End of US highway 136

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Photo credits: David Greenberger, Don Hargraves, Brent Ivy, Eric Meier, Jeff Morrison, Alex Nitzman, me

Approx. time period East terminus West terminus
1951-1960 Indianapolis, IN St. Joseph, MO
1960-1991 Indianapolis, IN (near Edison, NE)
1991-present Speedway, IN (near Edison, NE)

US 136 is a relative late-comer to the map. It was commissioned in 1951 to begin at US 36 in downtown Indianapolis. The photo below is looking east on 16th Street:

Hargraves, 2003

The intersection ahead at MLK Drive (formerly Northwestern Avenue) was actually the east endpoint of US 36 in the late 1920s and early 1930s. But for 40 years this was the east end of US 136.

Originally its west end was in St. Joseph MO - US 136 came in with US 169, went south on Belt Highway, and ended at US 36 on this end as well. The photo below is looking north on Belt at Frederick Boulevard:

Morrison, Aug. 2006

US 136 began straight ahead - at the time, US 36 ran both ways on Frederick. Below we're looking east on Frederick:

Morrison, Aug. 2006

That was once eastbound US 36, and the south beginning of US 136 was to the left.

In 1960 the US 136 designation was truncated at Stanberry MO and instead extended west to its current terminus in Nebraska. US 6 and US 34 are co-signed through much of the southwestern part of the state. They join a ways west of McCook, and together serve the Republican River valley for about 50 miles, essentially due eastward. Near Arapahoe, the Republican begins its gradual curve to the southeast, but US 6/34 begins to leave the valley there - instead veering to the northeast, to Holdrege and Hastings. But, six miles east of Arapahoe, US 136 connects with 6/34, and begins its life by taking over where they left off: serving towns along the Republican for another 90-or-so miles to the east. The photo below is looking north; US 6/34 runs left-and-right just behind the camera:

me, Feb. 2000

Arapahoe is six miles to the left; two miles behind the camera is the town of Edison. From here, US 136 goes south to that point, and then heads eastward alongside the Republican.

In 1991, the east end of US 136 was truncated such that it now ends on the outskirts of Indianapolis rather than downtown (actually in Speedway city limits). Below is the exit signage from northbound I-465:

Ivy/Nitzman, 2009

The east beginning of US 136 is to the right (even though that briefly takes you even further east). At the end of that offramp, traffic almost immediately reaches the sign bridge shown below:

Greenberger, Jan. 2001

Crawfordsville Road is both straight ahead and to the right. US 136 continues to the right on Crawfordsville, which keeps curving to the right until it heads the opposite direction of this photo. US 136 then goes back under I-465 (currently it has a grade-separated underpass with no access to the freeway, but as of 2009 I'm told construction to change that is underway).

In the background at far left, you can see the backside of another sign bridge - the front of that is shown in the photo below:

Ivy/Nitzman, 2009

That's westbound Crawfordsville - you have to turn left in order to continue following Crawfordsville westbound, while the road straight ahead provides access to I-465, and then becomes I-74. Interestingly, both directions from this perspective are US 136. To the left is westbound US 136 - if you were to go that way, you'd see the first confirming marker...

Meier

...but that's technically not the east beginning of US 136. Even though it's not signed, eastbound US 136 officially continues straight ahead (to the west!) and ends at the I-465 interchange.

Now we'll head east on US 136. In the background of the photo below, you can again see the backside of that same sign bridge:

Hargraves, July 2005

At right is an "End" assembly; below is a close-up...

Meier

...and while it makes sense to sign that as the endpoint, it's technically not the end. According to INDoT, US 136 actually continues to the left and ends at the I-465 interchange:

Ivy/Nitzman, 2009