Interstate 135 (I-135) is an approximately

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a subset of highways within the United States' Interstate Highway System. The 323 auxiliary routes generally fall into three types: spur routes, which connect to or i ...

in central and south-central

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. I-135, which is signed as north–south, runs between

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexico–Uni ...

and the

Kansas Turnpike The Kansas Turnpike is a controlled-access toll road that lies entirely within the US state of Kansas. It runs in a general southwest–northeast direction from the Oklahoma border to Kansas City. It passes through several major Kansas citie ...

in Wichita north to

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, just outside Baltimore, Maryland. I-70 appr ...

, U.S. Highway 40 (US-40), and

US-81 U.S. Route 81 or U.S. Highway 81 (US 81) is a major north–south U.S. highway that extends for in the central United States and is one of the original United States Numbered Highways established in 1926 by the American Association of Sta ...

in Salina. Except for the first , I-135 overlaps US-81 its entire length. The route also runs through the cities of

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, and Park City. The highway was designated as Interstate 35W (I-35W) until September 1976, when it was renumbered as I-135 to conform to new

AASHTO The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test quality control, protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction through ...

policies that eliminated most suffixed Interstate Highways. It is currently the longest three-digit spur with an odd first digit in the Interstate System.

Route description

I-135 begins from the south at exit 42 on the

. (The exit is signed as I-135/I-235/US-81 for Wichita and Salina.)

joins I-135 later at exit 1A (East 47th Street South) and remains concurrent with it for the rest of its length. Less than from the Kansas Turnpike tollbooth, I-235, a loop around the westside of Wichita, branches off the highway at exit 1C. I-135 continues northward from there, running just east of the Wichita downtown area. It reunites with I-235 at exits 11A and 11B at milepost 11 at the loop's other end. I-135 leaves Wichita and continues northward to

where it turns northwest around milemarker 33. The freeway continues in this direction for , returning to a due north course at

. The stretch of I-135 in Saline County from the Saline–McPherson county line to the highway's terminus at

, is designated as the Ben E. Vidricksen Highway, in honor of a state senator who was active in pushing for the highway's enlargement. The route ends on the northwest side of Salina, at its intersection at I-70. The road continues as US-81 north of this interchange.

History

Construction on the Canal Route portion of I-135 (in Wichita, where the Chisholm Creek Canal runs through the median of the highway) was begun in 1971. This portion of the route took eight years to complete with a cost of $32 million (equivalent to $ in ). It was built through the middle of the city's

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...

, known as McAdams. Until September 13, 1976, I-135 was signed as Interstate 35W (I-35W). The Interstate's full length was completed in December 1979. In 2021, work began to rebuild the northern junction with I-235 in Wichita. A two-lane

flyover ramp An overpass, called an overbridge or flyover (for a road only) in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries, is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that is over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass ...

connecting northbound I-135 to southbound I-235 which replaced the previous one-lane loop ramp opened on May 31, 2023.

Exit list

Business loops

There is 1 current business loop and 1 former business loop.

McPherson business loop

It starts at exit 58 and ends on exit 60. It has a concurrency with KS-64, and

US-56 U.S. Route 56 (US 56) is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately 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 Spri ...

Former Lindsborg business loop

It started on exit 72 and ends on exit 78. It had a concurrency with KS-4.

References

External links

* Kansas Highway Maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT

{{3di, 35 35-1 35-1 1 U.S. Route 81 Salina, Kansas Transportation in Wichita, Kansas Transportation in Sedgwick County, Kansas Transportation in Harvey County, Kansas Transportation in McPherson County, Kansas Transportation in Saline County, Kansas