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 in Wichita north to I-70, U.S. Highway 40 (US-40), and US-81 in Salina. Except for the first , I-135 overlaps US-81 its entire length. The route also runs through the cities of McPherson, Newton, 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

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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 Kansas Turnpike. (The exit is signed as I-135/I-235/US-81 for Wichita and Salina.) US-81 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 Newton where it turns northwest around milemarker 33. The freeway continues in this direction for , returning to a due north course at McPherson. The stretch of I-135 in Saline County from the Saline–McPherson county line to the highway's terminus at I-70, 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 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.

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