U.S. Route 40 in Kansas

U.S. Route 40 (US-40) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Interstate 80 (I-80) and US-189 in Silver Summit, Utah east to US-322 and Ocean Drive in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the U.S. state of Kansas, US-40 is a main east–west highway that runs from the Colorado border east to the Missouri border. A majority of the route overlaps I-70 through the state.

U.S. Highway 40
US 40 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by KDOT
Major junctions
West end	US 40 at Colorado state line
	US-83 in Oakley I-70 east of Oakley US-283 in WaKeeney US-183 in Hays US-281 in Russell I-135 / US-81 US-77 in Junction City I-470 / US-75 US-24 Kansas Turnpike
North end	I-70 / US 24 / US 40 / US 169 at Missouri state line
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Kansas State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Spurs ← K-39 → K-41

Route description

US 40 crossing the Great Plains in Kansas

US 40 enters Kansas near the unincorporated community of Weskan. The first sizable town it enters is Sharon Springs, where it intersects K-27. From there it goes northeast to Oakley and follows Eagle Eye Road before merging with I-70 east of town. The two routes remain merged until Topeka, although the prior alignment of US 40, named Old Highway 40, parallels I-70 for most of the way.[1][2] From Ellsworth to Salina, the old alignment of US 40 is signed as K-140.

In Topeka, US 40 leaves I-70 at exit 366, follows the Oakland Expressway concurrent with K-4 north to 6th Avenue, then heads east along 6th Avenue out of town. Through Topeka, US 40 closely follows the route of the Oregon Trail.[3] At the Shawnee-Douglas county line near Big Springs, US 40 crosses to the south of I-70 and enters Lawrence from the west along West 6th Street. At the west side of Lawrence, the route is joined by K-10 and travels south and east to the junction with US 59 and then runs north with US 59 to cross the Kansas River. It follows North 2nd and North 3rd Streets, crosses back under I-70, leaves US 59, and merges with US 24[1][2] before leaving town.

US 40 remains merged with US 24 as the two routes travel northeast to the town of Tonganoxie. From there, the merged routes turn due east toward Kansas City, Kansas. In Kansas City, US 40 and US 24 intersect US 73 and K-7, and turning south toward Interstate 70. US 40, along with US 24, then merge onto I-70 and recross the Kansas River over the Lewis and Clark Viaduct just before entering Kansas City, Missouri.[1][2][4]

On December 1, 2008, US 40, along with US 24 and US 73, was rerouted south along K-7 west of Kansas City to the intersection with I-70. Before this date, US 40 and US 24 continued along State Avenue to College Parkway before turning right to follow Turner Diagonal for ¹⁄₂ mile (800 m) where US 40 joined Interstate 70 for the duration of its journey eastward toward Missouri.

In 1951, the State of Kansas designated U.S. Route 40 as a Blue Star Memorial Highway from border to border.

History

By October 1967, the section of I-70 from north of Dorrance to north of Salina was open to traffic. Then in an October 13, 1967 resolution, US-40 was realigned onto the newly opened section I-70.[5]

Major intersections

Exit numbers are those of I-70 and Kansas Turnpike

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Wallace	​	0.000	0.000		US 40 west	Continuation into Colorado
	Sharon Springs				K-27
	​				Fort Wallace Museum
Logan	​				K-25 south	Western end of K-25 overlap
	​				K-25 north	Eastern end of K-25 overlap
	Oakley				US-83 north	Western end of US-83 overlap
					US-83 south	Eastern end of US-83 overlap
Gove	​	75.87	122.10	76	I-70 west – Denver	Western end of I-70 concurrency
	​	79.80	128.43	79	Campus Road
	​	85.75	138.00	85	K-216 – Grinnell
	​	93.72	150.83	93	K-23 south / K-23 Alt. north – Grainfield, Gove	West end of K-23 overlap
	​	95.68	153.98	95	K-23 north – Grainfield, Hoxie	East end of K-23 overlap
	​	99.67	160.40	99	K-211 – Park
	Quinter	107.31	172.70	107	K-212 / Castle Rock Road – Quinter
Trego	​	114.93	184.96	115	K-198 north – Collyer
	​	119.84	192.86	120	Voda Road
	WaKeeney	126.89	204.21	127	US-40 Bus. east / US-283 – WaKeeney, Ness City
		127.93	205.88	128	US-40 Bus. west to US-283 north – WaKeeney, Hill City
	​	135.11	217.44	135	K-147 – Ogallah
	​	140.23	225.68	140	Riga Road
Ellis	Ellis	145.29	233.82	145	K-247 – Ellis
	​	152.68	245.71	153	Yocemento Avenue
	Hays	156.80	252.35	157	US-183 Byp. – Hays, La Crosse
		159.00	255.89	159	US-183 – Hays, Stockton
	​	161.31	259.60	161	Commerce Parkway
	​	163.35	262.89	163	Toulon Avenue
	​	168.34	270.92	168	K-255 – Victoria
	​	172.56	277.71	172	Walker Avenue
Russell	​	175.56	282.54	175	176th Street – Gorham	Former K-257
	​	180.56	290.58	180	Balta Road
	Russell	184.54	296.99	184	US-281 – Russell, Hoisington	Former western terminus of US-40 Bus.
	​	188.56	303.46	189	Pioneer Road	Former eastern terminus of US-40 Bus.
	​	192.56	309.90	193	Bunker Hill Road
	Dorrance	199.09	320.40	199	Dorrance	Former K-231
Ellsworth	​	205.48	330.69	206	K-232 – Wilson, Lucas
	​	209.50	337.16	209	Sylvan Grove
	​	215.52	346.85	216	Vesper
	​	218.54	351.71	219	K-14 south – Ellsworth	West end of K-14 overlap
	​	221.44	356.37	221	K-14 north – Lincoln	East end of K-14 overlap
	​	224.87	361.89	225	K-156 – Ellsworth, Great Bend
Lincoln	​	232.96	374.91	233	Beverly, Carneiro
Saline	​	237.96	382.96	238	Brookville, Tescott
	​	243.97	392.63	244	Hedville, Culver
	​	248.99	400.71	249	Halstead Road
	​	250.24	402.72	250A-B	I-135 south / US-81 – Wichita, Concordia	Northern terminus of I-135, exits 95A-B; cloverleaf interchange.
	Salina	252.02	405.59	252	K-143 (Ninth Street)
	​	253.09	407.31	253	Ohio Street
	​	259.49	417.61	260	Niles Road
Dickinson	Solomon	265.94	427.99	266	Solomon Road	Former K-221
	​	272.00	437.74	272	Fair Road
	Abilene	274.54	441.83	275	K-15 – Abilene, Clay Center
	​	277.09	445.93	277	Jeep Road
	​	280.30	451.10	281	K-43 – Enterprise
	​	285.54	459.53	286	K-206 – Chapman
Geary	​	289.85	466.47	290	Milford Lake Road
	Junction City	294.34	473.69	295	US-77 / K-18 west – Marysville, Herington	West end of K-18 overlap
		295.92	476.24	296	US-40 Bus. east (Washington Street)
		297.29	478.44	298	East Street / Chestnut Street
	Grandview Plaza	298.28	480.04	299	Flinthills Boulevard (US-40 Bus. / K-57) / J Hill Road
		299.18	481.48	300	US-40 Bus. west / K-57 – Council Grove	No westbound entrance
	​	300.33	483.33	301	Fort Riley, Marshall Field
	​	302.28	486.47	303	K-18 east – Manhattan	East end of K-18 overlap
	​	303.42	488.31	304	Humboldt Creek Road
	​	306.87	493.86	307	McDowell Creek Road
	​	311.22	500.86	311	Moritz Road
	​	313.26	504.14	313	K-177 – Council Grove, Manhattan
Riley	​	315.44	507.65	316	Deep Creek Road
	​	317.61	511.14	318	Frontage Road
Wabaunsee	​	321.76	517.82	322	Tallgrass Road
	​	323.25	520.22	324	Wabaunsee Road
	​	326.73	525.82	328	K-99 – Wamego, Alma
	​	329.26	529.89	330	K-185 – McFarland
	​	331.19	533.00	332	Spring Creek Road
	​	332.18	534.59	333	K-138 – Paxico
	​	334.28	537.97	335	Snokomo Road
	​	337.24	542.74	338	Vera Road
	​	340.22	547.53	341	K-30 – Maple Hill
	​	341.23	549.16	342	Keene-Eskridge Road
	​	342.21	550.73	343	Ranch Road	Private interchange put in for Raymond Brethour for the Brethour Ranch. Later Brethour Ranch sold south side of road to Hudson's and it was a shared exit. The Exit was named "Ranch Road" after "the Tod Ranch" that later became the Brethour Ranch.
Shawnee	​	345.20	555.55	346	Carlson Road
	​	346.70	557.96	347	West Union Road
	​	349.22	562.02	350	Valencia Road
	​	350.24	563.66	351	Frontage Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	​	352.26	566.91	353	K-4 west (Auburn Road)	West end of K-4 overlap
	Topeka	354.65	570.75	355	I-470 east / US-75 south – Topeka	West end of US-75 overlap; western terminus of I-470, exit 1A to 70 east westbound.
		355.24	571.70	356	Wanamaker Road
		356.38– 356.85	573.54– 574.29	357A	Fairlawn Road	Signed as exit 357 eastbound
				357B	Danbury Lane	Westbound exit only
		357.16– 357.54	574.79– 575.40	358A	US-75 north	East end of US-75 overlap; signed as exit 358 eastbound
				358B	Gage Boulevard	Signed as exit 358 eastbound
		358.56	577.05	359	MacVicar Avenue
		360.23– 360.94	579.73– 580.88	361A	1st Avenue	Provides access to Topeka Boulevard; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				361B	3rd Street / Monroe Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		361.04– 361.66	581.04– 582.04	362A	4th Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				362B	8th Avenue	Signed as exit 362 eastbound
				362C	10th Avenue / Madison Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		362.11	582.76	363	Adams Street / Branner Trafficway
		363.08– 363.82	584.32– 585.51	364A	California Avenue
				364B	Carnahan Avenue / Deer Creek Trafficway
		364.58	586.73	365	Rice Road
		365.39	588.04	366	I-70 / Kansas Turnpike east / I-470 – Wichita	East end of I-70 overlap
Douglas	Lawrence				K-10 west	Western end of K-10 overlap
					K-10 east / US-59 south	Eastern end of K-10 overlap; western end of US-59 overlap
					I-70 / Kansas Turnpike	I-70 exit 204
					US-24 west / US-59 north	Western end of US-24 overlap; eastern end of US-59 overlap
	​				K-32 east	Western terminus of K-32
Leavenworth	Tonganoxie				K-16 west	Eastern terminus of K-16
Wyandotte	​				US-73 north / K-7 north	Western end of US-73/K-7 overlap
	Kansas City			224	I-70 west / K-7 south / US-73 ends	Exit number follows Kansas Turnpike mileposts; west end of I-70 overlap; east end of US-73/K-7 overlap; southern terminus of US-73
				410	110th Street – Kansas Speedway	Exit numbers follow mileage of I-70.
				411A-B	I-435	I-435 exits 12A-B; signed as exits 411A (south) and 411B (north)
				414	78th Street
				415	Turner Diagonal / College Parkway	Signed as exits 415A (Turner Diagonal) and 415B (College Parkway) eastbound
				417	57th Street
				418A-B	I-635 – St Joseph, Wichita	Signed as exits 418A (north) and 418B (south) eastbound; westbound access is part of exit 419; I-635 exits 4A-B
				419	Park Drive / 38th Street
				420A	US-69 south (18th Street Expressway)	West end of US-69 overlap; east end of Kansas Turnpike
				420B	18th Street north
				421A	Railroad Yard – No outlet, railroad use only	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				421B	I-670 east to I-35 south – St. Louis	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				422A	US-69 north (7th Street Trafficway)	East end of US-69 overlap
				422B	US-169 south (7th Street Trafficway)	West end of US-169 overlap
				422C	Pacific Avenue
				422D	Central Avenue
				423A	5th Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				423B	James Street / 3rd Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				423C	Minnesota Avenue / Washington Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				423D	Fairfax District	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Kansas–Missouri line				I-70 / US 24 / US 40 east / US 169 north continue into Missouri
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Tolled

See also

•  U.S. roads portal
•  Kansas portal

References

1. Mapsource. Garmin Ltd. 2003.
2. Kennedy, Richie (2002). "US 40". Kansas Highway Route Log. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
3. Brusca, Frank X. (2002). "Topeka, Kansas". U.S. Route 40: America's Golden Highway. route40.net. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2007.
4. Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering (October 17, 2008). "Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering Meeting Minutes" (DOC) (Report). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017.
5. State Highway Commission of Kansas (October 13, 1967). "Resolution for Relocation and Redesignation of Road in Russell, Ellsworth and Saline Counties". Topeka: State Highway Commission of Kansas. Retrieved August 10, 2020.

External links

• Kansas Department of Transportation State Map
• KDOT: Historic State Maps