K-10 (Kansas highway)

K-10
Route information
Maintained by KDOT
Length:	38 mi (61 km)
Existed:	1929 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-70 / Kansas Turnpike in Lawrence
	US-40 in Lawrence US-59 in Lawrence K-7 near Lenexa
East end:	I-435 / I-35 in Lenexa
Location
Counties:	Douglas, Johnson
Highway system
Kansas numbered highways ← K-9 K-11 →

K-10 is a 38-mile (61 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. It was originally designated in 1929. It is mostly a controlled-access freeway, linking Lawrence to Lenexa. It provides an important toll-free alternate route to Interstate 70 (the Kansas Turnpike). Several scenes for the controversial TV-movie The Day After were filmed on the highway in 1982 portraying a mass exodus evacuating the Kansas City area on I-70.

Route description

The highway's western end begins as a two-lane highway at I-70 exit 197 just west of Lawrence. It partially bypasses the city to the south to U.S. Route 59, providing access to Clinton Lake. K-10 continues to the northeast on the newly opened South Lawrence Trafficway before interchanging with 23rd Street (Old K-10). After exiting Lawrence east-bound, it passes through the city of Eudora, and then the cities of De Soto and Olathe, suburbs of Kansas City. It then terminates at an interchange with Interstate 435 in Lenexa. The eastern terminus is being reconstructed to provide a direct link to I-35. In Johnson County, the road is called the Governor John Anderson, Jr. Highway.

History

K-10 originally extended west of Lawrence to Herington, via Alta Vista, Alma, and Topeka. In 1956 the portion between Topeka and K-99 near Alma was designated as US-40 in preparation for upgrading this stretch to Interstate standards (for I-70). The segment between Alta Vista and Herington was redesignated as K-4 and K-10 was truncated eastward to Lawrence.

The process of upgrading K-10 to a freeway was begun in 1974. The first section completed was the section from De Soto to the junction with K-7, opening on November 8, 1976. The freeway was finally completed on December 18, 1984, when the stretch from K-7 to I-435 was completed.^[1] The old two-lane roadbed of K-10 was turned over to the counties to use as a secondary route. In Douglas County it became CR 442, although many of the locals, especially in Eudora, commonly refer to it as Old K-10.

The portion of K-10 between the Edgerton Road exit and the De Soto interchange at former K-285 (now Lexington Avenue) was used in the movie The Day After and, for the purposes of the film, was temporarily redesignated Interstate 70.

South Lawrence Trafficway

In the early 1970s traffic studies of K-10 determined a bypass around the west and south sides of Lawrence was necessary, and the Kansas Department of Transportation commenced due diligence on the bypass project. The bypass on the west side of Lawrence was completed in November 1996. Prior to the opening of the Trafficway, K-10 had ended at the junction of US-40 and US-59 in Lawrence. Completion of the eastern leg of the Trafficway was delayed for nearly three decades by lawsuits from environmentalist groups and Haskell University, as the planned route took the highway through the Haskell-Baker Wetlands. In October 2012, the deadline for the plaintiffs of the lawsuits to seek a Supreme Court review of the case passed,^[2] and a mitigation plan for the wetlands was added to the Trafficway plans.^[3] Construction began on November 12, 2013,^[4] and was anticipated to be completed by Fall 2016 before Thanksgiving.^[5] The ribbon cutting ceremony for the Trafficway was held on November 4, 2016, and in attendance were many local and state leaders including Governor Sam Brownback and Senator Pat Roberts. The Trafficway officially opened to all traffic on November 9, 2016.^[6]

Junction list

All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Douglas	​	0.00	0.00	I-70 / Kansas Turnpike – Topeka, Kansas City	I-70 exit 197; western terminus of K-10; roadway continues north as E. 850 Road
	​			US-40 – Topeka, Lawrence	Interchange
	Lawrence			Bob Billings Parkway / N. 1500 Road	Diamond Interchange, Opened December 2015
				Clinton Parkway	Interchange
				Wakarusa Drive	Proposed Diverging Diamond Interchange;http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2016/jun/26/douglas-county-commission-looks-keep-wakarusa-driv/
				US-59 – Lawrence, Ottawa	Former east end of freeway
				CR-1055 (Haskell Avenue/E. 1500 Road)	Opened November 2016 with South Lawrence Trafficway completion
	​			23rd Street	Old K-10; Former west end of freeway
	​			CR-1057 (E. 1900 Road)
	Eudora			CR-1061 (Church Street / E. 2200 Road) – Eudora
				CR-442 (N. 1400 Road)	Old K-10
Johnson	​			Evening Star Road
	​			Edgerton Road
	De Soto			Lexington Avenue	Former alignment of K-10; designated as K-285 until its decommissioning in 2001
				Kill Creek Road
	​			Cedar Creek Parkway
	Lenexa–Olathe line			K-7 – Bonner Springs, Olathe
				Woodland Road
				Ridgeview Road	Diverging diamond interchange; existing interchange converted July 2015[7]
	Lenexa	38	61	I-435 to I-35 / Renner Boulevard – Wichita, Des Moines	Eastern terminus of K-10; interchanges with Renner Blvd. and I-435 under reconstruction and being combined into a single interchange that, upon completion, will provide direct access from K-10 to I-35 via the new ramp to I-435 NB, exit 1B
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Tolled

References

1. Toplikar, David (December 17, 1984). "Missing Link on way to KC Falls Into Place". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
2. Lawhorn, Chad (October 9, 2012). "South Lawrence Trafficway legal fight ends with passing of deadline". LJWorld.com. The Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
3. Lawhorn, Chad (June 3, 2011). "KDOT commits $192 million to complete South Lawrence Trafficway". LJWorld.com. The Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved November 11th, 2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
4. Lawhorn, Chad (November 12, 2013). "Construction work begins on South Lawrence Trafficway". LJWorld.com. The Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved November 15th, 2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
5. Lawhorn, Chad (March 18, 2014). "Work to build trafficway through Baker Wetlands to begin this week". LJWorld.com. The Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved November 11th, 2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
6. Lawhorn, Chad (November 4, 2016). "Leaders laud completion of SLT at ribbon-cutting; road to open to traffic on Wednesday". LJWorld.com. The Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved November 11th 2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
7. KDOT. "Translines Express July 29, 2015" (PDF). Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 7, 2016.

External links

1. K-10 at route56.com
2. K-10 exit guide at OKRoads