End of US highway 270 |
1930-1934
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1934-1936
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1936-1937
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1937-1982
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1982-present
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The east beginning of US 270 was originally to the left, on Albert Pike Road. For information about its original west terminus, please see the Oklahoma City page. The 1932 issue of OK DoT's state highway map shows that a plan was underway to extend US 270 to Forgan, but it appears that segment of the route was not considered complete until 1934:
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Forgan is about a mile behind the camera. Historically the west beginning of US 270 was to the right. But the west end of the route was extended to Syracuse in 1937. From the current terminus in Liberal, US 270 formerly went north with US 83 to what is now KS hwy. 51, then west to Hugoton. From there, north on K-25 to Ulysses; west on US 160 to Johnson City; and north on K-27, ending at US 50 in Syracuse:
That 1985 photo was taken about ten years before US 400 was commissioned, but the US 270 signs were still up (even though the designation had officially been truncated to Liberal by that time).
Straight ahead was the west end of US 270, until about 2000. That was when the Liberal bypass was opened to traffic, and US 83-270 traffic was routed onto it. US 270 continues to end at its junction with US 54, but its current terminus is about a mile east of the historic endpoint. This shot was looking north on US 83-270, at US 54 (or Pancake):
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Meanwhile, the east end of US 270 was extended to serve Pine Bluff in 1936:
Since then, US 270 has been truncated twice, each time farther out from the city. So its history in Pine Bluff will be described in reverse. Today US 270's terminus is at White Hall (just outside Pine Bluff), at interchange 34 of the I-530/US 65 freeway. This photo was looking southeast on Sheridan Road, at the east end of US 270:
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That basically says "End 270; begin 365S". Ahead, Sheridan is designated "AR 365 Spur", but until 1982, it was US 270 that continued that way. In about two miles Sheridan connects with mainline AR 365 (or Dollarway Road), which is historic US 65. This photo shows that intersection:
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Today's AR 365 Spur to the right (Sheridan) was where US 270 began. But when US 270 was first extended eastward to Pine Bluff in 1936, it was signed straight ahead with US 65 into downtown. Ahead, Dollarway curves south to become Blake Street, but US 65-270 continued diagonally along Rhinehart Road, then east on Pullen Avenue:
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At Cedar Street/University Drive, traffic jogged one block south, then continued east via Front Street/Barraque Street. At the courthouse, US 65 turned south on Main Street, but the US 270 designation ended at that intersection. This interactive image is looking north on Main:
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Those signs are a nod to the US routes that formerly ran through here: originally US 65 continued straight on Dollarway, while US 270 split to the left onto Sheridan. Later US 270 was truncated to that point, so its east beginning was to the left. In the background is another assembly identifying the current designations of these roads, shown close-up here:
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That is still eastbound on Sheridan. The overpass is I-530/unsigned US 65, and US 270 now begins at that interchange.
Research and/or photo credits: David Backlin; Jeremy Lance; Steven Nelson; Dale Sanderson; Eric Stuve; Michael Summa
Page originally created 1999;
last updated Aug. 12, 2019.
last updated Aug. 12, 2019.