U.S. Route 54 in Kansas
Route information | ||||
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Maintained by KDOT | ||||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | US 54 at Oklahoma state line | |||
East end | US 54 at Missouri state line | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Kansas | |||
Highway system | ||||
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U.S. Route 54 (US 54) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from El Paso, Texas, to Interstate 72 (I-72) in Griggsville, Illinois. In the U.S. state of Kansas, US 54 is a main east–west highway that runs from the Oklahoma border east to the Missouri border.
Route description
US 54 enters the state from Oklahoma in Seward County, and travels through the cities of Liberal and Plains, where it runs concurrently with US 160 in Meade County. Just east of the city of Meade, US 54 splits from US 160 and continues in a northeasterly direction through Meade and Ford counties before beginning a long concurrency with US 400 in Mullinville in Kiowa County.
The highway then travels through the town of Greensburg and continues as a two-lane road through Pratt, Cunningham, and Kingman. At Pratt, the Union Pacific railroad tracks which paralleled the highway for over 600 miles (970 km) from El Paso turn to the northeast (towards Topeka) and leave US 54. The road becomes a divided highway in eastern Kingman County. From Kingman to Garden Plain in Sedgwick County it is a freeway but becomes an at-grade expressway as it passes through Goddard and approaches Wichita.
The freeway resumes as the road crosses the city limits of Wichita near Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. In Wichita, US 54/US 400 is known as Kellogg Avenue, and has junctions with I-235, I-135 and I-35, the Kansas Turnpike, before a junction with K-96. The Kellogg Avenue freeway has six lanes and extends 16 miles (26 km) from 111th Street on the west side of Wichita to Zelta just before the I-35/Kansas Turnpike interchange on the east side. Upgrading of Kellogg Avenue from a surface arterial to a freeway has been underway since the mid-1980s, with the latest interchange project opening in late 2019. The road gets its name from Milo Bailey Kellogg, a shopkeeper and Civil War veteran who was the city's first civilian postmaster in 1870.
The concurrency of US 54 and US 400 continues through Augusta in Butler County before US 400 heads east toward the Missouri state line, while US 54 forms a brief concurrency with US 77 through El Dorado. At El Dorado, US 54 continues its easterly course through rural areas in Greenwood and Woodson counties before passing through the cities of Iola and Fort Scott; US 77 heads north to Junction City. US 54 exits Kansas in Bourbon County before reaching Nevada, Missouri.
History
Existed | 1926–1927 |
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On March 6, 2020, work began on a $27.6 million project to expand US-54 from two lanes to a four-lane divided limited access expressway, an additional three miles east from Liberal. Koss Construction Company of Topeka is the main contractor of this project.[2]
Construction on the first section of the East Kellogg improvement project started in August 2015. The project included a redesigned intersection with Webb Road and widened US-54 and US-400 from four lanes to six lanes from Webb Road to Greenwich Road. Construction on a second project began in 2016, to continue widening the highway to a six-lane freeway between Greenwich Road and K-96. Also new bridges will be built over I-35/KTA, new ramps will be constructed from southbound I-35/KTA to westbound US-54/US-400 and from eastbound US-54/US-400 to both northbound and southbound I-35/KTA. In addition, two-lane one way frontage roads on each side of the freeway will be built. Construction for both projects should be completed by late 2021.[3] A two-mile section of the new highway, from Eastern Street to the K-96 junction, opened on November 21, 2019.[4] On April 16, 2020, vandals damaged an estimated $50,000 worth of construction equipment, which included a bulldozer, excavator and an off-road vehicle.[5]
Future
The state is studying a northwestern bypass of Wichita, which would redesignate K-254 as US-54.[6]
Major intersections
All exits are unnumbered.
County | Location | mi[7] | km | Destinations | Notes |
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Seward | | 0.000 | 0.000 | US 54 west | Continuation into Oklahoma |
| Old US 54 | Interchange | |||
Liberal | US-270 east / US-83 (Country Estates Road) / 2nd Street / Bluebell Road – Garden City, Turpin OK | Western terminus of US-270 | |||
Meade | | US-160 west | Western end of US-160 overlap | ||
Meade | K-23 (Fowler Street) | ||||
US-160 east | Eastern end of US-160 overlap | ||||
| K-98 west | Eastern terminus of K-98 | |||
Clark | Minneola | US-283 (Oak Street) – Englewood, Dodge City | |||
Ford | | K-94 south | Northern terminus of K-94 | ||
Bucklin | K-34 north | Western end of K-34 overlap | |||
K-34 south (Main Street) | Eastern end of K-34 overlap | ||||
Kiowa | | US-400 west – Mullinville, Dodge City | Interchange; western end of US-400 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| US-183 – Kinsley, Coldwater | ||||
Pratt | Pratt | US-281 – St. John, Medicine Lodge, Airport | |||
K-61 north – Hutchinson, Pratt Community College | |||||
Kingman | | 170th Avenue – Cunningham | Interchange | ||
| K-11 north – Hutchinson | Former K-14 north | |||
Kingman | K-14 south (Main Street) – Anthony, Business District, Airport | Western end of K-14 overlap | |||
| 40th Avenue | Western end of freeway | |||
| 70th Avenue | ||||
| K-14 north (100th Avenue) – Hutchinson, Murdock | Eastern end of K-14 overlap; former K-17 | |||
| Mt. Vernon | ||||
Sedgwick | | K-251 (391st Street West) | |||
| 383rd Street West | ||||
| 343rd Street West | ||||
| Garden Plain | Eastern end of freeway; former K-163 | |||
Wichita | Maize Road | Western end of freeway | |||
Tyler Road | |||||
Ridge Road – Eisenhower National Airport | |||||
Dugan Road | No direct eastbound exit (signed at Ridge Road) | ||||
I-235 | Split into separate exits for I-235 NB and SB; I-235 exit 7 | ||||
West Street | |||||
Edwards Street / Meridian Avenue | Access to Southwest Boulevard (former K-42) | ||||
Seneca Street / Sycamore Street | |||||
Central Business District | |||||
Washington Avenue | |||||
I-135 / US-81 / K-15 – Salina, Oklahoma City | I-135 exits 5B-6A | ||||
Grove Street | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||||
Hillside Street | |||||
Oliver Avenue / Edgemoor Street | |||||
Woodlawn Boulevard | Westbound access via Towne East Drive/Armour Drive | ||||
Towne East Drive / Armour Drive | |||||
Rock Road | Eastbound access via Towne East Drive/Armour Drive | ||||
I-35 / Kansas Turnpike – Oklahoma City, Kansas City | Closed, access via south frontage road only; I-35/Kansas Tpke. exit 50 | ||||
Webb Road | Opened in 2020 | ||||
Greenwich Road | |||||
I-35 / Kansas Turnpike – Oklahoma City, Kansas City | Future interchange,[8] westbound entrance open; I-35/Kansas Tpke. exit 53A | ||||
| K-96 west to I-35 / Kansas Turnpike – Hutchinson | Interchange; eastern end of freeway | |||
Butler | Augusta | US-77 south (Walnut Street) – Douglass, Winfield | Western end of US-77 overlap | ||
| Haverhill, Smileyberg | Interchange | |||
| US-400 east – Fredonia | Partial interchange; eastern end of US-400 overlap; eastbound exit ramp, westbound access via SE 100th Street | |||
El Dorado | US-77 north (N. Main Street) / K-254 west (W. Central Avenue) | Eastern end of US-77 overlap; eastern terminus of K-254 | |||
| K-177 north | Southern terminus of K-177 | |||
Greenwood | | K-99 south | Western end of K-99 overlap | ||
| K-99 north | Eastern end of K-99 overlap | |||
Woodson | | K-105 south – Toronto | |||
Yates Center | US-75 | ||||
Allen | | US-169 – Garnett, Chanute | Interchange | ||
Moran | US-59 | ||||
Bourbon | | K-3 north | Western end of K-3 overlap | ||
| K-3 south | Eastern end of K-3 overlap | |||
| K-7 north | Western end of K-7 overlap | |||
| US-69 north – Kansas City | Interchange; western end of US-69 overlap | |||
Fort Scott | US-69 / K-7 south – Pittsburg | Interchange; eastern end of US-69/K-7 overlap | |||
| US 54 east – Nevada | Continuation into Missouri | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- ^ Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Planning Network GIS data version 2005.08
- ^ Kansas Department of Transportation (March 3, 2020). "Groundbreaking for U.S. 54 project set for March 6" (PDF). Topeka: Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Kansas Department of Transportation (2020). "About the Projects". Topeka: Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- ^ Kansas Department of Transportation (November 21, 2019). "Two-mile section of Kellogg freeway opens in east Wichita" (PDF). Topeka: Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Tidd, Jason (April 16, 2020). "After $50K vandalism at East Kellogg construction site, Crime Stoppers offers $10K reward". Wichita: The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- ^ "KSDOT Project K-254".
- ^ Staff (2016). "Pavement Management Information System". Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ "ABOUT THE PROJECTS". East Kellogg Improvements. Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
External links
- U.S. Highways in Kansas
- U.S. Route 54
- Seward County, Kansas
- Meade County, Kansas
- Clark County, Kansas
- Ford County, Kansas
- Kiowa County, Kansas
- Pratt County, Kansas
- Kingman County, Kansas
- Sedgwick County, Kansas
- Butler County, Kansas
- Greenwood County, Kansas
- Woodson County, Kansas
- Allen County, Kansas
- Bourbon County, Kansas