U.S. Highway 24 (US-24) in the 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 ...

runs east–west across the northern half of the state for . The route mostly connects rural communities across the High Plains of Kansas, while also later providing an Interstate alternate between

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

, Lawrence, and

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 t ...

. US-24 both enters and exits the state running concurrently with Interstate 70 (I-70). Along with

US-40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

, the road has largely been replaced by the more modern Interstate in its functionality as a long-distance route.

Route description

US-24 enters the state from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

concurrent with

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 ...

southwest of Kanorado. For its first , the route runs concurrently with the Interstate, passing Goodland and

Brewster Brewster may refer to: People *Brewster (surname) *Brewster Kahle (born 1960), American computer technologist * Brewster H. Shaw (born 1945), American astronaut * Grace Brewster Hopper (born 1906), American computer scientist, mathematician, and ...

. This is despite the fact that former alignment remains intact, albeit largely as a

local road A road hierarchy is a system for categorizing roads. Road networks worldwide are typically organized according to one or more schemes: * ''Functional classification'' reflects a road’s intended role, balancing mobility (efficient through mo ...

. The exception to this rule is a

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route that branches off a parent numbered highway at its beginning, continues through the central business district of a nearby city or to ...

through downtown Goodland. South-southwest of

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, US-24 splits from the Interstate and begins heading northeastward before eastward and into Colby. The route passes through the northern side of town, intersecting

K-25 K-25 was the codename given by the Manhattan Project to the program to produce enriched uranium for atomic bombs using the gaseous diffusion method. Originally the codename for the product, over time it came to refer to the project, the produ ...

before continuing east. Toward the

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

– Sheridan county line, US-24 intersects US-83 in an extremely rural setting southeast of the town of Gem. The route continues through Sheridan, Graham, and Rooks counties, passing through the towns of Hoxie, Hill City, and Stockton and intersecting K-23, US-283, K-18, and US-183. US-24 also passes by several other smaller communities, such as Menlo and Morland, connecting to those towns via secondary

state highways 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 ...

. Additionally, the route passes around the northern edge of the Webster Reservoir in western Rooks County. In Osborne, the highway joins US-281 and begins heading northward. South of Portis, US-24 leaves US-281 and returns to an eastward trajectory, picking up a concurrency with K-9 in the process. The route passes through Downs and Cawker City, around Waconda Lake, and into Beloit. In Beloit, it junctions K-14, before K-9 splits toward the east as US-24 begins a southeastward run to Glasco, where it returns to an eastward trajectory. East of that town, the route crosses

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 another rural setting. US-24 continues through

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

and

Clay Center Clay Center can refer to a community in the United States: *Clay Center, Kansas * Clay Center, Nebraska *Clay Center, Ohio * Clay Center, West Virginia It can also refer to an astronomical observatory and learning center at the Dexter School The ...

and into

Riley County Riley County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,959. The county was named after Bennet Riley, the 7th governor of California, and a ...

. Shortly after Leonardville, US-24 takes a sharp rightward turn before intersecting

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, ...

on the north side of

Riley Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...

, returning to an eastward direction and running concurrently. The routes split shortly thereafter as US-24 begins heading southeast toward

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The route passes around the city to the northeast and east sides, before splitting away from town at K-177 heading into Pottawatomie County and crossing the Big Blue River. US 24 eastbound Perry

US-24 runs across the southern edge of the county parallel to the

Kansas River The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a meandering river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is potentially the southwestern most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is sometimes in turn the northwesternmost portion of ...

, passing through Wamego, Belvue, and St. Marys. Entering

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

, US-24 begins heading southeastward toward

via Rossville and Silver Lake. US-24 passes across the northern end of Topeka as a hybrid

limited-access road A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, partial controlled-access highway, and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a contro ...

, with four interchanges in and around the city, including ones with US-75 and K-4, with a short concurrency between interchanges with the last route. US-24 continues eastward, paralleling the Kansas River through Jefferson County, passing through Grantville and Perry, then picking up a concurrency with US-59 north of Williamstown. The routes then turn south toward Lawrence, with US-24 splitting to the east and gaining a concurrency with

on the north side of the city as US-59 and US-40 west head south toward downtown. US-24/US-40 heads northeast toward Tonganoxie, where it turns east once again. On the

– Bonner Springs city line, the two routes intersect US-73 and K-7 at a

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passe ...

, where US-24/US-40 joins US-73/K-7 southward toward

and Bonner Springs. At I-70, US-24 and US-40 join the Interstate Highway eastward, while US-73 ends and K-7 continues southward into the core of Bonner Springs. US-24 continues with I-70 into Kansas City and across the Kansas River into

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

History

When the

United States Numbered Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these ...

was first instituted in 1926, much of what is now US-24 was designated as U.S. Highway 40N (US-40N). US-40N ran along present-day US-24 between

Limon, Colorado Limon is a statutory town in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States. Its population was 2,043 at the 2020 United States census, the most populous municipality of the county. Limon lies at the intersection of Interstate 70, U.S. Highways ...

, and

. At Manhattan, it and US-40S recombined into US-40, which used the present alignment of US-24 eastward toward

. Between Topeka and Lawrence, K-10 occupied the current alignment of US-24 as US-40 used its still standing alignment on the south side of the

. At Lawrence, US-40 returned to using US-24's alignment onto

and

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. In 1935, US-40N was decommissioned and US-24 was extended westward from its previous terminus at

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

across the state into

and eventually on to

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and largest city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United St ...

(later reduced to

Minturn, Colorado Minturn is a List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,033 at the 2020 United States census. Geography Minturn ...

Major junctions

References

External links