Kansas Highways Routelog

Interstate 35

A35
Length: 235.403 miles
South Endpoint:
Oklahoma State Line South of South Haven

North Endpoint:
Missouri State Line in Kansas City

Counties Passed through: Sumner, Sedgwick, Butler, Chase, Lyon, Coffey, Osage, Franklin, Miami, Johnson, Wyandotte

History

I-35 was first envisioned to parallel US 50/50S to Newton, then follow US 81 and US 177 south to the Oklahoma border. By the time the interstate highway act was passed in 1956, the Kansas Turnpike had completed. An agreement between the Highway Commission and the Bureau of Public Roads in December 1956 designated the Turnpike south of Emporia as part of I-35. The segment between Emporia and Newton was removed, but the segment along US 81 north of Wichita was extended north to Salina as I-35W.

The segment between Olathe and Shawnee was designated in January 1950 as part of US 50 and completed as a two lane roadway by 1953. The bypass around Emporia was designated as part of US 50S in October 1951. In February 1957, two separate resolutions designated I-35 between Ottawa and Olathe (as US 50) and between Shawnee and K-10 at Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City (as US 169). The entire route between Southwest Boulevard and Ottawa was complete as a freeway by 1962.

Junction Guide
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