Kansas Turnpike
The Kansas Turnpike is a 236-mile (380-km) toll road entirely within the U.S. state of Kansas. The turnpike runs northeasterly; its southern terminus is four miles (6.4 km) north of the Oklahoma border in Sumner County and its eastern terminus is at U.S. Highway 73 near Bonner Springs at the western fringes of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
The entire route of the Kansas Turnpike is part of the interstate highway network, although the Turnpike carries four different interstate designations along its route: the Turnpike is designated as Interstate 35 from the Turnpike's southern terminus to Emporia, as Interstate 335 between Emporia and Topeka, as Interstate 470 for five miles in and near Topeka, and as Interstate 70 from Topeka to the Turnpike's eastern terminus.
The Kansas Turnpike was built in 22 months and opened in October 1956. As of 2005, the passenger or passengers of two-axle vehicles (such as cars and motorcyles) pay a total of $8.75 to travel the entire length of the Turnpike. Tolls are calculated based on the length of the route traveled, and the toll is as little as 25 cents for motorists driving only a short distance (three miles, for example) on the Turnpike. Drivers in vehicles with more than two axles, such as truckers, pay higher tolls.
The turnpike was built prior to the Interstate network, and thus is not engineered to current Interstate Highway standards. Notably, the Turnpike was built without an 11-meter median. The highway is instead separated by Jersey barriers along its entire length. This is believed to be the longest freeway so divided.
A list of cities and towns that the Kansas Turnpike passes near or through includes:
- Bonner Springs
- Lawrence
- Topeka
- Auburn
- Harveyville
- Admire
- Emporia
- Cassoday
- El Dorado
- Andover
- Wichita
- Derby
- Mulvane
- Wellington
- South Haven