State Route 15, also known as K-15 is a state route in the U.S. state of Kansas. The road forms a north-south route through the center of the state, from the Oklahoma state border at Dexter through Wichita and Abilene to the Nebraska state border at Morrowville. K-15 is 233 miles long.
Topschoolsoflaw: State overview and brief history of Kansas, including its geography and popular cities.
Travel directions
K-15 runs through the eastern half of central Kansas, passing through extensive rural areas. To the south, the Oklahoma state border connects to Oklahoma State Route 18 leading to Fairfax. The road then heads in a northwesterly direction, where the road jumps a few times in the grid, via US 160 and US 166, after which K-15 north of Winfield follows US 77 for a while.
The road then heads northwest and forms a diagonal connection in the grid to the city of Wichita. From Mulvane, the road is 2×2 lanes, as K-15 runs through the suburbs of Wichita. There is a connection to the Kansas Turnpike ( I-35 ) after which K-15 merges into Interstate 135 in southern Wichita. K-15 is then about 50 kilometers with I-135 double-numbered to the north side of the town of Newton.
From Newton, K-15 heads north and passes through a sparsely populated rural area, branching east for a bit on US 56. The first notable place is only 100 kilometers to the north and is Abilene, where there is a connection to Interstate 70. North of Abilene, K-15 continues through sparsely populated rural areas, with two larger towns en route through three counties, Clay Center and Washington. In Clay Center one crosses US 24 and west of Washington is double numbered with US 36. At the border with Nebraska, State Route 15 continues in Nebraska to Fairbury.
thembaprograms: Geography information of Kansas, including animals and plants. Also covers brief history and major cities of the state.
History
K-15 already existed in the current route in the early 1930s. In 1932, only the parts numbered with US 81 and US 77 were double-numbered. Also, almost the entire route north of Newton was already laid out as a gravel road, as well as southeast of Wichita. The main unpaved section of dirt road was between US 77 and Mulvane and between Hillsboro and Elmo halfway through the route. The southernmost part to the border with Oklahoma did not yet exist. Later in the 1930s, K-15 was split into an east and west route. K-15E ran from Linn through Barnes and Hanover to the border with the state of Nebraska. This was the only split state highway in Kansas. In 1986, K-15E was renumbered K-148, and K-15W became part of the main route K-15.
In the mid-1930s, the two remaining sections of K-15 were gravelled and a small section southeast of Wichita was paved. Little changed until 1940, except that the southernmost part near the border with Oklahoma was also built as a gravel road. Not a single new part was paved until 1940. In the first half of the 1940’s mainly the parts that hitch a ride on other US Highways were paved. K-15 itself was hardly paved until the second half of the 1940s, when parts of the larger towns were paved. Asphalt boomed in the late 1940s, by 1950 almost all of K-15 had been paved. The last parts were north of US 36 to the border with Nebraska, a section between Newton and US 56,
By 1955, the only unpaved sections were the ends, from US 36 to Nebraska and from US 166 south to Oklahoma. Around 1957 the northernmost part was asphalted, by 1962 also the southernmost part. The major later modification was the portion on which K-15 piggybacks on US 81 between Wichita and Newton, which has been transformed into Interstate 135. In 1979 the entire route was a freeway. Furthermore, K-15 between Mulvane and Wichita has been widened to four lanes, growing with the expansion of the suburbs.
Traffic intensities
Every day, 200 vehicles drive between the Oklahoma border and US 166 and 900 vehicles on the section between US 166 and US 160, through Dexter. This increases to 3,000 vehicles west of US 77, then increases from 5,300 to 32,000 vehicles in southern Wichita. On the section from Newton to US 56, 1,700 to 2,600 vehicles per day and 800 to 1,100 vehicles run between US 56 and Abilene. Up to 7,000 vehicles run in Abilene, then dropping to 1,400 vehicles between Abilene and Washington. Up to the border with Nebraska there are 700 vehicles per day.
State Route 19 in Kansas
SR-19
Get started
Belpre
End
Seward
Length
34 mi
Length
55 km
Route
BelpreLarned
Seward
State Route 19, also known as K-19 is a state route in the U.S. state of Kansas. The road forms a hook in the middle of Kansas, from Belpre via Larned to Seward. K-19 is 55 kilometers long.
Travel directions
K-19 begins at the village of Belpre on US 50 and travels 15 miles north through a flat area with circular irrigation to Larned, also the largest town on the route, then turns east to head east for 30 miles over the countryside to US 281 near Seward.
History
K-19 was originally just a north-south dirt road route between Belpre and Larned in 1927, which became a gravel road in 1928. Originally, the east-west section was numbered K-37, which became part of K-19 in 1932. In 1933 this section was also a gravel road. In the first half of the 1940s, the north-south part was asphalted. At the end of the 1940s, the east-west part was also asphalted.
K-19 also has a spur, connecting the main route to US 56 in the town of Larned. This road is called Broadway Street and is more than one kilometer long.
