U.S. Route 56 (US 56) is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately in the Midwestern United States. US 56's western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business (I-25 Bus.), US 412 and

New Mexico State Road 21 New Mexico State Road 21 (NM 21), is a state highway located entirely in Colfax County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The road starts in the center of the town of Cimarron at U.S. Route 64 (US 64) and runs southward then east to an intersec ...

(NM 21) in Springer, New Mexico and the highway's eastern terminus is at US 71 in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. Much of it follows the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...

Route description

The highway passes through New Mexico,

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 ...

, Kansas, and Missouri. The eastbound shoulder also touches a corner of Texas at a small road junction near the New Mexico/Oklahoma border.

New Mexico

US 56 runs concurrent with US 412 for its entire length in New Mexico, and are signed as such through the state. The two routes begin in Springer and head east towards Abbot, where they serve as the northern terminus of

State Road 39 The following highways are numbered 39. For a list of roads called ''N39'', see List of N39 roads. Australia * Newell Highway * Goulburn Valley Highway * **Gore Highway ** Leichhardt Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 39 * British Columbia Hi ...

. Continuing east, US 56/412 meet the southern terminus of NM 193 south of Farley, the northern terminus of NM 120 east of Gladstone, and the southern terminus of NM 453. US 56/412 intersect US 64 and US 87 in

Clayton, New Mexico Clayton is a town and county seat of Union County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,980. History Early History Native Americans were present in the area of Clayton for at least 10,000 years, as evi ...

, and US 64 joins with US 56/412 in their trek northeast. The three routes serve as the southern terminus of NM 406 as they enter the Kiowa National Grassland. The three routes then cross into Oklahoma together.

Oklahoma

US-56's short path through Oklahoma consists of a diagonal slice across the western part of the

Oklahoma Panhandle The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Count ...

. US-56/64/412 enter Oklahoma near the southwest corner of the Panhandle, where they also enter Rita Blanca National Grassland. They leave the grassland near Felt. Three miles (4.8 km) southwest of Boise City,

US-385 U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from Deadwood, South Dakota to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Route description , - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 ...

joins the concurrency. The routes then enter Boise City, where they enter a traffic circle around the

Cimarron County Courthouse The Cimarron County Courthouse is the historic courthouse serving Cimarron County, Oklahoma, Cimarron County, Oklahoma, located in Boise City, Oklahoma, Boise City. The courthouse was designed by M.C. Parker in the Classical Revival architecture, C ...

that involves US-56, US-64, US-385, US-412,

State Highway 3 The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3 (disambiguation)#Roads, M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3 (disambiguation)#Roads, N3. For roads numbered 3A, see ...

, and SH-325. After leaving the traffic circle, US-56 overlaps US-64, US-412, and SH-3. east of the courthouse, US-56 meets US-287 at an interchange. US-56/64/412/SH-3 continue northeast for , where US-56 splits to travel northeast on its own. The route parallels the Cimarron Valley Railroad for the remainder of its time in Oklahoma. Keyes is the next town on US-56, and it also serves as the northern terminus of SH-171 where the two highways intersect. US-56 crosses into Texas County east of Sturgis. Just before crossing the Kansas line, US-56 meets the north end of SH-95. US-56 then enters Kansas on the east edge of Elkhart.

Kansas

US-56 enters the state at the Kansas/Oklahoma border near Elkhart. It weaves its way across the state from southwest to northeast, passing through such towns as Dodge City, Great Bend, McPherson,

Council Grove Council Grove is a city and county seat in Morris County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,140. It was named after an agreement between American settlers and the Osage Nation allowing settlers' ...

, and

Baldwin City Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States, about south of Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,826. The city is home to Baker University, the state's oldest four-year university. History ...

. It joins with

I-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 ...

/ US-50 east of Gardner, and goes northeast with I-35 into the

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 ...

Metro Area. It exits the state as part of Shawnee Mission Parkway in

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 ...

Missouri

For one mile (1.6 km) in Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, Route 56 follows the noted boulevard

Ward Parkway Ward Parkway is a boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, near the Kansas- Missouri state line. Ward Parkway begins at Brookside Boulevard on the eastern edge of the Country Club Plaza and continues westward along Brush Creek as U ...

along with 47th St through the Country Club Plaza. The route ends at an intersection with U.S. Route 71. It also includes Blue Parkway and Swope Parkway at certain points.

History

In the early 1950s, towns along what was then the K-45 corridor, connecting Ellsworth, Kansas to the

state line at Elkhart, formed the Mid-Continent Diagonal Highway Association to push for a new highway from Springer, New Mexico (on US 85) northeast across the

, along K-45, and continuing to Manitowoc, Wisconsin on

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. By mid-1954, it was being promoted as U.S. Route 55 between the Great Lakes and the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

. The first submissions to the

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

(AASHO) to establish the route were made in 1954; all placed the northeast end at Manitowoc, Wisconsin (absorbing US 151 from

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

), while they varied on whether the southwest end was to be at

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

Nogales, Arizona Nogales (English: or , ; ) is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The population was 20,837 at the 2010 census and estimated 20,103 in 2019. Nogales forms part of the larger Tucson–Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population ...

Oklahoma Department of Transportation The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is an government agency, agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for the construction and maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma Sec ...

Chronological History Documentation: US 56
(correspondence between ODOT, AASHO, and other DOTs) The first route considered in northeast Kansas was via US 40 from Ellsworth to Topeka and K-4 and US 59 via

Atchison Atchison may refer to: Places In the United States: * Atchison, California, a former settlement * Atchison, Kansas, a city * Atchison County, Kansas * Atchison County, Missouri People with the surname *Bob Atchison (born 1941), Canadian drag r ...

to St. Joseph, Missouri. A revised route adopted in March 1955, due to AASHO objections to the original route, which traveled concurrently with other U.S. Highways for over half of its length, followed K-14,

K-18 K18 may refer to: * K-18 (Kansas highway) * Keratin 18 Keratin 18 is a type I cytokeratin. It is, together with its filament partner keratin 8, perhaps the most commonly found products of the intermediate filament gene family. They are expressed in ...

, US 24, K-63, K-16, and US 59 via Lincoln and Manhattan. In July, the US 50-N Association proposed a plan that would have eliminated US 50N by routing US 55 along most of its length, from Larned east to Baldwin Junction, and then along US 59 to Lawrence and K-10 to

; towns on US 50N west of Larned, which would have been bypassed, led a successful fight against this. However, in September of that year, the

Kansas Highway Commission 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 ...

accepted that plan, taking US 55 east to Kansas City. On June 27, 1956, the AASHO Route Numbering Committee considered this refined plan for US 55, between Springer, New Mexico and Kansas City, Missouri, with a short US 155 along the remaining portion of US 50N from Larned west to Garden City. The committee approved the request, but since the proposed route was more east–west than north–south, it changed it to an even number – US 56 – and the spur to US 156. On June 26, 1958, AASHO denied the New Mexico Department of Transportation's request to extend US 56 west from Springer to Santa Fe, which would have followed US 85, US 84 and US 285. US 56 originally took a different route between Boise City, Oklahoma and Elkhart, Kansas. The original route followed US 64 east to an intersection south of Eva. It then split off to the north towards Elkhart. By 1961, the section north of US 64 had been overlaid with SH-95. The following year, US 56 was rerouted over SH-114, bringing it to its current diagonal path across the Oklahoma Panhandle. The old alignment is still on the Oklahoma highway system as the north half of SH-95.

Major intersections

Related routes

Herington business loop

U.S. Route 56 Business (US-56 Bus.) is a short business loop through

Herington, Kansas Herington is a city in Dickinson and Morris counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,109. History 19th century Herington was named after its founder, Monroe Davis Herington. His name at b ...

. US-56 begins at US-56 and US-77 south of Herington. At this intersection, there is no access to eastbound US-56 or northbound US-77 from US-56 Bus. and no access to US-56 Bus. from westbound US-56 or southbound US-77. US-56 Bus. heads north through flat lands with scattered trees for then enters

Herington Herington is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jon Herington (born 1954), American musician *Leigh Herington, American politician * Marieve Herington, Canadian actress and singer Fictional characters: *Tjokkie Herington, chara ...

. The highway continues for roughly then curves east and becomes Trapp Street. US-56 Bus. then crosses Lime Creek as it continues through the city. After roughly the highway exits the city and reaches its eastern terminus at US-56 and US-77. US-56 Bus. and US-77 Bus. was approved through Herington in a meeting on October 13, 1979. US-77 Bus. was approved to be decommissioned in a meeting on June 9, 1991, leaving just US-56 Bus.. ;Major intersections

Temporary route

U.S. Route 56 Temporary (US-56 Temp.) was a temporary route of US 56 in Oklahoma. It began on modern US-56 northeast of Boise City, Oklahoma and followed US 64 and SH 3 east to SH 95. It then traveled north along SH 95 to Elkhart, Kansas. The route was approved on July 11, 1956, along existing highways, when the current routing of US-56 was being constructed. By 1962, US 56 was rerouted over SH 114, bringing it to its current diagonal path across the Oklahoma Panhandle. ;Major intersections

References

External links