U.S. Route 50 in Kansas

U.S. Route 50 marker

U.S. Route 50
Route information
Maintained by KDOT
Length: 447.93 mi[1] (720.87 km)
Existed: 1928 – present
Major junctions
West end: US 50 / US 400 at Colorado state line
 

US-83 in Garden City
US-400 in Dodge City
US-56 from Dodge City to Kinsley US-281 near St. John
I-135 / US-81 / K-15 in Newton
I-35 in Emporia
US-59 in Ottawa
US-169 / K-7 in Olathe
I-35 / US-169 / US-56 / I-435 in Lenexa

US-69 in Overland Park
East end: I-435 / US 50 at State Line Road between Leawood, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri
Highway system
  • Kansas State Highway System
← K-49K-51 →

In the U.S. state of Kansas, U.S. Route 50 (US-50) is a main east–west highway serving the southwest, central and northeastern parts of the state. Kansas City is the only metropolitan area US-50 serves in the state but the highway does serve several other larger towns in Kansas such as (from west to east) Garden City, Dodge City, Hutchinson, Newton and Emporia.

Route description

US-50 enters the state running concurrently with US-400, which joins US-50 at Granada, Colorado. The first town it runs through is Coolidge. Syracuse is the first county seat (Hamilton County).

US-50 then enters Kearney County and passes though the towns of Lakin and Deerfield before entering Finney County. West of the Old US-50 and Big Lowe Road overpass in Holcomb US-50 splits into four lanes and the speed limit increases to 70 MPH until east of the intersection with US-83. The highway then tapers back into two lanes at the 3rd Street intersection and remains so until the intersection with Bus-50 south of town. US-50 then passes though the towns of Ingalls, Cimarron, Dodge City, Kinsley, and Hutchinson before it heads to Newton. In Newton, US-50 joins Interstate 135 for a short time before it angles northeast to Emporia, another meat-packing town as well as the home of Emporia State University. US-50 then joins I-35 and it overlaps that interstate for most of the rest of the way in Kansas.

US-50, along with I-35, then passes through a place known as "BETO Junction," which is where it meets US-75 north of Burlington. The letters in the acronym stand for Burlington, Emporia, Topeka and Ottawa, which are the cities to the south, west, north and east, respectively.

From there, US-50 passes through Olathe and meets I-435 in Lenexa. At this point. US-50 leaves I-35 and joins I-435 for the rest of its trip in Kansas.

History

US-50 once had a split into two branch routes in Kansas.[2] Branch routes were once common along the U.S. highway system but have always been discouraged. Branch routes that remain exist mostly in Kentucky and Tennessee.

The US-50 split began in Garden City and ended near Baldwin City. In Garden City, the split began at Kansas Avenue and Main Street. US-50N continued east on Kansas Ave. and went through Jetmore, Larned, Great Bend, Lyons, McPherson and Baldwin City. US-50S ran along current US-50. The routes rejoined near what is now the intersection of US-56 and K-33.

US-50N was replaced by US-156 from Garden City to Great Bend and US-56 the rest of the way. US-156 is now known as K-156. The split was removed during the late 1950s.[3][4]

Junction list

CountyLocationmi
[5]		kmExitDestinationsNotes
HamiltonCoolidge0.0000.000 US 50 / US 400 westContinuation into Colorado
Syracuse16.09425.901 K-27 north (McDow Street) – TribuneWest end of concurrency with K-27
16.62426.754 K-27 south (Main Street) – Johnson CityEast end of concurrency with K-27
KearnyLakin43.96570.755 K-25 (Main Street) – Ulysses, Leoti
FinneyHolcomb59.84896.316Big Lowe Road – HolcombDiamond interchange
Garden City65.848105.972
US-83 north / US-50 Bus. east / US-83 Bus. south – Garden City, Scott City		Diamond interchange; west end of concurrency with US-83
69.618112.039 K-156 (Kansas Avenue) / Mary StreetPair of half-diamond interchanges with one-way ramps connecting Mary Street and K-156
71.156114.514
US-83 south / US-50 Bus. west (Fulton Street) – Garden City, Liberal		Partial cloverleaf interchange; east end of concurrency with US-83
GrayCimarron102.427164.840 K-23 (Main Street) – Meade, Dighton
Ford​116.681187.780 US-400 east – Greensburg, HugotonEast end of concurrency with US-400
Dodge City126.349203.339 US-56 west / US-283 south – Dodge City, MinneolaWest end of concurrencies with US-56 and US-283
Wright128.085206.133 US-283 north – JetmoreEast end of concurrency with US-283
EdwardsKinsley156.245251.452 US-56 east – Great BendEast end of concurrency with US-56
157.363253.251 US-183 (Niles Avenue) – Greensburg, La Crosse
Belpre175.192281.944 K-19 north (Larned Street) – Larned
Stafford​194.427312.900 US-281 – Great Bend, Pratt
Reno​232.954374.903 K-61 south (John Neal Memorial Highway) – PrattInterchange; west end of concurrency with K-61
​238.462383.767 K-14 north / K-96 west (Nickerson Boulevard) – LyonsPartial cloverleaf interchange; west end of concurrencies with K-14 and K-96
South Hutchinson239.974386.201 K-14 south / K-96 east / Main Street north – South Hutchinson, WichitaDiamond interchange; east end of concurrencies with K-14 and K-96
240.957387.783Scott Boulevard / McNew RoadDiamond interchange
Hutchinson242.535390.322 K-61 north (Ken Kennedy Freeway) / Lorraine Street south – McPhersonInterchange; east end of concurrency with K-61
​Yoder RoadInterchange
Harvey​264.566425.778 K-89 south (Hertzler Road) – Halstead
Newton271.238436.515Meridian Road northPartial cloverleaf interchange
272.514438.569Anderson AvenueInterchange
273.514440.178 K-15 north (Kansas Avenue)Partial cloverleaf interchange; west end of concurrency with K-15; serves Newton Medical Center
274.272441.398 I-135 south (US-81 / K-15 south) – WichitaFull Y interchange; east end of concurrency with K-15; west end of concurrency with I-135/US-81; I-135 exit 30
275.037–
275.543		442.629–
443.443		31First Street / Broadway StreetPair of half-diamond interchanges with one-way ramps connecting First Street and Broadway Street; exit number follows I-135
276.373444.779 I-135 / US-81 north – SalinaEastbound exit westbound entrance; east end of concurrency with I-135/US-81; I-135 exit number 33
277.406446.44212th StreetInterchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
MarionFlorence302.524486.865 US-77 / 8th Street east – Marion, El DoradoRoundabout
ChaseElmdale320.589515.938 K-150 west – Marion
Strong City327.581527.191 K-177 – Cottonwood Falls, Council GrovePartial cloverleaf interchange
LyonEmporia345.346555.781 To I-35 / I-335 / Kansas Turnpike – Kansas City, Wichita, TopekaRoundabout with connector to I-35; I-35 Exit 127A
348.128560.258 K-99 (Commercial Street) – Olpe, Admire
350.438563.975 I-35 south – WichitaDiamond interchange; west end of concurrency with I-35; I-35 exit 133
Overlap with I-35
JohnsonLenexa I-35 north (US-56 east / US-169 north) – Des MoinesExit 222A on I-35; east end of concurrency with I-35/US-56/US-169
I-435 westExit 83 on I-435; west end of concurrency with I-435
Overlap with I-435
Leawood447.93720.87 I-435 / US 50 eastContinuation into Missouri
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Special routes

In Garden City. US-50 and US-83 each have business routes. They both start at the same place, at the junction of US-50, 83 and 400 about one mile (1.6 km) north of town. They run concurrently along the former alignments of US-50 and 83 through town to the intersection of Main Street and Fulton Street. At that point, the business routes split and Business 50 heads east to meet up with US-50, 83 and 400 east of town.

US-50 once had alternate routings in Garden City and Dodge City and business routes in Dodge City and Ottawa. Former Alternate 50 in Garden City is now known as Campus Drive. Its purpose was to connect US-50 travelers to then-US-156 without having to go all the way into downtown. Its purpose was taken over by Spur US-83 in the 1970s. Spur US-83 is now the bypass around Garden City that carries highways 50, 83 and 400.

Former Alternate 50 at Dodge City is now the main route for US-50. Business 50 in Dodge City was decommissioned when the US-400 bypass was built to the south and west of that city. Business 50 in Ottawa ran along the former US-50 alignment through Ottawa.

References

  1. ↑ Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Planning Network GIS data version 2005.08
  2. ↑ "1932 Kansas Highway Map" (PDF). Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "1956 Kansas Highway Map" (PDF). Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "1957 Kansas Highway Map" (PDF). Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Kansas Department of Transportation. "Pavement Management Information System". Retrieved 2012-11-10.
U.S. Route 50
Previous state:
Colorado		 Kansas Next state:
Missouri
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