U.S. Route 50 in Kansas

Segment of American highway

U. S. Route 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U. S. Highway system, stretching just over 3000 mile (4828 km) from Interstate 80 (I 80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic Ocean. In the U. S. state of Kansas, US 50 is a main east–west highway serving the southwestern, central and northeastern parts of the state. Kansas City is the only metropolitan area US 50 serves in the state, but the highway does serve several other larger towns in Kansas such as (from west to east) Garden City, Dodge City, Hutchinson, Newton and Emporia. US 50 was established in Kansas by 1927, and at that time split into two branch routes in Kansas. The US 50 split began in Garden City and ended slightly west of Baldwin City. In Garden City, the split began at Kansas Avenue and Main Street. US 50N continued east on Kansas Ave. and went through Jetmore, Larned, Great Bend, Lyons, McPherson and Baldwin City. US 50S ran along current US 50. The routes rejoined near what is now the intersection of US 56 and K 33. US 50N was replaced by US 156 from Garden City to Great Bend and by US 56 the rest of the way. US 156 is now known as K 156. The split was removed during the late 1950s.

US 50 enters the state running concurrently with US 400, which joins US 50 at Granada, Colorado. The first town it runs through is Coolidge. Syracuse is the first county seat (Hamilton County). In western Kansas, US 50 parallels the Arkansas River. US 50 then enters Kearny County and passes through the towns of Lakin and Deerfield before entering Finney County. West of the Old US 50 and Big Lowe Road overpass in Holcomb, US 50 splits into four lanes and the speed limit increases to 70 MPH until east of the intersection with US 83. The highway then tapers back into two lanes at the 3rd Street intersection and remains so until the intersection with Bus 50 south of town. US 50 then passes through the towns of Ingalls, Cimarron, Dodge City, Kinsley, and Hutchinson before it heads to Newton. In Newton, US 50 joins I 135 for a short time before it angles northeast to Emporia, another meat packing town as well as the home of Emporia State University. US 50 then joins I 35 and it overlaps that interstate for most of the rest of the way in Kansas. US 50, along with I 35, then passes through a place known as "BETO Junction," which is where it meets US 75, north of Burlington. The letters in the acronym stand for Burlington, Emporia, Topeka and Ottawa, which are the cities to the south, west, north and east, respectively. From there, US 50 passes through Olathe and meets I 435 in Lenexa. At this point. US 50 leaves I 35 and joins I 435 for the rest of its trip in Kansas. The entire 1.369 mile (2 km) section of US 50 in Cimarron is maintained by the city. The entire 1.662 section within Dodge City is maintained by the city. The section in Emporia from Graphic Arts Road to the east city limit is maintained by the city.

US 50 was established in Kansas by 1927, and at that time split into two branch routes. Branch routes were once common along the U. S. highway system but have always been discouraged. Branch routes that remain exist mostly in Kentucky and Tennessee. The US 50 split began in Garden City and ended near Baldwin City. In Garden City, the split began at Kansas Avenue and Main Street. US 50N continued east on Kansas Ave. and went through Jetmore, Larned, Great Bend, Lyons, McPherson and Baldwin City. US 50S ran along current US 50. The routes rejoined near what is now the intersection of US 56 and K 33. The first route considered for US 56 was via US 40 from Ellsworth to Topeka and K 4 and US 59 via Atchison 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, US 24, K 63, K 16, and US 59 via Lincoln and Manhattan. In July 1955, the US 50N Association proposed a plan that would have eliminated US 50N by routing US 56 along most of its length, from Larned east to Baldwin Junction, and then along US 59 to Lawrence and K 10 to Kansas City; 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 accepted that plan, taking US 56 east to Kansas City. On June 27, 1956, the AASHO Route Numbering Committee considered this refined plan for US 56, between Springer, New Mexico and Kansas City, Missouri, with a short US 156 along the remaining portion of US 50N from Larned west to Garden City. The entirety of US 156 was decommissioned on April 1, 1981, and redesignated as K 156. In mid 2019, work began to convert the junction with US 281 to an enhanced roundabout. The roundabout includes outer diamond shape lanes for oversized loads to bypass the roundabout. The former intersection with US 281 was dangerous as only US 281 traffic had to stop and therefore was the location of several injury and fatal accidents. Between 2002 and 2012, there were 21 accidents, resulting in one fatality. On March 4, 2020, traffic was rerouted, from a four way stop and temporary asphalt detour, onto the permanent concrete outer roads for the roundabout. The roundabout was completed and opened up to traffic on May 22, 2020. Venture Corporation from Great Bend, was the primary contractor for the $5.2 million project. On July 20, 2020 work began on a project to reconstruct US 50 from Road E5 to a half mile east of Road F in Lyon County. The project will widen the highway to 4 lanes for one mile. Improvements also will be made at the Road E5 and Road F intersections. Koss Construction Company of Topeka is the primary contractor of the $7.8 million project.

In May 2020, KDOT's Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Plan was announced. One project included in the statewide plan will complete the four lane expressway between Garden City and Dodge City.