intersection with NE 82nd Street south of the Shawnee–Jackson county line. K-4 headed east on 82nd to Meriden, where it rejoined its modern routing near the modern intersection of K-4 and Butler Road east of Meriden. From Meriden to Valley Falls, K-4 largely followed its current alignment.[3]
Past Valley Falls, K-4 followed 162nd Street and modern K-16 east to Osage Road, where the route intersected K-16. At the time, K-4 and K-16 overlapped northward along Osage Road to Nortonville, then followed the modern alignments of U.S. Route 159 and K-116 to Cummings. Between Cummings and Atchison, K-4 and K-16 zig-zagged across several roadways surrounding the current alignment of U.S. Route 59 before joining the modern routing of US-59 just west of Atchison. In Atchison, K-16 split from K-4 and headed northward on modern K-7 while K-4 continued to the Missouri state line on current US-59.[3]
From Scott City to La Crosse, modern K-4 was designated K-52.[2] From Herington to Eskridge, as well as between Topeka and Meriden, the modern routing of K-4 was unnumbered. Past Meriden, most of K-4's current roadway was unbuilt.[3]
Between 1968 and 1997, K-4 was aligned along US-75 between I-70/US-40 and US-24 and then US-24 in Topeka. In 1997, the Oakland Expressway, serving eastern Topeka, was opened and K-4 gained its current route through Topeka.[4]
[edit] Junction list
- Margin of error: 1.2 miles
| County | Location | Mile[5] | Roads intersected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott | 0.0 | US-83 |
Western terminus | |
| Lane | 21.7 |  K-23 |
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| 23.7 | K-23 |
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| Ness | Ransom | 54.9 |  US-283 |
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| Brownell | 63.9 |  K-147 |
Southern terminus of K-147 | |
| Rush | La Crosse | 93.4 |  US-183 |
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| Barton | 118.4 |  US-281 |
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| Hoisington | 123.1 | US-281 |
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| 137.8 |  K-156 |
Folded diamond interchange | ||
| Rice | Bushton | 143.7 |  K-171 |
Northern terminus of K-171 |
| Geneseo | 154.4 |  K-14 |
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| Ellsworth | 169.2 |  K-141 |
Southern terminus of K-141 | |
| McPherson | Marquette | 176.2 |  K-175 |
Northern terminus of K-175 |
| Lindsborg | 185.3 |   US-81 BUS |
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| Saline | 190.2 | .svg/25px-I-135_(KS).svg.png){kind=small} I-135/US-81 |
I-135 exit 78; northern terminus of US-81 BUS | |
| Assaria | 194.2 | I-135/US-81 |
I-135 exit 82 | |
| Dickinson | Elmo | 219.6 |  K-15 |
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| Hope | 228.6 |  K-43 |
Southern terminus of K-43 | |
| Herington | 234.4 |  K-218 |
Northern terminus of K-218 | |
| Morris | 236.4 |  US-77 |
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| 248.9 |  K-149 |
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| Dwight | 263.7 |  K-57 |
Southern terminus of K-57 | |
| 268.7 |  K-177 |
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| 269.7 | K-177 |
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| Wabaunsee | Alta Vista | 270.3 |  K-180 |
Southern terminus of K-180 |
| 283.5 |  K-99 |
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| Eskridge | 293.6 | K-99 |
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| Shawnee | 321.0 | .svg/20px-I-70_(KS).svg.png){kind=small}  I-70/US-40 |
I-70 exit 353 | |
| Topeka | 333.6 | I-70/Kansas Turnpike |
US 40/K-4 split off onto independent freeway alignment; I-70 exit 366 | |
| 334.9 | US-40 (SE 6th Ave.) |
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| Freeway downgrades to Super-2 | ||||
| Philip Billard Municipal Airport |
336.0 | NE Seward Ave. | ||
| 338.2 |  US-24 |
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| 338.8 | US-24 |
K-4 returns to surface alignment | ||
| Jefferson | Meriden | 345.5 |  K-245 |
Southern terminus of K-245 |
| 350.0 |  K-92 |
Western terminus of K-92 | ||
| Valley Falls | 359.4 |  K-16 |
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| 360.2 | K-16 |
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| Nortonville | 367 | US-59 |
Eastern terminus | |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Kansas Department of Transportation. Official State Transportation Map [map], 2007-2008 edition.
- ^ a b c Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas (western Kansas). Rand McNally (1926). Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
- ^ a b c d e Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas (eastern Kansas). Rand McNally (1926). Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
- ^ Kansas Highways Routelog
- ^ Distances computed with Google Maps' direction features on 2007-10-03.
