Interstate 135 (I-135) is an approximately

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a supplemental subset of the freeways within the Interstate Highway System of the United States. Auxiliary routes are generally classified as spur routes, which con ...

in central and south-central

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

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. I-135, which is signed as north–south, runs between I-35 and the

Kansas Turnpike The Kansas Turnpike is a , freeway-standard toll road that lies entirely within the US state of Kansas. It runs in a general southwest–northeast direction from the Oklahoma border to Kansas City. It passes through several major Kansas cities ...

in Wichita north to

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 a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...

, U.S. Highway 40 (US-40), and US-81 in Salina. Except for the first , I-135 overlaps US-81 its entire length. The route also runs through the cities of McPherson, Newton, and

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. The highway was designated as Interstate 35W (I-35W) until September 1976, when it was renumbered as I-135 to conform to new AASHTO policies that eliminated most suffixed Interstate Highways. It is the longest three-digit "spur", with an odd first digit, in the Interstate System until the completion of I-369 in Texas. In 2021, work began to rebuild the northern junction with I-235.

Route description

I-135 begins from the south at exit 42 on the

. (The exit is signed as I-135/I-235/US-81 for Wichita and Salina.) US-81 joins I-135 later at exit 1A (East 47th Street South) and remains concurrent with it for the rest of its length. Less than from the Kansas Turnpike tollbooth, I-235, a loop around the westside of Wichita, branches off the highway at exit 1C. I-135 continues northward from there, running just east of the Wichita downtown area. It reunites with I-235 at exits 11A and 11B at milepost 11 at the loop's other end. I-135 leaves Wichita and continues northward to Newton where it turns northwest around milemarker 33. The freeway continues in this direction for , returning to a due north course at McPherson. The stretch of I-135 in Saline County from the Saline–McPherson county line to the highway's terminus at

, is designated as the Ben E. Vidricksen Highway, in honor of a state senator who was active in pushing for the highway's enlargement. The route ends on the northwest side of Salina, at its intersection at I-70. The road continues as US-81 north of this interchange.

History

Construction on the Canal Route portion of I-135 (in Wichita, where the Chisholm Creek Canal runs through the median of the highway) was begun in 1971. This portion of the route took eight years to complete with a cost of $32 million (equivalent to $ in ). It was built through the middle of the city's

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American. ...

, known as McAdams. Originally, the northern terminus of the highway at I-70 ended as a trumpet interchange. When US-81 was upgraded to a freeway between Salina and

Minneapolis, Kansas Minneapolis is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,946. History The community was originally called Markley's Mills, and under the latter name was laid ...

, the northern terminus was rebuilt as a full cloverleaf interchange, which remains to this day. Until September 13, 1976, I-135 was signed as Interstate 35W (I-35W). The Interstate's full length was completed in December 1979. In 2021, work began to rebuild the northern junction with I-235.

Exit list

References

External links

* Kansas Highway Maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT

{{3di, 35 35-1 35-1 1 Salina, Kansas Transportation in Wichita, Kansas Transportation in Sedgwick County, Kansas Transportation in Harvey County, Kansas Transportation in McPherson County, Kansas Transportation in Saline County, Kansas