Interstate 35 (I-35) is an

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

in the US that runs from the Mexican border near Laredo, Texas, to Duluth, Minnesota. In Kansas, the highway goes from the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

border to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

at the Missouri border, with a length of . Along the way, I-35 passes through Wichita, the state's largest city, linking it to Emporia,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, and Kansas City and its Johnson County suburbs. The section of the route from the Oklahoma border to I-335 is part of the Kansas Turnpike.

Route description

Oklahoma border to Emporia

I-35 enters Kansas from Oklahoma where the southern terminus of the Kansas Turnpike is located. After passing U.S. Highway 166 (US-166, East 160th Street South, exit 4) to the east of South Haven, the Interstate passes through a toll plaza, making I-35 into a toll road. The highway then passes

US-160 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a 1,465 mile (2,358 km) long east–west United States highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 five miles (8 km) west of Tuba City, Arizo ...

(East 10th Avenue, exit 19) east of Wellington, then the Belle Plaine Service Area, the first of three on I-35, and the first of six on the turnpike. After the service area, the turnpike continues due north to Wichita and intersects I-135 (exit 42). After the I-135 interchange, the turnpike turns northeast and goes around Downtown Wichita. I-35 passes through Wichita's suburbs and, in the process, intersects US-54/ US-400 (East Kellogg Avenue, exit 53A). The Towanda Service Area lies north of the Wichita area. Thereafter, the route intersects

US-77 U.S. Route 77 (US 77) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway which extends for in the central United States. As of 2005, Its southern terminus is in Brownsville, Texas, at Veteran's International Bridge on the Mexican border, wh ...

(North Main Street, exit 76) and various state highways near

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

. After El Dorado, the highway enters the Flint Hills region of Kansas. After passing the

Cassoday Cassoday is a city in Butler County, Kansas, Butler County, Kansas, United States. It is known as the "prairie chicken, Prairie Chicken Capital of the World". As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 113. ...

interchange (

K-177 K-177 is a south–north state highway in central Kansas. It runs from U.S. Route 54 (US-54) near El Dorado northward to US-24 in Manhattan, passing through the Flint Hills. It is part of the Flint Hills Scenic Byway and the Prairie Parkway ...

, exit 92), the turnpike begins its stretch with no exits. The only stop along the way is the Matfield Green Service Area. Located north of Cassoday, it is also the last service area on I-35. After the remaining with no exits or services, I-35 leaves the turnpike in Emporia. Here, the Interstate meets I-335 (exit 127), which the Turnpike carries toward Topeka.

Emporia to Kansas City

I-35 passes through a toll plaza to continue on its own alignment running eastward through east-central Kansas. At Ottawa, it turns to a more northeasterly direction. After passing through the Kansas suburbs of the Kansas City Metro Area, it then crosses the state line into Missouri and into Downtown

History

The original plan for I-35 was to follow US-50 from

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

, as well as US-81 and

US-177 U.S. Route 177 (US-177) is a spur of U.S. Route 77. It currently runs for 233 miles (375 km) from South Haven, Kansas at US-81 to Madill, Oklahoma at US-70. It passes through the states of Kansas and Oklahoma. Route description Oklahoma ...

to the Oklahoma state line. But when the Kansas Turnpike was created, a part of I-35 was created south of Emporia. The Newton segment was declined, and there was another implication for US-50 that traveled north (which is known today). The segments from

Olathe Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 population of 141,290. History 19th century Olathe was ...

to Shawnee was created by 1962. The relocations of US-75 and K-31 were finished by 1975. I-35 in Kansas (as known today) had its final modification in 1976. The

Kansas Department of Transportation The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Kansas. Funding issues Since 2012, over $2 billion has been diverted from its coffers to the Kansas ...

(KDOT) worked with the Burns & McDonnell engineering company to design a new interchange at Homestead Lane (exit 205) in Johnson County as a

diverging diamond A diverging diamond interchange (DDI), also called a double crossover diamond interchange (DCD), is a subset of diamond interchange in which the opposing directions of travel on the non- freeway road cross each other on either side of the in ...

. The first interchange of its kind in the state, it opened September 28, 2013.

Exit list

Auxiliary routes

There are five auxiliary routes branching directly or indirectly from I-35 in Kansas: *: a spur route from Wichita to Salina; originally signed as I-35W until September 1976 **: a loop around the westside of Wichita; branches off of I-135 *: a segment of the Kansas Turnpike connecting I-35 in Emporia to the state capital, Topeka *: the Kansas City beltway *: a bypass of downtown Kansas City providing access to I-29 in Missouri and

Kansas City International Airport Kansas City International Airport (originally Mid-Continent International Airport) is a public airport in Kansas City, Missouri located northwest of Downtown Kansas City in Platte County, Missouri., effective December 30, 2021. The airport o ...

References

External links