U.S. Route 54 (US 54) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from El Paso, Texas, to Interstate 72 (I-72) in Griggsville, Illinois. In the U.S. state of Kansas, US 54 is a main east–west highway that runs from the Oklahoma border east to the Missouri border.

U.S. Highway 54 marker
U.S. Highway 54
Map
US 54 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by KDOT
Length378.22 mi[1] (608.69 km)
Major junctions
West end US 54 at Oklahoma state line
Major intersections
East end US 54 at Missouri state line
Location
CountryUnited States
StateKansas
CountiesSeward, Meade, Clark, Ford, Kiowa, Pratt, Kingman, Sedgwick, Butler, Greenwood, Woodson, Allen, Bourbon
Highway system
  • Kansas State Highway System
K-53 K-55
K-41 K-41

Route description

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US 54 intersects US 69/K-7 in Fort Scott, KS

US 54 enters the state from Oklahoma in Seward County, and travels through the cities of Liberal and Plains, where it runs concurrently with US 160 in Meade County. Just east of the city of Meade, US 54 splits from US 160 and continues in a northeasterly direction through Meade and Ford counties before beginning a long concurrency with US 400 in Mullinville in Kiowa County.

The highway then travels through the town of Greensburg and continues as a two-lane road through Pratt, Cunningham, and Kingman. At Pratt, the Union Pacific railroad tracks which paralleled the highway for over 600 miles (970 km) from El Paso turn to the northeast (towards Topeka) and leave US 54. The road becomes a divided highway in eastern Kingman County. From Kingman to Garden Plain in Sedgwick County it is a freeway but becomes an at-grade expressway as it passes through Goddard and approaches Wichita.

 
US 54/US 400 a few miles west of Pratt, Kansas

The freeway resumes as the road crosses the city limits of Wichita near Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. In Wichita, US 54/US 400 is known as Kellogg Avenue, and has junctions with I-235, I-135 and I-35, the Kansas Turnpike, before a junction with K-96. The Kellogg Avenue freeway has six lanes and extends 16 miles (26 km) from 111th Street on the west side of Wichita to Zelta just before the I-35/Kansas Turnpike interchange on the east side. Upgrading of Kellogg Avenue from a surface arterial to a freeway has been underway since the mid-1980s, with the latest interchange project opening in late 2019. The road gets its name from Milo Bailey Kellogg, a shopkeeper and Civil War veteran who was the city's first civilian postmaster in 1870.

The concurrency of US 54 and US 400 continues through Augusta in Butler County before US 400 heads east toward the Missouri state line, while US 54 forms a brief concurrency with US 77 through El Dorado. At El Dorado, US 54 continues its easterly course through rural areas in Greenwood and Woodson counties before passing through the cities of Iola and Fort Scott; US 77 heads north to Junction City. US 54 exits Kansas in Bourbon County before reaching Nevada, Missouri.

History

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K-41
Existed1926–1927

On March 6, 2020, work began on a $27.6 million project to expand US-54 from two lanes to a four-lane divided limited access expressway, an additional three miles east from Liberal. Koss Construction Company of Topeka is the main contractor of this project.[2]

Construction on the first section of the East Kellogg improvement project started in August 2015. The project included a redesigned intersection with Webb Road and widened US-54 and US-400 from four lanes to six lanes from Webb Road to Greenwich Road. Construction on a second project began in 2016, to continue widening the highway to a six-lane freeway between Greenwich Road and K-96. Also new bridges will be built over I-35/KTA, new ramps will be constructed from southbound I-35/KTA to westbound US-54/US-400 and from eastbound US-54/US-400 to both northbound and southbound I-35/KTA. In addition, two-lane one way frontage roads on each side of the freeway will be built. Construction for both projects should be completed by late 2021.[3] A two-mile section of the new highway, from Eastern Street to the K-96 junction, opened on November 21, 2019.[4] On April 16, 2020, vandals damaged an estimated $50,000 worth of construction equipment, which included a bulldozer, excavator and an off-road vehicle.[5]

Future

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The state is studying a northwestern bypass of Wichita, which would redesignate K-254 as US-54. [6]

Major intersections

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All exits are unnumbered.

CountyLocationmi[7]kmDestinationsNotes
Seward0.0000.000 
 
US 54 west
Continuation into Oklahoma
Old US 54Interchange
Liberal 
 
  US-270 east / US-83 (Country Estates Road) / 2nd Street / Bluebell Road – Garden City, Turpin OK
Western terminus of US-270
Meade 
 
US-160 west
Western end of US-160 overlap
Meade  K-23 (Fowler Street)
 
 
US-160 east
Eastern end of US-160 overlap
 
 
K-98 west
Eastern terminus of K-98
ClarkMinneola  US-283 (Oak Street) – Englewood, Dodge City
Ford 
 
K-94 south
Northern terminus of K-94
Bucklin 
 
K-34 north
Western end of K-34 overlap
 
 
K-34 south (Main Street)
Eastern end of K-34 overlap
Kiowa 
 
US-400 west – Mullinville, Dodge City
Interchange; western end of US-400 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
  US-183 – Kinsley, Coldwater
PrattPratt  US-281 – St. John, Medicine Lodge, Airport
 
 
K-61 north – Hutchinson, Pratt Community College
Kingman170th Avenue – CunninghamInterchange
 
 
K-11 north – Hutchinson
Former K-14 north
Kingman 
 
K-14 south (Main Street) – Anthony, Business District, Airport
Western end of K-14 overlap
40th AvenueWestern end of freeway
70th Avenue
 
 
K-14 north (100th Avenue) – Hutchinson, Murdock
Eastern end of K-14 overlap; former K-17
Mt. Vernon
Sedgwick  K-251 (391st Street West)
383rd Street West
343rd Street West
Garden PlainEastern end of freeway; former K-163
WichitaMaize RoadWestern end of freeway
Tyler Road
Ridge Road – Eisenhower National Airport
Dugan RoadNo direct eastbound exit (signed at Ridge Road)
  I-235Split into separate exits for I-235 NB and SB; I-235 exit 7
West Street
Edwards Street / Meridian AvenueAccess to Southwest Boulevard (former K-42)
Seneca Street / Sycamore Street
Central Business District
Washington Avenue
    I-135 / US-81 / K-15 – Salina, Oklahoma CityI-135 exits 5B-6A
Grove StreetWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
Hillside Street
Oliver Avenue / Edgemoor Street
Woodlawn BoulevardWestbound access via Towne East Drive/Armour Drive
Towne East Drive / Armour Drive
Rock RoadEastbound access via Towne East Drive/Armour Drive
   I-35 / Kansas Turnpike – Oklahoma City, Kansas CityClosed, access via south frontage road only; I-35/Kansas Tpke. exit 50
Webb RoadOpened in 2020
Greenwich Road
   I-35 / Kansas Turnpike – Oklahoma City, Kansas CityEastbound exit and westbound entrance, no direct access from NB I-35/Kansas Tpke.; I-35/Kansas Tpke. exit 53A
 
 
 
 
 
 
K-96 west to I-35 / Kansas Turnpike
Interchange; eastern end of freeway
ButlerAugusta 
 
US-77 south (Walnut Street) – Douglass, Winfield
Western end of US-77 overlap
Haverhill, SmileybergInterchange
 
 
US-400 east – Fredonia
Partial interchange; eastern end of US-400 overlap; eastbound exit ramp, westbound access via SE 100th Street
El Dorado 
 
 
 
US-77 north (N. Main Street) / K-254 west (W. Central Avenue)
Eastern end of US-77 overlap; eastern terminus of K-254
 
 
K-177 north
Southern terminus of K-177
Greenwood 
 
K-99 south
Western end of K-99 overlap
 
 
K-99 north
Eastern end of K-99 overlap
Woodson 
 
K-105 south – Toronto
Yates Center  US-75
Allen  US-169 – Garnett, ChanuteInterchange
Moran  US-59
Bourbon 
 
K-3 north
Western end of K-3 overlap
 
 
K-3 south
Eastern end of K-3 overlap
 
 
K-7 north
Western end of K-7 overlap
 
 
US-69 north – Kansas City
Interchange; western end of US-69 overlap
Fort Scott  
 
US-69 / K-7 south – Pittsburg
Interchange; eastern end of US-69/K-7 overlap
 
 
US 54 east – Nevada
Continuation into Missouri
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

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  1. ^ Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Planning Network GIS data version 2005.08
  2. ^ Kansas Department of Transportation (March 3, 2020). "Groundbreaking for U.S. 54 project set for March 6" (PDF). Topeka: Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  3. ^ Kansas Department of Transportation (2020). "About the Projects". Topeka: Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Kansas Department of Transportation (November 21, 2019). "Two-mile section of Kellogg freeway opens in east Wichita" (PDF). Topeka: Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  5. ^ Tidd, Jason (April 16, 2020). "After $50K vandalism at East Kellogg construction site, Crime Stoppers offers $10K reward". Wichita: The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  6. ^ "KSDOT Project K-254".
  7. ^ Staff (2016). "Pavement Management Information System". Kansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
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  U.S. Route 54
Previous state:
Oklahoma
Kansas Next state:
Missouri