I found a 1941 Saline County road map, and the original US 81 bypass is shown. I'm not talking about I-135/35W, I'm talking about Broadway. How old is it? It's not much of a bypass today, but I imagine it was sufficient when it was built.
Quote from: bugo on June 29, 2012, 02:21:30 PM
I found a 1941 Saline County road map, and the original US 81 bypass is shown. I'm not talking about I-135/35W, I'm talking about Broadway. How old is it? It's not much of a bypass today, but I imagine it was sufficient when it was built.
I'll be at the Salina Library next week; I'll try to find out.
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Salina to me is always the oh chit town. Driving on I-70 I always said oh chit pass Salina and welcome to 4 hours of pure torture boredom of flat Kansas and Colorado plains.
Well, it is "oh chit" for many reasons... it's not a great place anymore... and I'm saying this as a person whose family on my mother's side comes from there.
Everytime I go up I think, "How many more meth heads will I see today?"
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Every town I've ever lived in has been the "meth capital of the US" according to locals.
I'll not be going to the library afterall this week... had to cancel my trip becuase I have to go to court that day in ICT. The joys of subpoenas, and students who can't stay out of trouble... :ded:
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Correction... I got here today afterall! :) :D
Here is what I found:
Maps from as early as 1929 do not show the bypass yet. However, maps from 1940 show it relatively new. An old news article from 1938 discusses the renaming of the 81 Bypass as Broadway Blvd. My guess puts it around 1937 or '38 that it was built. The City Route went up Ninth to Cloud, then up Santa Fe to Pacific Ave (US 40), then back over to Ninth, and north out of town.
In 1929, prior to a bypass, 81 followed this route through town, but at Pacific went north to Otis (St. John's Military Acad), jogged over to Fifth Street,and north out of town, paralleling the other Ninth Street alignment, then curving over to it about four miles north of SJMA. Fifth is still extant, except for a break where 1-70 crosses the old alignment. This dates back to the old Meridian Road.
Hope this helps!
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Exhuming thread to provide more information....
I found a Rural Resolution dated September 4, 1936 which added Broadway to the state highway system.
BTW, in the May lettings, there is a contract for a bridge rehab on K-143 (former 81) across Mulberry Creek, and that 5th Street would be permanantly closed.
Not sure if this bridge is the one slated to be removed, but this is the original Meridian Road/US 81 bridge over the Saline River:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm6.staticflickr.com%2F5338%2F9764825574_d7b88a1ef3.jpg&hash=cbcbe5307cb334dd8e8f23b6f9702ab18c96fa5e) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/richiekennedy56/9764825574/)
21420 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/richiekennedy56/9764825574/) by richiekennedy56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/richiekennedy56/), on Flickr (4 December 2004)
Edit 3/13/14: Moved the photo from my own website to flickr.
Thanks for the further updated info! I was close in my guess, it seems. Too bad about 5th being closed permanantly... it's kind of worthless for travel with the I-70 break, but still, to lose what should be considered a historical segement of the Meridian Road is very disheartening.
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