Kansas State Highway 66
|
|
Kansas State Highway 66 is a 13 mile (21 kilometre) long highway that slices off the southeastern corner of the state. Its eastern terminus is on the Missouri state line near Galena, while its western terminus is at Alternate U.S. Highway 69 and U.S. Highway 400 at Riverton. This road is noteworthy in the fact that it used to be the famed Route 66. When the nearby Interstate 44 offered a more direct route between Missouri and Oklahoma, there was no need to keep the Route 66 distinction. Kansas then left it as Kansas Highway 66.
US 66 in Kansas
The easternmost section of Kansas 66 is not Historic Route 66, the alignment east of Main Street in Galena being US 66 from 1979 to its decommissioning in 1985. The historic alignment comes in from Missouri as Front Street and turns south on Main Street before joining Kansas 66. Historic Route 66 then follows Kansas 66 to Riverton where Kansas 66 ends. Historic Route 66 through Kansas, continues as a county road to the north and west of Alternate US 69 to Baxter Springs, and joins Alternate US 69 to the Oklahoma state line.