U.S. Route 56

U.S. Route 56 (US 56) is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately 640 miles (1,030 km) in the Midwestern United States. US 56's western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business (I-25 Bus.), US 412 and New Mexico State Road 21 (NM 21) in Springer, New Mexico and the highway's eastern terminus is at US 71 in Kansas City, Missouri. Much of it follows the Santa Fe Trail.

U.S. Route 56
US 56 highlighted in red
Route information
Length	640.250 mi (1,030.382 km)
Existed	1957[1]–present
Major junctions
West end	I-25 Bus. / US 412 / NM 21 at Springer, NM
	US 287 near Boise City, OK US-50 at Dodge City, KS I-135 / US-81 at McPherson, KS I-335 / Kansas Turnpike near Admire, KS US-75 near Scranton, KS US-59 near Baldwin City, KS I-35 / US-50 at Gardner, KS I-435 / US-50 at Lenexa, KS US-69 at Overland Park, KS I-35 / US-69 / US-169 at Shawnee Mission, KS
East end	US 71 at Kansas City, MO
Location
States	New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided State Roads in New Mexico Interstate U.S. State Scenic Oklahoma State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Turnpikes Kansas State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Spurs Missouri State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Supplemental ← NM 55 NM → NM 56 ← K-55 KS → K-57 ← Route 53 MO → Route 58

Route description

The highway passes through New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. The eastbound shoulder also touches a corner of Texas at a small road junction near the New Mexico/Oklahoma border.

New Mexico

US 56 runs concurrent with US 412 for its entire length in New Mexico, and are signed as such through the state. The two routes begin in Springer and head east towards Abbot, where they serve as the northern terminus of State Road 39. Continuing east, US 56/412 meet the southern terminus of NM 193 south of Farley, the northern terminus of NM 120 east of Gladstone, and the southern terminus of NM 453. US 56/412 intersect US 64 and US 87 in Clayton, New Mexico, and US 64 joins with US 56/412 in their trek northeast. The three routes serve as the southern terminus of NM 406 as they enter the Kiowa National Grassland. The three routes then cross into Oklahoma together.

Oklahoma

US-56's short path through Oklahoma consists of a diagonal slice across the western part of the Oklahoma Panhandle. US-56/64/412 enter Oklahoma near the southwest corner of the Panhandle, where they also enter Rita Blanca National Grassland. They leave the grassland near Felt. Three miles[2] (4.8 km) southwest of Boise City, US-385 joins the concurrency. The routes then enter Boise City, where they enter a traffic circle around the Cimarron County Courthouse that involves US-56, US-64, US-385, US-412, State Highway 3, and SH-325. After leaving the traffic circle, US-56 overlaps US-64, US-412, and SH-3. 1.7 miles (2.7 km) east of the courthouse, US-56 meets US-287 at an interchange. US-56/64/412/SH-3 continue northeast for 6 miles (9.7 km),[2] where US-56 splits to travel northeast on its own.

The route parallels the Cimarron Valley Railroad for the remainder of its time in Oklahoma. Keyes is the next town on US-56, and it also serves as the northern terminus of SH-171 where the two highways intersect. US-56 crosses into Texas County east of Sturgis. Just before crossing the Kansas line, US-56 meets the north end of SH-95. US-56 then enters Kansas on the east edge of Elkhart.

Kansas

Scranton, Kansas on US 56, in 1974

US-56 enters the state at the Kansas/Oklahoma border near Elkhart. It weaves its way across the state from southwest to northeast, passing through such towns as Dodge City, Great Bend, McPherson, Council Grove, and Baldwin City. It joins with I-35/US-50 east of Gardner, and goes northeast with I-35 into the Kansas City Metro Area. It exits the state as part of Shawnee Mission Parkway in Merriam.

Missouri

For one mile (1.6 km) in Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, Route 56 follows the noted boulevard Ward Parkway along with 47th St through the Country Club Plaza. The route ends at an intersection with U.S. Route 71. It also includes Blue Parkway and Swope Parkway at certain points.

History

Green US-56 marker formerly used in Kansas

In the early 1950s, towns along what was then the K-45 corridor, connecting Ellsworth, Kansas to the Oklahoma state line at Elkhart, formed the Mid-Continent Diagonal Highway Association[3] to push for a new highway from Springer, New Mexico (on US 85) northeast across the Oklahoma Panhandle, along K-45, and continuing to Manitowoc, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan.[4] By mid-1954, it was being promoted as U.S. Route 55 between the Great Lakes and the Southwestern United States.[5] The first submissions to the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) to establish the route were made in 1954; all placed the northeast end at Manitowoc, Wisconsin (absorbing US 151 from Cedar Rapids, Iowa), while they varied on whether the southwest end was to be at Albuquerque, New Mexico or Nogales, Arizona.[6] The first route considered in northeast Kansas was via US 40 from Ellsworth to Topeka and K-4 and US 59 via Atchison to St. Joseph, Missouri.[7] A revised route adopted in March 1955, due to AASHO objections to the original route, which traveled concurrently with other U.S. Highways for over half of its length, followed K-14, K-18, US 24, K-63, K-16, and US 59 via Lincoln and Manhattan.[8] In July, the US 50-N Association proposed a plan that would have eliminated US 50N by routing US 55 along most of its length, from Larned east to Baldwin Junction, and then along US 59 to Lawrence and K-10 to Kansas City; towns on US 50N west of Larned, which would have been bypassed, led a successful fight against this.[9][10]

However, in September of that year, the Kansas Highway Commission accepted that plan, taking US 55 east to Kansas City.[11] On June 27, 1956, the AASHO Route Numbering Committee considered this refined plan for US 55, between Springer, New Mexico and Kansas City, Missouri, with a short US 155 along the remaining portion of US 50N from Larned west to Garden City. The committee approved the request, but since the proposed route was more east–west than north–south, it changed it to an even number – US 56 – and the spur to US 156.[6]

US 56 originally took a different route between Boise City, Oklahoma and Elkhart, Kansas. The original route followed US 64 east to an intersection south of Eva. It then split off to the north towards Elkhart.[12] By 1961, the section north of US 64 had been overlaid with SH-95.[13] The following year, US 56 was rerouted over SH-114, bringing it to its current diagonal path across the Oklahoma Panhandle.[14] The old alignment is still on the Oklahoma highway system as the north half of SH-95.

Major intersections

State	County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
New Mexico	Colfax	Springer	0.000	0.000	NM 21 west (4th Street west) / I-25 Bus. (Maxwell Avenue) to I-25 / NM 58 – Taos Ski Valley, Springer Lake US 412 begins	Western termini of US 56/US 412; western end of US 412 overlap; highway continues as NM 21
		Abbott	19.719	31.735	NM 39 south – Roy, Mosquero
		​	31.690	51.000	NM 193 north – Farley
	Union	​	46.688	75.137	NM 120 south – Yates
		​	54.040	86.969	NM 453 north – Grenville
		Clayton	82.400	132.610	NM 402 (S. 1st Avenue)
			82.530	132.819	US 64 west / US 87 (1st Street) – Dalhart, Raton	Western end of US 64 overlap
		​	85.890	138.227	NM 406 north – Seneca
			94.172 0.00	151.555 0.00	New Mexico–Oklahoma line
Oklahoma	Cimarron	​	28.49	45.85	US 385 south – Dalhart	Western end of US-385 overlap
		Boise City	32.31	52.00	US 385 north / SH-3 west (Cimmaron Avenue north) / SH-325 west (Main Street west)	Traffic circle, eastern end of US-385 overlap, western end of SH-3 overlap, eastern terminus of SH-325
		​	34.03	54.77	US 287 – Stratford, Denver	Interchange; US-287 exit 21
		​	40.09	64.52	US 64 / US 412 / SH-3 east – Guymon	Eastern end of US-64/US-412/SH-3 overlap
		Keyes	48.54	78.12	SH-171 south – Kerrick
	Texas	​	71.46	115.00	SH-95 south – Guymon
			71.68 0.000	115.36 0.000	Oklahoma–Kansas line
Kansas	Morton	Elkhart	2.366	3.808	K-27 north – Richfield
		Rolla	17.746	28.559	K-51 west – Richfield	Western end of K-51 overlap
	Stevens	​	25.994	41.833	K-25 south – Guymon OK	Western end of K-25 overlap
		Hugoton	33.629	54.121	K-51 east – Liberal	Eastern end of K-51 overlap
			35.775	57.574	K-25 north – Ulysses	Eastern end of K-25 overlap
	Seward	No major junctions
	Haskell	Satanta	61.813	99.478	K-190 west – Ulysses	Western end of K-190 overlap
			62.893	101.216	K-190 east – Liberal, Meade	Eastern end of K-190 overlap
		Sublette	69.316	111.553	US-160 – Liberal, Garden City, Meade
	Gray	​	87.201	140.336	K-144 west – Ulysses
		​	100.191	161.242	K-23 – Cimarron, Meade
	Ford	Dodge City	116.209	187.020	US-400 west – Garden City	Western end of US-400 overlap
			119.752	192.722	US-283 south – Minneola	Western end of US-283 overlap
			123.182	198.242	US-400 east – Greensburg	Eastern end of US-400 overlap
			126.894	204.216	US-50 west – Cimarron	Western end of US-50 overlap
		Wright	128.630	207.010	US-283 north – Jetmore	Eastern end of US-283 overlap
	Edwards	Kinsley	156.790	252.329	US-50 east – Hutchinson	Eastern end of US-50 overlap
			116.838	188.033	US-183 south – Greensburg	Western end of US-183 overlap
	Pawnee	​	165.995	267.143	US-183 north – La Crosse	Eastern end of US-183 overlap
		Larned	182.397	293.540	K-19 Spur south – Belpre
			183.810	295.814	K-156 west – Jetmore	Western end of K-156 overlap; former US-156 west
	Barton	Great Bend	204.229	328.675	K-96 west – Ness City	Western end of K-96 overlap
			206.006	331.535	US-281 – St. John, Russell
		​	209.801	337.642	K-156 east – Ellsworth	Eastern end of K-156 overlap; former US-156 east
	Rice	Lyons	236.876	381.215	K-96 east / K-14 (Grand Avenue) – Ellsworth, Hutchinson	Eastern end of K-96 overlap
	McPherson	McPherson	265.669	427.553	K-153 south – Hutchinson	Former US-81
			266.667	429.159	US-81 Bus. south – Newton, Hutchinson, Opera House	Western end of US-81 Bus. overlap
			269.185	433.211	US-81 Bus. ends / I-135 / US-81 – Salina, Wichita	Eastern end of US-81 Bus. overlap; I-135 exit 60
	Marion	​	285.158	458.917	K-15 south – Newton	Western end of K-15 overlap
		Lehigh	286.642	461.306	K-168 north – Lehigh
		Hillsboro	291.156	468.570	K-15 north – Abilene	Eastern end of K-15 overlap
		Marion	301.399	485.055	K-256 south – Marion
		​	305.390	491.478	US-77 south / K-150 east – Emporia, El Dorado	Western end of US-77 overlap
	Dickinson	Herington	324.997	523.032	US-56 Bus. east – Herington
			327.060	526.352	US-77 north / US-56 Bus. west – Herington, Junction City	Eastern end of US-77 overlap
	Morris	​	337.304	542.838	K-149 north – White City
		Council Grove	351.155– 351.323	565.129– 565.400	K-177 – Cottonwood Falls, Manhattan
	Lyon	Admire	372.731	599.852	K-99 – Emporia, Alma
		​	376.162	605.374	I-335 / Kansas Turnpike – Emporia, Topeka	Tolls at entrance to, and exit from, Kansas Turnpike; Kansas Tpke. exit 147
		Miller	378.469	609.087	K-78 south – Miller
	Osage	​	386.959	622.750	K-31 south / 229th Street – Osage City	Wye intersection; western end of K-31 overlap
		Burlingame	393.732	633.650	K-31 north – Harveyville	Eastern end of K-31 overlap
		​	383.775	617.626	US-75 – Lyndon, Topeka
	Douglas	Baldwin City	426.126	685.783	US-59 – Lawrence, Ottawa
		​	436.919	703.153	K-33 south – Wellsville
	Johnson	Gardner			New Century AirCenter	Interchange
			448.458	721.723	I-35 south / US-50 west – Wichita	Western end of I-35 and US-50 overlaps; I-35 exit 210
		Overlap with I-35
		Merriam	466.340	750.501	I-35 north / Shawnee Mission Parkway west – Des Moines	Eastern end of I-35 overlap; I-35 exit 228B
		Overland Park–Shawnee line	467.710	752.706	US-69 north (Metcalf Avenue)	Eastern end of US-69 overlap; interchange
		Mission–Fairway line			Roe Avenue / Johnson Drive	Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		Westwood–Mission Woods line	471.201	758.325	US-169 north (Rainbow Boulevard)	Eastern end of US-169 overlap
			471.450 0.000	758.725 0.000	Kansas–Missouri line
Missouri	Jackson	Kansas City	2.948	4.744	US 71	Interchange; eastern terminus; road continues as Swope Parkway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Tolled       Route transition

See also

Related U.S. Routes

• U.S. Route 156 (decommissioned)

References

1. Official Road Map of New Mexico (ZIP File) (Map). 1:1,267,200. Cartography by Louis Hesch. Santa Fe: New Mexico State Highway Department. 1957. §§ 9B,8B. Retrieved August 3, 2019 – via University of New Mexico RGIS.
2. Official State Map (PDF) (Map) (Centennial ed.). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. 2007.
3. "Highway Assured". Atchison Daily Globe. December 17, 1953. p. 20. Retrieved October 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Vernon Tip Traylor..." Great Bend Daily Tribune. October 1, 1953. p. 1. Retrieved October 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "New Mexico Okays US-55 Road Proposal". Great Bend Daily Tribune. June 2, 1954. p. 7. Retrieved October 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Chronological History Documentation: US 56 (correspondence between ODOT, AASHO, and other DOTs)
7. "Another Effort to Reroute Proposed Federal Highway". Great Bend Daily Tribune. January 6, 1955. Retrieved October 7, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.
8. "New US-55 Route Approved Here". Great Bend Daily Tribune. March 20, 1955. p. 3. Retrieved October 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Call Meeting On Road Proposals". Great Bend Daily Tribune. July 26, 1955. p. 1. Retrieved October 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "US 50N Boosters Turn Down New Route, Name". Great Bend Daily Tribune. July 29, 1955. Retrieved October 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Highway Boosters Here Oppose New US-55 Plan". Great Bend Daily Tribune. September 16, 1955. Retrieved October 7, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.
12. Oklahoma's Highways 1957 (PDF) (Map). Oklahoma Department of Highways. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
13. Oklahoma 1961 Road Map (PDF) (Map). Oklahoma Department of Highways. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
14. Oklahoma 1962 (PDF) (Map). Oklahoma Department of Highways. Retrieved January 19, 2008.

External links

• Endpoints of U.S. Highway 56
• Kansas Highway Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT

Browse numbered routes
← NM 55	NM	→ NM 56
← SH-55	OK	→ SH-56
← K-55	KS	→ K-57
← I-55	MO	→ I-57