End of historic US highway 156

Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical road atlases, much of the info below is based on the research of Robert Droz; click here to view his site. Photo credits: Andy Field; Richie Kennedy; Alex Nitzman; me

US 156 wasn't commissioned until 1957, when the US 50-N / US 50-S split in Kansas was eliminated. At that time, most of US 50-N became US 56. But at Larned, US 56 continued southwesterly through Dodge City. What had been the remainder of US 50-N from Larned to Garden City became US 156. All photos below were taken about 20 years after US 156 was decommissioned in 1982, and the road had become KS hwy. 156. The current west terminus of K-156 in Garden City is the same as the historic terminus of US 156:

me, Nov. 2001

This is looking west on Kansas Avenue at Main Street. The signage is a bit misleading: the junction is actually with Business 50 and Business 83. But when US 156 was here, mainline US 50 and US 83 were still following this business route through town. The shot below is redundant, but I'm posting it anyway because I like water towers...

me, Nov. 2001

The photo below is looking the opposite direction (east on Kansas), from the perspective of one heading east on historic US 50 and south on historic US 83. Those routes turned right on Main, while US 156 began straight ahead:

me, Nov. 2001

In the distance you can just see the first eastbound K-156 sign; that's shown close-up below:

me, Nov. 2001

The photo below is looking north on Main; it shows the historic west beginning of US 156 as viewed from what was then westbound US 50/northbound US 83:

me, Nov. 2001

The original east terminus of US 156 was at its junction with US 56 in Larned. The location was difficult to photograph, because today the highways have been slightly realigned, and US 56 has a different route through town now. Not to mention that the sun was in the worst possible position. But here's what I got:

me, Nov. 2001

The photo above is looking east on 14th Street, which is now both US 56 and K-156. The semi in the background is heading southwest on Trail Street, which used to be US 56. So originally, US 156 probably went due east from this point (past the right side of the yellow building) and ended at Trail. It may have been later on that the more rounded-off alignment (to the left of the building) was constructed, in which case US 156 would've ended at far left.

The photo below shows another perspective. This is looking southwest on US 56/K-156. Today both routes curve to the right here, west onto 14th. But originally US 56 went straight ahead here, continuing southwest along the railroad on Trail. So when US 156 was around, it began here, to the right:

me, Nov. 2001

Today to the right, both US 56 and K-156 continue west on 14th. In about a half-mile you reach Broadway. At that point, US 56 goes left (south) on Broadway, while K-156 continues straight ahead on 14th towards Garden City:

me, Nov. 2001

US 56 goes down Broadway for a few blocks to the railroad, where it rejoins its former alignment southwesterly on Trail.

The shot below is looking north on Broadway (eastbound US 56) where it intersects K-156 at 14th:

me, Nov. 2001

At some point, the US 156 designation was extended further north and east, ending at Ellsworth. My 1960 map doesn't show the diagonal highway* between Larned and Ellsworth (today's K-156). My next map isn't until 1977, and by then US 156 had not only been extended to Ellsworth, but also beyond, via a bypass around the south and east side of town. That continues about 10 miles northeast of Ellsworth, ending at I-70's interchange 225. But Clinton Walker informs me that when US 156 was first extended to Ellsworth, I-70 did not yet exist, and neither did the Ellsworth bypass. So US 156 was routed straight through town with K-14 (Grand and Douglas Avenues), ending at US 40 (today's K-140). The photo below is looking north on Douglas at K-140:

me, Nov. 2001

That's an historic north end of US 156. Today K-140 begins to the right, but US 40 used to go both directions. Below is another perspective of the same intersection:

me, Nov. 2001

That's looking west on historic US 40; US 156 began to the left on today's K-14. Later, around the time I-70 was built through the area, the Ellsworth bypass was also built, and the US 156 designation was extended along it. The photo below shows the final north end of US 156:

Kennedy, Feb. 2001

That's looking north at interchange 225 with I-70/US 40. Here's a perspective from westbound I-70:

Field/Nitzman, Oct. 2004

That's the east beginning of K-156, and it was the latest east beginning of historic US 156.

*Walker also points out that this diagonal highway is known to some locals as "the 45 highway" - at least in part because it was originally designated K-45, but possibly also because conventional wisdom held that it was surveyed along a 45-degree angle. Study of a detailed map reveals that's not exactly true, but it's pretty close.