Interstate 70

1. Exit Guides
2. History
3. Timeline
4. Junction Guide
5. Average Annual Daily Traffic

Exit Guides

Colorado state line to I-135, Salina
I-135, Salina to the Kansas Turnpike
Kansas Turnpike
Kansas Turnpike to I-470, Kansas City Missouri

History

Kansas’s claim to the first project in the US completed under the 1956 Federal Highway Act was an 8-mile stretch of US 40 west of Topeka, which was opened on November 14, 1956. However, improvements in the Junction City to Topeka corridor predate the Highway Act, albeit as an improved two-lane roadway. This project, although still a two-lane road, was the first segment to be a controlled-access highway. (Today, such a project is known as a “Super Two” roadway) By 1960, US 40 was upgraded to a four-lane freeway between Maple Hill and the Westgate Bridge, and the I-70 designation appeared for the first time.

The initial plans for the highway system in Topeka did not include a freeway through downtown. Instead, US 40 would have bypassed the city to the north via the Westgate bridge and US 24, while I-70 would have met the Kansas Turnpike at the South Topeka Exit. When the segment serving downtown Topeka was added, the I-70 and US 40 designations were moved to the new highway, with the southern route designated as I-470 and the Westgate Bridge designated as a Bypass of US 75.

The new downtown freeway was built in such a way that thru traffic on I-70 was directed onto service ramps in three locations. The interchange with the Westgate Bridge was a trumpet interchange with the thru movement from east to north and south to west – reflecting the original plan to direct through traffic onto the Westgate Bridge. The Downtown Freeway also did not directly connect to the Turnpike. Instead, it connected to the original access road built as part of the Turnpike. The freeway would have continued east to rejoin US 40 and eventually turn north on a new Kansas River bridge. The interchange between the Turnpike access road was designed as a partial cloverleaf interchange, but with no ramps from the downtown freeway to the access road going north, or from the access road going south to the downtown freeway. Finally, the East Topeka interchange remained a trumpet interchange, with the Turnpike as the through route.

While the Junction City to Topeka corridor was built upon previous improvements, the rest of the highway was built on a new alignment generally parallel to US 24 from the Colorado state line east to Colby and parallel to US 40 from Oakley to Junction City, with a diagonal alignment connecting Colby and Oakley. As the new alignment opened up (see the timeline below for specific dates), the parallel two-lane highways were turned back to the counties. However, the segment between Salina and Russell was built a significant distance north of the old US 40 alignment. It was eventually decided that the old US 40 between Ellsworth and Salina would be retained and was re-designated K-140.

The main changes in I-70’s alignment since its completion have been in the eastern part of the state. First, when the Westgate Bridge was widened to four lanes in the 1970s, the interchange with I-70 was reconfigured as a semi-directional “T” interchange with I-70 as the thru route. By the early ’90s, the interchange with the Turnpike spur was eliminated, the Turnpike spur was abandoned, and I-70 was tied directly into the East Topeka interchange. In the mid-’90s, the proposed new bridge on the east side of Topeka would be called the Oakland Expressway, designated as K-4, and selected as a KDOT system enhancement project. This led to rebuilding the East Topeka interchange complex as a directional interchange with free-flowing movement on both I-70 and the Turnpike. Construction of the new interchange, with new flyover connections between I-70, the Turnpike, and the Oakland Expressway, was built between 1999 and 2001.

Timeline:

• 1956:
  • October 25: Kansas Turnpike opened to traffic
  • November 10: US 40 upgraded to a “Super Two” between Eskridge/Keene Road near Maple Hill to Valencia Road in western Shawnee County. This project is Kansas’s claim to being the “First section of Interstate completed.” At this point, the highway is likely designated solely as US 40.
• 1957:
  • US 40 completed from Auburn Road west of Topeka to Wanamaker Road in Topeka as a Super-Two, and from Wanamaker Road to Gage Boulevard as a four-lane freeway.
    • The Wanamaker Road interchange is initially built as a five-ramp partial cloverleaf, with a loop ramp from northbound Wanamaker to westbound US 40.
    • The Fairlawn Road interchange is a split Diamond, with the eastbound off-ramp and westbound on-ramp connecting to 6th Avenue and the eastbound on-ramp and westbound off-ramp connecting to Fairlawn
    • The Danbury Lane interchange is a full diamond.
    • The interchange at the south end of the Westgate Bridge is built as a trumpet interchange with US 40 curving north onto the bridge.
    • At this point, the highway is still likely designated solely as US 40
  • The Muncie Expressway in Kansas City is completed from the east end of the Kansas Turnpike at 18th Street over Muncie Boulevard to a tie-in with the 5th Street Trafficway south of Central Avenue.
• 1959: US 40 upgraded to a four-lane freeway from K-30 near Maple Hill to Wanamaker Road. The I-70 designation is likely to have been first used at this point.
• 1960:
  • Completed from Collyer to Ogallah
  • Completed from K-15 in Abilene to Humbolt Creek Road east of Fort Riley, tying into the previously constructed Junction City-Topeka corridor improvements at Humbolt Creek Road.
  • Muncie Expressway completed to the Intercity Viaduct.
• 1962:
  • Completed from K-23 near Grainfield to Collyer.
  • Completed from Ninth Street in Salina to K-15 in Abilene.
  • Junction City-Topeka corridor from K-99 north of Alma to K-30 in Maple Hill upgraded to a four-lane freeway.
  • Completed from Gage Boulevard to 1st Avenue in Topeka.
  • By this year: A loop ramp from westbound I-70 to southbound Wanamaker Road is added, and the ramp from southbound Wanamaker to Westbound I-70 is rebuilt.
• 1963:
  • Old K-18 from K-177 south of Manhattan to K-99 north of Alma was upgraded to a four-lane freeway.
  • The Lewis and Clark Viaduct was completed, and westbound I-70 moved onto the new structure.
• 1964:
  • November 24: Opened to traffic from Dorrance to Ninth Street in Salina
  • December 2: Opened to traffic from 1st Avenue to 8th Street in Topeka. (Polk-Quincy Viaduct and Downtown Topeka ‘cut.’) The road is complete from 8th Street to Shunganunga Creek, but there is no connection.
  • December 24: Old K-18 from Humbolt Creek Road to K-177 upgraded to a four-lane freeway and opened to traffic
• 1965:
  • Sometime this year: Completed from Ogallah to Hays.
  • June 16: Completed from Shunganunga Creek to the Kansas Turnpike and opened to traffic at 8th Street in Topeka. I-70 is completed from Dorrance to the Missouri State Line
  • December 17: Opened to traffic from Colby to Grainfield.
• 1966:
  • November 17: Opened to traffic from Hays to Dorrance. I-70 is now complete from Colby to the Missouri State Line.
• 1967: Completed from US 24 near Levant to Colby
• 1969: Completed from K-25 at Goodland to US 24 near Levant
• June 18, 1970: Opened to traffic from the Colorado State Line to K-25 at Goodland, completing I-70 in Kansas.
• 1977: In conjunction with the construction of a new southbound span of the Westgate Bridge, the interchange with the Westgate Bridge is rebuilt as a semi-directional “T” interchange with I-70 as the through route. The eastbound off-ramp to Gage Boulevard is tied into the new eastbound off-ramp for the Westgate Bridge.
• 2001: East Topeka interchange rebuilt as a directional interchange with free-flowing movement from I-70 to and from the Kansas Turnpike

Junction Guide

AADT (2024)