State Route 8 and 9 in Kansas

State Route 8 in Kansas

According to foodezine, State Route 8, also known as K-8 is a state route in the U.S. state of Kansas. The road consists of two separate parts that are far apart, but in line with each other. The southern part is only 2 kilometers long at Kiowa, the northern part is 26 kilometers long from Athol to the border with the state of Nebraska.

Travel directions

Southern part

The southern portion begins on the Oklahoma state border at Kiowa, where Oklahoma State Route 8 exits Cherokee. The road ends 2 kilometers away in the village of Kiowa on K-2.

Northern part

The northern part starts as the crow flies more than 300 kilometers north on US 36 at Athol. The road then heads due north across the flat prairies and straight to the border with the state of Nebraska. There are no other villages or intersecting roads on the route. State Route 10 in Nebraska then continues to Franklin and Minden.

History

K-8 was originally a through numbered route from the Oklahoma border to the Nebraska border, via Kiowa, Pratt, Great Bend, Russell, and Smith Center. In 1932 almost the entire route was a dirt road and nowhere was asphalted. Around 1940, K-8 was almost completely renumbered as US 281, but it was decided to reroute the route to the neighboring states, leaving the two short sections, with the southern section near Kiowa being numbered K-11. In 1950 the northern part was asphalted. In 1959 the section at Kiowa was renumbered from K-11 to K-8 and was also paved during that time.

Traffic intensities

1,200 vehicles drive daily in Kiowa and 400 vehicles on the northern portion of US 36 to the border with Nebraska.

State Route 9 in Kansas

According to bittranslators, State Route 9, also known as K-9 is a state route in the U.S. state of Kansas. The road forms a long east-west route through the north of the state, from near Dresden to Lancaster. The road passes through few larger towns and is 502 kilometers long.

Travel directions

The K-9 near Centralia.

K-9 runs through rural northern Kansas. The road begins south of Dresden at an intersection with K-123, just east of US 83 and ends at Lancaster on US 73. The road leads through extensive countryside, almost the entire route leads through flat to rolling countryside with almost exclusively small villages. The villages are sometimes directly on the route, but often just next to it. The road intersects numerous north-south highways, including several U.S. Highways. The secondary character of K-9 is emphasized by the fact that it makes frequent turns within the grid and also has quite a lot of double numbering, especially with some US Highways.

The character of the landscape gradually changes towards the east. The western part is dry with a lot of circular irrigation. The eastern part is a bit greener and has traditional agriculture. The places on the route are almost all agricultural in character, there are no real cities on the route, the largest place is Concordia with more than 5,000 inhabitants, where one crosses the US 81. Partly due to the absence of larger places, through traffic hardly uses K-9. K-9 usually runs about 50 to 100 kilometers north of Interstate 70. At a shorter distance, US 24 and US 36 run parallel to K-9.

History

The original K-9 continued more or less on its current route, but was a little longer, ending in Atchison near the Missouri River. The double numbering with the US 24 (then US 40N) between Portis and Beloit already existed then. In 1932 almost the entire road was a dirt road, except between Effingham and Atchison where the road was already asphalted. At that time, no east-west route through western Kansas had continuous asphalt.

In the 1930s, most parts of K-9 were upgraded to gravel roads to support agriculture. In the first half of the 1940s, other parts of K-9 were paved, prominently double-numbering US 24 west of Beloit and a fairly long stretch between Concordia and Palmer. Furthermore, the entire eastern part between Linn and Effingham was asphalted.

In the second half of the 1940s, further parts of K-9 were asphalted. By 1950 there were still some missing parts that were not paved on the western part, such as between Dresden and New Almelo, between Logan and Kirwin and between Beloit and Concordia. In 1953 only the westernmost part between Dresden and New Almelo was still unpaved. This was paved in the mid-1950s, the last part was a few kilometers west of New Almelo.

Traffic intensities

K-9 is generally a very quiet road. On the western part of Dresden up to the US 24 at Portis, usually only 100 to 600 vehicles drive per day. Between Beloit and Concordia there are 700 to 1,000 vehicles and 2,000 vehicles in Concordia. Those non-double-numbered parts to the east usually process 400 to 800 vehicles per day, the double-numbered parts usually count 1,000 to 1,500 vehicles per day.