End of US highway 270 |
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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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Summa
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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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c. 1937, OK DoT
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The photo was looking north on westbound US 270 at its "Y" intersection with US 64:
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Sanderson, Jan. 2003
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Access to eastbound US 64 angles to the right, just behind the camera. Today the US 270 designation goes straight ahead to the stop sign, then turns left with westbound US 64 through Forgan. But from 1934-1937 this was its west terminus. Here we are looking east on US 64-270:
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Sanderson, Jan. 2003
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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:
c. 1938, KS DoT
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These photos were looking north on Main Street (K-27) at Avenue "A" (or US 50-400). Historically US 270 traffic came up Main, and the designation ended here:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2001
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Sanderson, Mar. 2018
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These next shots were taken looking east and west on US 50. The west beginning of US 270 was to the south on Main, along today's K-27:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2001
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Summa, 1985
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Sanderson, Mar. 2018
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In 1967, Kansas tried to extend US 270 due north of Syracuse to Goodland, but AASHO denied the request (more info here). The 1985 photo above 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.
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It was 1982 when the US 270 designation was truncated to its junction with US 54 in Liberal. The modern bypass had not yet been built -- at the time, US 83-270 traffic was directed straight into downtown Liberal via Kansas Avenue. This photo shows the historic terminus:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2001
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US 270 began at the light ahead (which is Pancake Boulevard, or US 54). This photo was looking the opposite direction (north on Kansas):
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Sanderson, Nov. 2001
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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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Sanderson, Nov. 2001
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The US 270 designation ends there, but US 83 continues north via the bypass. (US 54 runs at a severe diagonal compared to the rest of the city, which is why diagonal arrows were used on these sign assemblies.) This photo was looking the opposite direction (south on the bypass):
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Sanderson, Nov. 2001
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US 83 continues ahead, and eastbound US 270 begins ahead. Next we are looking southwest on Pancake (great name for a road in one of the flattest parts of the country). The signs show how US 83 runs both ways, but US 270 is only to the south:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2001
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Meanwhile, the east end of US 270 was extended to serve Pine Bluff in 1936:
c. 1936, AHTD
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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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Backlin, Oct. 2007
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That was taken from underneath the I-530/US 65 overpass (Pine Bluff is straight ahead). On the right, next to the traffic signal support mast is a small green sign, which is shown close-up here:
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Backlin, Oct. 2007
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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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Backlin, Oct. 2007
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The white van was heading southeast on Dollarway (old US 65), and the cars stopped at the light were at what was the east end of US 270 during the 1970s. To the right leads to downtown Pine Bluff. In that photo, the white van just went past the signs shown here:
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Backlin, Oct. 2007
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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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Gallup's, 1937
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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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Historically that was northbound US 65, which continued to the left on Barraque. Also to the left was the east beginning of US 270. Traffic jogged up to Pullman, then northwest via Rhinehart and Dollarway, eventually reaching the junction shown here:
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Backlin, Oct. 2007
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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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Backlin, Oct. 2007
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Old US 65 is now AR 365, and the east beginning of AR 365 Spur is a former east beginning of US 270. If a driver heads that direction, they will soon come to the current east beginning of US 270:
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Backlin, Oct. 2007
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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 Dec. 29, 2019.
last updated Dec. 29, 2019.
