U.S. Route 169 (US-169) is a major north–south

U.S. Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

that runs from US-64 in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, to US-53 near

Virginia, Minnesota Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mesabi Iron Range. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Range's commercial center. The population was 8,423 ...

. In Kansas, the highway is a main north–south route that runs through the eastern end of the state from the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

border to

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

border. Along the way US-169 intersects several major highways including US-400 by Cherryvale, US-54 by Iola, overlaps US-59 south of Garnett, overlaps I-35 from

Olathe Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 population of 141,290. History 19th century Olathe was ...

Merriam Merriam can refer to: People * Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), American ethnomusicologist * Charles Edward Merriam (1874–1953), American political scientist * Charles W. Merriam (1877–1961), American insurance businessman and politician * Clinto ...

, and in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

begins an overlap with I-70, US-24 and US-40 which it follows into Missouri.

Route description

US-169 enters the state at Coffeyville as a four-lane road and is a four-lane highway for about until the edge of the Coffeyville Industrial Park. A segment between Chanute and Iola is a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

with fully controlled access with center concrete barrier, with two lanes in each direction. US-169 runs concurrently with US-59 and K-31 starting about south of Garnett and diverges northeast again immediately south of Garnett. At Osawatomie the road becomes a full freeway and runs concurrently with K-7. In southern Johnson County US-169 becomes an

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

until its junction with Interstate 35 (I-35) in Olathe. From this point to the Missouri state line, US-169 alternates between freeways and surface streets. It follows I-35 to Shawnee Mission Parkway in Overland Park, then travels east to Rainbow Boulevard. US-169 then follows surface streets to its junction with I-70 near downtown

. US-169 and I-70 enter Missouri together just after crossing the Kansas River.

History

In a June 30, 1980 resolution, US-169 and K-57 were realigned to run directly north–south through Iola. Also at this time, K-269 was first designated a state highway and ran from K-57 and US-169 north to US-54. In a September 20, 1991, resolution, it was proposed to realign K-57 and US-169 over K-269. The project was completed on October 31, 1999, and at that time, K-269 was decommissioned and became part of the new K-57 and US-169. The intersection immediately south of Garnett used to be a braided intersection with stop and yield signs; it was identified as a high crash location in 2001, and was rebuilt as a roundabout that opened in April 2006. The

Kansas Department of Transportation The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Kansas. Funding issues Since 2012, over $2 billion has been diverted from its coffers to the Kansas ...

is rebuilding or planning to rebuild several other rural intersections as roundabouts for increased safety.

Major intersections

Garnett business route

U.S. 169 has one special route while in Kansas, Business Route 169. The business route northern terminus is the junction of U.S. 169 & 6th Avenue in Garnett. The main highway bypasses the town to the Southeast. The business route travels along 6th Avenue until reaching Maple Street where it intersects with

U.S. 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA Corridor Highway Sy ...

and K-31 until it ends at its intersection with U.S. 169 at a roundabout South of Garnett in Anderson County, Kansas.

References

Kansas U.S. Highways in Kansas

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
Kansas Department of Transportation State MapKDOT: Historic State Maps