East Endpoint:
Counties Passed through: Finney, Hodgeman, Pawnee, Barton, Rice, McPherson, Marion, Dickinson, Morris, Lyon, Osage, Douglas
History
US 50N started at Garden City and proceeded east to Larned, and through McPherson, Herrington, Osage City, Burlingame, and Overbrook before rejoining with US 50S at Baldwin Junction.
By 1932, 50N remained dirt from east of Garden City to west of Jetmore, from Council Grove to the Morris-Lyon County Line, and from Overbrook to Baldwin Junction. 50N was hard surfaced from Ellinwood to Silica, from Wisdom to Herrington, from Allen to Admire, and from Osage City to US 75. By 1933, 50N was gravelled in Finney and Morris Counties, and hard surfaced between Great Bend and Lyons and between Allen and Overbrook. By 1936, the remaining dirt segment in Hodgeman County had been gravelled, a segment northeast out of Larned hard-surfaced, and hard surfaced in its entirety east of Great Bend. All of US 50N was hard surfaced by 1941.
In the early 1950s, a push was made to create a new US 55 between Springer, New Mexico and Kansas via what was then K-45. There were various suggestions on the alignment. The first suggestion would have followed K-45 all the way to Ellsworth, then followed US 40 and K-4 via Topeka and Atchison. This was rejected by AASHO due to the excessive use of overlapping routes. A revised route, submitted in March 1955, routed the proposed route via Lincoln Center and Mahanttan, replacing various state numbered highways. The final proposal, submitted in June 1956, had the new route following US 50N east from Larned to Kansas City, with a spur US route designation between Larned and Garden City. The June 1956 proposal was adopted by AASHTO, but since the roadway was predominantly east-west, they adopted an even number, US 56.
Upon approval of the new US 56 designation, US 50N was re-designated as US 156 from Garden City to Larned, and as US 56 from Larned to Kansas City.
Average Annual Daily TrafficJunction Guide