K-18 is a , west–east state highway in the U.S. State of

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 th ...

. K-18's western terminus is at

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is in Independence Township, Mic ...

(US-24) near Bogue and the eastern terminus is at K-99 south of

Wamego Wamego is a city in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,841. History Wamego was platted in 1866. It was named for a Potawatomi Native American chief. The first post office in ...

. Portions of the highway have been upgraded to a freeway beginning in 2012. K-18 from US-81 to the western boundary of Lincoln County has been designated "Medal of Honor Recipient Donald K. Ross Memorial Highway".

Route description

K-18 begins near the town of Bogue in Graham County as it branches off to the south from US-24. The highway then stairsteps to the southeast through the towns of Damar, Palco, Plainville, and Codell in Rooks County; Natoma in Osborne County; Paradise, Waldo, Luray, and Lucas in Russell County (K-18 is duplexed with US-281 for west of Luray); and Sylvan Grove, Lincoln, and Beverly in Lincoln County. As K-18 enters Ottawa County, it takes a due east bearing, traveling through Tescott and meeting US-81 north of Salina. The road briefly jogs to the north for around before turning east again to travel through Bennington and Talmage in Dickinson County and into Junction City in Geary County. In Junction City, K-18 meets US-77 and travels south along US-77 through the city until it hits I-70. K-18 then travels to the northeast along I-70 for eight miles (13 km) before exiting and continuing to the northeast toward

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

as a freeway. K-18 crosses the Kansas River at the Riley County line and travels through Ogden into Manhattan. Once traveling through Manhattan, K-18 again crosses the Kansas River and parallels the river to the south into Wabaunsee County before ending at K-99 south of Wamego. The section of K-18 from just east of the interchange with K-113 to K-177 within Manhattan is maintained by the city.

History

K-18 was first designated as a state highway in 1926, and ran from US-40 (now US-24) to US-81 north of Salina. In 1936, it extended to US-77 in Junction City. In 1953, it extended to K-13. In 1960, it extended east over cancelled K-29 to K-99.

Realignments

In a November 23, 1955 resolution, a spur route of K-18 was built on the western side of Manhattan. Then in a November 14, 1956 resolution, the new alignment of K-18 was to be built from the western end of the spur westward. In a resolution on May 9, 1973, it was approved to realign K-18 onto I-70 and US-40, which removed the overlap between K-18 and K-57. The former section of K-18 from Ogden northeast to the new K-18 was redesignated as K-114. K-114 was proposed to remove K-18 from its course through

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

in favor of a route around the military base between Ogden and Junction City to separate military traffic and regular highway traffic. K-18 would be placed on its present corridor from just east of Ogden south to I-70, and the piece of K-18 between the city of Ogden and the new portion of K-18 would become K-114. The junction of K-18 and K-114 would be a partial interchange featuring a flyover ramp for westbound K-18 and no access from K-114 to westbound K-18 or from eastbound K-18 to K-114. K-114 was established when construction on the K-18 link between Ogden and I-70 was completed between 1975 and 1977. Between 2010 and 2013, K-18 and K-114 were relocated and their present interchange was constructed. The section of K-18 from I-70 in Grandview Plaza to K-113 in Manhattan has been rebuilt into a limited-access divided freeway, a project that began in 2012. On April 5, 2017, work began to convert the interchange with K-113 in Manhattan into a diverging diamond interchange. The $2.587 million project (equivalent to $ in ), completed by Amino Brothers Co. Inc. out of Kansas City, was completed and open to traffic in December 2017.

Junction list

References

External links