U.S. Route 50 in Kansas

Infobox road
state=KS
type=US
route=50
alternate_name=


length_mi=447.93
length_round=2
length_ref=Federal Highway Administration, [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhpn/ National Highway Planning Network GIS data] version 2005.08]
yrcom=1926
direction_a=West
starting_terminus=
junction=
direction_b=East
ending_terminus=
previous_route=49
next_route=51
U.S. Route 50 in Kansas 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.

Cities along US-50

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).

Garden City has become an important meat-packing town as has Dodge City, 50 miles to the west. Dodge City is better known as the historic western town as depicted in many movies and the "Gunsmoke" television series.

US-400 leaves US-50 at Dodge City. US-283 and US-56 join east of Dodge City with 283 leaving shortly after. US-56 leaves at Kinsley, which claims to be the midway point between New York and San Francisco, according to a sign near the west city limits. It seems to be an odd claim, considering US-50 doesn't go through New York.

The next large town is Hutchinson, which is home of the Kansas State Fair. US-50 has bypassed both Hutchinson and its nearby neighbor, South Hutchinson. US-50 once ran through Hutchinson on Fourth Street. Kansas Highways 61 and 96 both join US-50 for short stretches near here.

US-50 then heads to Newton, where it joins Interstate highway 135 for a short time before it angles northeasterly toward 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.

Ottawa is the home of Ottawa University. 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.

The US-50 split

US-50 once had a split into two branch routes in Kansas. Branch routes were once common along the U.S. highway system but have always been discouraged. Most 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 west 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 1930s.

Business routes and bypasses

US-50 has two business routes in Kansas.

Garden City

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 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.

Dodge City

In Dodge City, Business 50 follows former US-50 through Dodge City.

US-50 once had alternate routings in Garden City and Dodge City and a business route in 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 Ottawa has been decommissioned. It ran along the former US-50 alignment through Ottawa.

References

* route56.com [http://www.route56.com]