Kansas Highways Routelog

Kansas Highway 22 (1930-1938)

DP5022
Length: 178.6 miles
South Endpoint:
Lawrence Avenue and Douglas Avenue, Wichita

North Endpoint:
6th Avenue and Topeka Avenue, Topeka

Counties Passed through: Sedgwick, Butler, Greenwood, Lyon, Osage, Shawnee

History

When the original K-22 was supplanted by US 83, the highway commission decided to re-use the number to mark a route between Downtown Wichita and Downtown Topeka with a common number. The entire route utilized existing routes: US 81 north to Newton, east on US 50S to Emporia, north on K-11 to Eskridge, then northeast on K-4 into the capital city.[1]

By 1933, K-22's route had changed. The new routing followed US 54 east to K-11 near Eureka, then north on K-11 from US 54 north to US 50N near Admire, then east on US 50N from K-11 east to US 75 near Carbondale; then north along US 75 into Topeka.[2]

When initially signed, the Highway Commission suggested that more such links would be signed with a common number.[1] However, the experiment apparantly turned out to be a failure, and the K-22 designation was taken off of state highway maps in mid-1938.[3]

History Notes

1 "Distinctive Sign, K-22, Now Marks Route between Topeka and Wichita," Topeka Daily Capital 13 Apr. 1930.

2 State Highway Commission of Kansas. Kansas State Highway System [map]. Topeka: Kansas State Printing Plant, 1 June 1933. Accessed 11 Aug. 2013

3 Kansas State Highway Commission. Kansas Highway Map [map]. Topeka: Kansas State Printing Plant, July 1938. Accessed 6 Sept. 2013