K-196 is a east–west

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 Harvey and

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

Counties 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 ...

. K-196's western terminus is at

Interstate 135 Interstate 135 (I-135) is an approximately auxiliary Interstate Highway in central and south-central Kansas, United States. I-135, which is signed as north–south, runs between I-35 and the Kansas Turnpike in Wichita north to I-70, ...

(I-135),

U.S. Route 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 ...

(US-81) and K-15 just south of

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: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

and the eastern terminus is at K-254 just east of

El Dorado, Kansas El Dorado ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Kansas, Butler County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in the central part of Butler County and located in south-central Kansas. As of the 2020 Unit ...

. The highway runs along the south border the town of

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

and bypasses Potwin to the south. K-196 was first established as a state highway on March 29, 1937, and at that time ran from US-81 and K-15 south of Newton to US-54 and US-77 in El Dorado. Then between 1957 and 1968, K-254 was extended along K-196 through El Dorato to US-54 and US-77. The overlap with K-254 was removed on May 6, 1994, and K-196 was truncated to end at K-254 west of El Dorado.

Route description

K-196 begins at a

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade separation, grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. ...

with

I-135 Interstate 135 (I-135) is an approximately auxiliary Interstate Highway in central and south-central Kansas, United States. I-135, which is signed as north–south, runs between I-35 and the Kansas Turnpike in Wichita north to I-70, ...

exit 25, which is co-designated as

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 ...

and K-15. It begins heading east through rural farmlands as it crosses Jester Creek. About past here it crosses West Wildcat Creek at South Woodlawn Road. Another east it crosses Wildcat Creek at Webb Road. About east from here, K-196 crosses Gypsum Creek. The highway then passes north of Whitewater Cemetery, crosses U.P. S.Y.S Railroad, then crosses into Butler County. As K-196 enters the county, it passes south of

, and then curves east-southeastward. It then passes by Brainerd and soon crosses Dry Creek, then Whitewater River about later. The highway then curves east as it passes south of Potwin. Past Potwin, K-196 curves to a more southeast direction, then crosses Fourmile Creek. Just over past Fourmile Creek, it crosses Rock Creek. After another it curves south as it passes to the west of Baker Cemetery. After curving south it continues roughly , then curves southeast for then ends at a diamond interchange with K-254 west of

El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...

, near

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 ...

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 ...

. 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 2018, they determined that on average the traffic varied from 1430 vehicles near Potwin, 2280 vehicles near the western terminus, to 2380 vehicles near the eastern terminus. K-196 is not included in the National Highway System. The National Highway System is a system of highways important to the nation's defense, economy, and mobility. K-196 does connect to the National Highway System at each terminus. As of 2017, the portion of the route in Harvey County is paved with partial design bituminous pavement and the portion of the route in Butler County is paved with full design bituminous pavement.

History

Early roads

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, 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-196's western terminus (I-135, US-81, K-15) closely follows the

Meridian Highway Meridian Highway was a United States auto trail in the early twentieth century. It roughly followed the path of present-day U.S. Route 81 from Pembina, North Dakota to Fort Worth, Texas, and Interstate 35 from Fort Worth to Laredo, Texas. Histor ...

and South West Trail. The former eastern terminus (US-77, US-54) was part of the Atlantic and Pacific Highway, Fort Scott Wichita Road and Kansas-Oklahoma-Texas Highway.

Establishment and realignments

K-196 was first established as a state highway on March 29, 1937, by the State Highway Commission of Kansas, now known as

(KDOT). In an April 10, 1946 resolution, K-196 was slightly realigned in Butler County northwest of El Dorado. Before mid 1953, K-196 followed the railroad through Oil Hill, then in a May 19, 1953 resolution, K-196 was moved slightly southwest to a new alignment. By June 1957, Butler county had finished projects on the new K-254 and in a June 26, 1957 resolution, it was established as a state highway from the Sedgwick–Butler County line to K-196 west of El Dorado. Then sometime between June 26, 1957 and 1968, K-254 was extended along K-196 through El Dorato to US-54 and US-77. In an October 8, 1958 resolution, K-196 Alternate (K-196 Alt.) was created on the west end of El Dorado. In a January 27, 1967 resolution it was approved to build I-35W from the Sedgewick–Harvey County line north to the Harvey–McPherson County line and then realign K-15 and US-81 onto I-35W. Then by 1970, I-35W was built and K-196 was truncated to it current western terminus. I-35W was remembered to I-135 on September 13, 1976. Then sometime between 1975 and 1981, K-196 Alt. was decommissioned. The overlap with K-254 was removed on May 6, 1994, and K-196 was truncated to end at K-254 west of El Dorado.

Major intersections

References

External links

* Kansas Highway Maps
Current
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507230256/http://www.ksdot.org/burtransplan/maps/MapsState.asp , date=May 7, 2016

196 Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 196 for this yea ...

Transportation in Harvey County, Kansas Transportation in Butler County, Kansas El Dorado, Kansas