K-7 (Kansas highway)
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by KDOT | ||||
| Length: | 244 mi (393 km) | |||
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| South end: |
 US-69 at Picher, Oklahoma | |||
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| North end: | Nebraska border north of White Cloud | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Cherokee, Crawford, Bourbon, Linn, Miami, Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth, Atchison, Doniphan | |||
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K-7 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is mostly a small country highway winding its way through the Osage Questas and Glaciated Regions of eastern Kansas, although a portion of the highway passes through the Kansas City metropolitan area. Significant portions of the highway overlap with U.S. Route 169 and U.S. Route 73. The portion of K-7 between Leavenworth and the Nebraska state line has been designated a scenic byway.
Route description
K-7 begins at the Oklahoma–Kansas state line. concurrent with U.S. Route 69. K-7 and US-69 split at an intersection with U.S. Route 160 in Columbus. K-7 then goes north to Scammon, where it meets K-102. It then intersects K-103 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Scammon before intersecting U.S. Route 400 at Cherokee. Five miles north of Cherokee, it intersects K-126 and then intersects K-47 at Girard. It then continues north from Girard, passing through Farlington before intersecting K-277. Near Hiattville, it intersects K-39 and turns east, then northeast. Five miles south of Fort Scott, K-7 intersects US-69 at a freeway interchange, and K-7 overlaps with US-69 into Fort Scott.
While in Fort Scott, K-7 and US-69 intersect U.S. Route 54 and K-7 overlaps with US-54 west for four miles (6 km). It then turns north again, and alternates between going north and going west before entering Devon. It continues north to K-31, with which it overlaps for a mile going east. It then turns north and goes through Mound City, intersecting K-52 there. It goes north-northwesterly for 16 miles (26 km) and intersects K-152 east of Parker. It goes north, then west for 9 miles (14 km), then at Beagle, turns north and intersects U.S. Route 169 south of Osawatomie. While overlapping US-169, it follows a freeway alignment that bypasses Osawatomie and Paola before meeting K-68. After K-68, the freeway bypasses Hillsdale and Spring Hill before turning into expressway. The overlap with US-169 ends at its intersection with Interstate 35, U.S. Route 50 and U.S. Route 56 at Olathe.
In Olathe, K-7 alternates between northbound and westbound routings before turning north and becoming freeway. On the border between Olathe and Lenexa, K-7 intersects the K-10 freeway. It continues north, then turns northwest to cross the Kansas River and enter Bonner Springs, where it immediately intersects K-32. It turns north to intersect Interstate 70, the Kansas Turnpike, then turns northwest to intersect U.S. Route 24, U.S. Route 40, and U.S. Route 73. At this point, which is on the border between Bonner Springs and Kansas City, an overlap with US-73 begins. K-7 and US-73 then go north along the western city limits of Kansas City before entering Lansing. They continue north through Lansing and upon entering Leavenworth, intersect K-5. Also in Leavenworth, they intersect K-92 and they briefly run concurrent with K-92 before separating and turning west to leave Leavenworth.
K-7 and US-73 leave Leavenworth going west until intersecting K-192, then turn north, intersecting K-74 near Potter. At Atchison, K-7's overlap with US-73 ends at its intersection with U.S. Route 59. After winding its way through Atchison, K-7 continues north and intersects K-20 near Bendena and U.S. Route 36 west of Troy. The highway turns northwest along an alignment closely parallelling the Missouri River and after passing through White Cloud, ends at the Nebraska border northwest of White Cloud. No corresponding state highway in Nebraska continues from K-7, although a county road continues northwest to Rulo, Nebraska.