U.S. Route 183


U.S. Route 183 is a north-south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with Interstate 90. Its southern terminus is in Refugio, Texas, at the southern intersection of U.S. Highway 77 and Alternate US 77.
US 183 was the last U.S. Route to be completely paved. The segment in Loup County, Nebraska, north of Taylor, was unpaved until 1967.

Route description

Texas

US-183 begins in Refugio, sharing a multiplex with US-77A. The two highways continue north through Goliad County until they split in DeWitt County. US-183 crosses I-10 south of the town of Luling.
The largest city that US-183 passes through is Austin, Texas, where it is mostly a limited access highway. Northwest of Austin, US-183 passes through the suburbs of Cedar Park and Leander, where the 183A toll road runs parallel to it. In Lampasas County, US-183 shares a multiplex with US-190 between the towns of Lampasas and Lometa.
US-183 shares a multiplex with US-84 from Goldthwaite in Mills County to Early in Brown County. It crosses I-20 in Cisco, Texas. US-183 enters a multiplex with US-283 in Throckmorton County, and both highways share a multiplex with US-277 and US-82 in Baylor County from Seymour to Mabelle. In Wilbarger County, US-183 exits the multiplex with US-283 and turns east with US-70 to share a wrong way concurrency with US-287 between the towns of Vernon and Oklaunion. US-183 continues north sharing a multiplex with US-70 until it leaves the state of Texas.

Oklahoma

US 183/US 70 enters Oklahoma by crossing the Red River south of Davidson, OK. In Davidson, US 70 splits from US 183, leaving US 183 on its own.
This continues as US 183 passes US 62 and BUS 62 in Snyder, OK. About north of Snyder, US 183 crosses Interstate 40 at Interstate 40's exit 66.
Another later, US 183 co-signs with US 270 near Seiling, OK. US 183/US 270 continue in a northwesterly direction for before picking up US 412 in Woodward, OK.
US 183/US 270/US 412 then leave Woodward in a due west fashion for a short time, until heading northwest again for, at which time US 270 and US 412 leave US 183 near Fort Supply, OK to form their own duplex through the panhandle of Oklahoma as US 270/US 412.
US 183 then continues north from the southern Harper County line to the Oklahoma/Kansas state line for a total of about before leaving the state.

Kansas

US-183 enters Kansas in Clark County and turns east at Sitka, where it begins a multiplex with US-160, entering Comanche County, where it passes through Protection. The highways stay paired as it turns north to pass through the Comanche County seat, Coldwater. At Coldwater, US-160 turns back to the east, and US-183 continues its northerly track.
Entering Kiowa County, US-183 reaches a junction with the multiplexed east-west route, US-54 and US-400, where it passes through Greensburg. In southern Edwards County, the highway makes a brief turn to the west before meeting up with US-56 in Kinsley, the Edwards County seat. US-56 and US-183 turn northeast before the highways split after entering Pawnee County. US-56 continues northeast toward Larned, and US-183 straightens out to pass through largely unpopulated areas in Edwards County.
In Rush County, US-183 intersects two primary east-west Kansas state highways, K-96 in Rush Center and K-4 in LaCrosse.
US-183 reaches the largest city along its route in Kansas, Hays, where a western bypass of the highway provides direct access to Gross Memorial Coliseum and Fort Hays State University. US-183 is known as Vine Street in Hays and contains numerous businesses. US-183 runs through town for three miles before crossing Interstate 70, which is heavily traveled in Hays with traffic between Denver and Kansas City. The interchange of US-183 and I-70 has been designated as the CW2 Bryan J. Nichols Fallen Veterans Memorial Interchange.
North of Hays, the highway has been resurfaced and realigned for to Plainville, one of two towns in Rooks County US-183 serves. At Plainville, US-183 has a junction with K-18. US-183 continues north to Stockton, the Rooks County seat, where US-24 crosses.
The highway enters Phillips County approximately north of Stockton. US-183 meets US-36 west, and the highways join for a multiplex through the city of Phillipsburg. The highways split in downtown Phillipsburg, and US-183 has one last junction with K-383 before exiting the state south of Alma, Nebraska.
US-183 is two-laned throughout Kansas, except for the portion which runs through Hays.

Nebraska

U.S. Highway 183 enters Nebraska south of Alma. It enters Alma after crossing Harlan County Lake and the Republican River and then runs concurrent with U.S. Highway 136 north out of Alma. After separating from US 136, US 183 continues north to Holdrege, where it intersects U.S. Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 34. US 183 continues north from Holdrege and intersects Interstate 80 south of Elm Creek shortly after crossing the Platte River. It then proceeds north into Elm Creek and meets U.S. Highway 30. US 183 continues north through Miller and intersects Nebraska Highway 2 at Ansley. It continues north from Ansley through Sargent, Taylor, and Rose before meeting U.S. Highway 20 in Bassett. At Bassett, US 183 turns west with US 20 before turning north again near Long Pine. US 183 continues north through Springview before entering South Dakota.

South Dakota

U.S. Highway 183 enters South Dakota just south of Wewela. It goes north to Colome, where it intersects U.S. Route 18. US 183 and US 18 pass concurrently northwest through Winner, then US 183 turns north, west of Winner. Route 183 goes north to Presho, where it intersects Interstate 90 and ends.
Legally, the South Dakota section of U.S. 183, with the exception of a concurrency with U.S. 18, is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-202.

History

When the route was first commissioned in 1930, it traveled from near Selden, Kansas to North Platte, Nebraska. This route is now part of US 83.
From 1932 until I-90 was built in the 1960s, US 183's northern terminus was further west, in Vivian, South Dakota at an intersection with its parent, US 83. In 1940, the southern terminus was extended south to Junction, Texas. It was extended to its present endpoint in 1951. In 1952, it was rerouted between Throckmorton and Cisco, Texas, replacing part of SH 6 and SH 187.

Major intersections

;Texas
;Oklahoma
;Kansas
;Nebraska
;South Dakota

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