K-150 (Kansas highway)


K-150 is a east-west state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. The route links U.S. Route 56 and US-77 northeast of Marion with US-50 west of Elmdale. It runs through the Flint Hills region of Kansas. There are no cities or towns along the road, but it provides a direct link for traffic from Marion, Hillsboro, McPherson and points west to Emporia and the Kansas Turnpike.

Route description

The route begins at a roundabout intersection with US-56 and US-77, at the southern end of their concurrency. From there, the route heads straight east through farmland. After an intersection with Clover Road, the fields around the highway turn into grassland as K-150 continues east. The road ends at US-50, which runs diagonally, south of Elmdale.
K-150 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-150 does connect to the National Highway System at its eastern and western terminus. 2017 Annual average daily traffic on K-150 was 1490 at each terminus.

History

K-150 was first designated a state highway in a July 1, 1937 resolution and at that time ran from US-50N and US-77 eastward to US-50S. It was first noted on the 1937 Kansas state roadmap. On June 27, 1956, the AASHO Route Numbering Committee approved US 56, between Springer, New Mexico, and Kansas City, Missouri. At this time US-50N was renumbered to US-56 and US-50S was renumbered to US-50.
The route has changed little, but the road was recently widened with shoulders added. Construction on the $5.416 million enhanced roundabout at the western terminus began in June 2015. The roundabout was enhanced by leaving in place the shooflies that were installed to take traffic around the site during construction. This allows oversized trucks that wouldn't fit on the roundabout to pass. K-150 was closed from early September 2015 to late December 2015 and traffic was detoured south along US-77 to make room for construction on that section of the roundabout.
Until recently, there was another K-150 which ran from K-7 in Olathe eastward to the Missouri border, where it became Route 150. But when Olathe and Overland Park annexed the land around K-150, the highway was decommissioned, since it would have run entirely through city limits, which is against Kansas law.

Major intersections