K-31 is a long
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
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 the ...
. K-31 is signed as east–west from US-69 in Fulton to US-59 west of Kincaid and is signed as north–south from US-59 west of Kincaid to K-99 west of Harveyville. K-31 runs diagonally southeast–northwest, connecting small towns in east-central Kansas.
Route description
K-31 begins at a diamond interchange with
U.S. Highway 69 (US-69) near
Fulton
Fulton may refer to:
People
* Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship
* Fulton (surname)
Given name
* Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer
* Fult ...
in
Bourbon County and heads west on a two-lane road to
Mapleton Mapleton may refer to:
Places Australia
* Mapleton, Queensland, a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region
Canada
* Mapleton, New Brunswick, a rural community in Kings County
* Mapleton, Moncton, New Brunswick, a neighborhood
* Maple ...
. The highway turns north for , then turns west again at a junction with
K-52. west of this point, K-31 enters the town of
Kincaid, where it begins an
concurrency with
US-59, and also overlaps
US-169 south of
Garnett. In Garnett, K-31 leaves US-59 to the west and heads towards
Harris
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...
where it turns north, again. It turns west at the
Franklin County line and overlaps the border until it enters
Coffey County, where it continues west toward
Waverly. Leaving the town, K-31 heads north again toward
Interstate 35
Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...
(I-35), and
Melvern. It shares a short wrong-way concurrency with I-35 before arriving in Melvern, where it once again turns west. The highway begins a concurrency with
US-75
U.S. Route 75 is a major north–south United States Numbered Highways, U.S. Highway that extends in the central United States. The highway's northern terminus is in Noyes, Minnesota, at the Canada–United States border, Canadian border, wh ...
, where it heads toward, and passes through
Lyndon
Lyndon may refer to:
Places
* Lyndon, Alberta, Canada
* Lyndon, Rutland, East Midlands, England
* Lyndon, Solihull, West Midlands, England
United States
* Lyndon, Illinois
* Lyndon, Kansas
* Lyndon, Kentucky
* Lyndon, New York
* Lyndon, Ohio
* ...
. North of the city, K-31 again turns west toward
Osage City. It begins a concurrency with
US-56 north of the town and travels north to
Burlingame, where it leaves US-56 and heads west toward
Harveyville. After passing through Harveyville, K-31 terminates at
K-99 in rural
Wabaunsee County.
Almost all of K-31's alignment is maintained by KDOT. The entire brick section within Burlingame is maintained by the city. The section of K-31 in Osage City from K-170 to slightly east of 9th Street is maintained by the city.
History
The majority of K-31 has followed the same route since its creation. Minor adjustments were made when I-35 was built, and K-31 was rerouted through Melvern.
The junction with K-268 and US-75 was formerly a four-way intersection. From January 2004 to August 2009, there were a total of 24 crashes, which included one fatality and 15 that resulted in injuries. Residents of the surrounding communities requested a "safer type of intersection." Then in late Fall of 2013, work began to reconstruct the intersection as a roundabout. On November 17, 2014, the new roundabout at the eastern terminus opened to unrestricted traffic. The project was fully completed by the end of December. Smoky Hill LLC from Salina, was the primary contractor on the $2.541 million roundabout project. On August 9, 2018, a tractor-trailer travelling southbound on US-75 crashed into the roundabout. The trucks fuel tank was damaged and spilled about 70 gallons of diesel fuel. K-31 and US-75 traffic was reduced to one lane for about four hours after the crash.
Major intersections
References
External links
{{Attached KML
Kansas Department of Transportation State MapKDOT: Historic State Maps
031
Transportation in Bourbon County, Kansas
Transportation in Linn County, Kansas
Transportation in Anderson County, Kansas
Transportation in Osage County, Kansas
Transportation in Wabaunsee County, Kansas