K-187 is an approximately north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

in the U.S. state of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Located entirely within Nemaha County, K-187 runs from K-9 in Centralia north to

U.S. Route 36 U.S. Route 36 (US 36) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that travels approximately from Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado to Uhrichsville, Ohio. The highway's western terminus is at Deer Ridge Junction, an inte ...

(US-36) west of

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People, fictional characters and language * Seneca (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname : :* Seneca the Elder (c. 54 BC – c. AD 39), a Roman rhetorician, writer and father ...

. The highway passes through grasslands characteristic of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

and is a two-lane road for its entire length. Before state highways were numbered in Kansas there were

auto trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in t ...

s. K-187's southern terminus closely follows the former Kansas White Way and the northern terminus closely follows the former

Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway was an early coast-to-coast highway in the United States. The route crossed the nation from New York City to Los Angeles, and was in direct competition with the Lincoln Highway and the National Old Trails Road. I ...

. K-187 was established by the Kansas State Highway Commission, now known as the Kansas Department of Transportation, as a state highway on March 9, 1955, and its alignment has not changed since.

Route description

K-187's southern terminus is at K-9, also known as John Riggins Avenue, in Centralia. The highway travels north along 2nd Street and soon exits the city as it becomes surrounded by rural farmlands. The roadway reaches a crossing over Weyer Creek, a tributary of North Fork Black Vermillion River, before intersecting Stringtown Road. The highway continues through rural farmlands to an at-grade crossing with a

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

track. From here K-187 continues north a short distance to its northern terminus at US-36 west of

. The

Kansas Department of Transportation The Kansas Department of Transportation (KSDOT) 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 Kans ...

(KDOT) tracks the traffic levels on its highways, and in 2019, they determined that on average the traffic ranged from 915 vehicles per day north of Centralia to just over 1,000 vehicles per day in Centralia. The entire length is a paved two-lane highway. K-187 is not included in the National Highway System, but does connect to it at its northern terminus.

History

Prior to the formation of the Kansas state highway system, there were

s, which were an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. K-187's southern terminus closely follows the former Kansas White Way, which travelled from

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

, east to

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. A small portion of the city extends north into Andrew County, Missouri, Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the princ ...

. The northern terminus closely follows the former

, which was formed early in 1912, and travelled from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. K-187 was assigned by the State Highway Commission of Kansas, now known as KDOT, on March 9, 1955. That same day, a separate resolution was passed to realign K-187's southern terminus (K-9) to travel east from Centralia instead of south out of the city. On August 1, 1955, a $18,295 (equivalent to $ in ) bid was approved to pave the entire length of the highway. In late May 1957, a $9,909 (equivalent to $ in ) bid was approved to repave the entire length of K-187. From July 26 to 27, 1981, thunderstorms produced as much as of rain over Kansas. The flood waters washed a bridge out on K-187. The bridge was replaced and re-opened to traffic that same year. On January 1, 2022, KDOT announced that two separate bids were approved for work on K-187. One was a $942,370 bid to replace the bridge over Weyer Creek, and the other was a $1,460,270 bid to replace the bridge over the Fisher Creek Drainage. The highway's alignment has not changed since it was established.

Major intersections

Notes

References

External links

{{Attached KML
Kansas Department of Transportation State Map

KDOT: Historic State Maps

187 Year 187 ( CLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Quintius and Aelianus (or, less frequently, year 940 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 187 for th ...