 U.S. Route 81 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US 81 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 1,220 mi[citation needed] (1,960 km) | |||
| Existed | 1926–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   I-35W /US 287 atFort Worth, TX | |||
| Major intersections |
| |||
| North end |  PTH 75 atPembina–Emerson Border Crossing nearPembina, ND | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| States | Texas,Oklahoma,Kansas,Nebraska,South Dakota,North Dakota | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
U.S. Route 81 orU.S. Highway 81 (US 81) is a major north–south U.S. highway that extends for 1,220 miles (1,960 km) in thecentral United States and is one of the originalUnited States Numbered Highways established in 1926 by theAmerican Association of State Highway Officials.
The route of US 81 follows that of the oldMeridian Highway (so called because it roughly followed theSixth Principal Meridian of the USPublic Land Survey System) which dates back as early as 1911.[1] The highway has alternately (and unofficially) been known as part of thePan-American Highway.[2] In the segment in the state of Oklahoma, the highway closely corresponds to the oldChisholm Trail for cattle drives from Texas to railheads in Kansas in the 1860s and 1870s.
As of 2025, the highway's northern terminus is just north ofPembina, North Dakota, at theCanadian border. At this point, it is routed alongInterstate 29 (I-29) and continues northward intoManitoba onHighway 75, which leads toWinnipeg.
Its southern terminus is inFort Worth, Texas, at an intersection withI-35W andUS 287. From the route's first year of existence to 1991, US 81's southern terminus was at theMexican border inLaredo, Texas. In 1991, the terminus was truncated toSan Antonio. The route was shortened again to its present length of 1,234 miles (1,986 km) in 1993, when the terminus was moved to Fort Worth. In both cases, the dropped portions of US 81 were replaced byI-35.[citation needed] Portions of former US 81 south of Fort Worth continue to exist as business loops of I-35; a section from Hillsboro to Fort Worth exists asState Highway 81.
Thedecommissioning of portions of US 81 that have been displaced by concurrentInterstate Highways means that US 81 no longer extends from the Canadian border to the Mexican border, while one of its auxiliary routes,US 281 does extend to both borders. As a result of decommissioning portions of US 81, the length of US 81 is actually 672 miles (1,081 km) miles shorter than US 281.
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US 81 at its inception in 1926 followed the route of State Highway 2, which began inLaredo and passed throughSan Antonio,Austin,Waco, andFort Worth before passing over theRed River intoOklahoma four miles (6.4 km) north ofRinggold. The 1936 Official Map of the Highway System of Texas clearly shows the route labeled both as US 81 and SH 2. It was cosigned withUS 83 for 18 miles (29 km) from Laredo to two miles (3.2 km) south ofWebb, withUS 79 for 18 miles (29 km) from Austin north toRound Rock, and withUS 77 for 33 miles (53 km) from Waco toHillsboro. In 1940US 287 was extended south into Texas, and a 67-mile (108 km) stretch from Fort Worth northwest toBowie was cosigned with US 81. The summer 1941 Texas Highway Map shows this pairing, and the current southern terminus of US 81 is still cosigned with US 287.
The spring and summer 1949 Texas Highway Department Official Map designates the length of US 81 from Laredo to Fort Worth as part of theNational System of Interstate Highways, but no numeric designation was given.
It was not until 1959 that parts of US 81 in Texas appeared on the Texas Official Highway Travel Map cosigned withI-35 shields. Succeeding maps reflect the slow completion of I-35 andI-35W over the stretch of US 81 between Laredo and Fort Worth, with the 1978-79 Texas Official Highway Travel Map showing only a 14-mile (23 km) section fromEncinal north to three miles (4.8 km) south ofArtesia Wells as incomplete, and the 1980 Texas Official Highway Travel Map showing that section completed. In 1980, US 81 was cosigned with I-35 and I-35W except where the Interstate bypassed towns, with US 81 providing the main route through town and then reconnecting with I-35 on the other side. The longest section of US 81 in 1980 not cosigned with the Interstate ran from I-35 in Hillsboro 20 miles (32 km) north to I-35W, just north ofGrandview.
Enid,El Reno,Chickasha, andDuncan are major Oklahoma towns on the highway; historically, the small town of Hennessey is notable. Among the elders throughout the small towns that are dotted along US 81 in Oklahoma, the sixth meridian is commonly known among the locals as the "Indian Meridian" but US 81 is not known as the "Indian Meridian Highway". TheEl Reno tornado in May 2013, the largest tornado ever at 2.6 mi wide, also crossed US 81. The Indian Meridan is located some 40 miles (64 km) east and parallel of US 81. By pure coincidence, theChisholm Trail of the post-Civil-War decades roughly followed along the corridor of present-day US 81; the region was not opened for settlement until several years after the cattle drives were discontinued; cultural memory harkened exclusively for many years to IndianMeridian Highway until recognition of the old cattle trail grew in the late 1900s.[3]
Nearly all of US 81 in Kansas is either freeway or expressway. The route enters Kansas as a two-lane nearCaldwell. FromSouth Haven toWichita it closely parallels I-35, which is also known as theKansas Turnpike in that area. After South Haven, the only town of any significance along US 81 until Wichita isWellington, which is just west of the Turnpike alongUS 160.
At Wichita, US 81 joinsI-135. The two highways remain joined untilSalina; I-135's mile markers take precedence. I-135 ends atI-70 but US 81 continues as a freeway toMinneapolis, then as an expressway passing throughConcordia before exiting the state north ofBelleville.
The alignment of US 81 from Wichita to Salina prior to the completion I-135 is fully intact. The prior alignment ran from where current US 81 breaks off for I-135 at 47th street, north through Wichita along Broadway street. Old US 81 roughly parallels I-135 to Newton. Old US 81 follows current K-15 through Newton between an interchange with US 50 and Hesston Road, where old US 81 breaks northwest onto Hesston road. Old US 81 then travels through the small Kansas towns of Hesston, Moundridge, and Elyria, before turning to the north, and going through the town of McPherson as Main Street. North of McPherson, old US 81 continues to Lindsborg, where it follows current K-4 until an interchange with I-135. Old US 81 passes under I-135 and continues to parallel it about1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) to the east. Old US 81 then travels through Assaria, where it encounters another brief overlap with K-4 and K-104. Old US 81 continues through the city of Salina as Ninth Street. North of Salina, Old US 81 encounters brief overlaps with K-143 and K-18. Old US 81 follows K-106 to an interchange with current US 81, where the two alignments are joined back together.
From Salina to the Nebraska state line, the highway is named the Frank Carlson Memorial Highway, in honor of the late SenatorFrank Carlson. Senator Carlson was a native of Concordia who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1951 until 1969. Before serving in the Senate, he wasGovernor of Kansas from 1947 until 1950.
US 81 enters Nebraska as an expressway atChester and continues as an expressway toYork, where the highway intersectsI-80. After a two-lane section going north from York and an overlap withNebraska Highway 92 (N-92), US 81 again becomes an expressway atN-64. This expressway section passes throughColumbus andNorfolk. North of Norfolk, US 81 is a two-lane, undivided highway which passes through no towns before exiting the state inCedar County.
US 81 entersSouth Dakota by aMissouri River crossing, via theDiscovery Bridge atYankton. Its junction withI-90 is south ofSalem. US 81 passes throughMadison before it joins withI-29 atWatertown. The two highways remain concurrent through the rest of the state, leaving South Dakota nearNew Effington.
The South Dakota section of US 81, with the exception of a concurrency withUS 14, is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-179.[4]
US 81 enters North Dakota concurrently withI-29. It is paired with I-29 from the South Dakota border, passing throughFargo, to the north side ofGrand Forks. There it splits off to the northwest, passing through the city ofManvel. It parallels I-29, passing through the town ofGrafton before joiningNorth Dakota Highway 5 (ND 5) nearCavalier. It rejoins I-29 and continues to the Canadian border atPembina. The original route of US 81 survives asND 127 and County Road 81 (CR 81) inRichland,Cass,Traill, andGrand Forks counties.
US 81 started out as theMeridian Highway, anauto trail organized in 1911 to connectWinnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to theGulf of Mexico near theSixth Principal Meridian.[5] The southern terminus, initially atGalveston,[6] was later moved toLaredo, where it would connect with a proposed extension to Mexico City (later built as part of thePan-American Highway).[7] Five of the six states along the route assigned a single number to the highway, mostly changing at the state line. (Kansas did not number its highways until 1926.)[8][9] Planning to replace these designations—and the Meridian Highway name—began in 1925, when theJoint Board on Interstate Highways created a preliminary list of interstate routes to be marked by the states;[10] the entire Meridian Highway was assigned US 81.[11] The new number was officially adopted in late 1926.[12][13]
TheInterstate Highway System was approved in 1956, and included several routes that would replace much of US 81.I-35 followed the corridor from Laredo north toWichita, where I-35 turned northeast towardsKansas City, with a branch—I-35W—continuing parallel to US 81 toSalina, Kansas. BetweenFort Worth, Texas, andSouth Haven, Kansas, I-35 did not directly replace US 81, instead followingUS 77 throughOklahoma City, but replaced it as a long-distance highway. From Salina north throughNebraska, the US 81 corridor was not part of the Interstate Highway System, butI-29 began at Kansas City, gradually heading northwest and intersecting US 81 atWatertown, South Dakota, then following it north to the Canadian border. The portion through northern Kansas and Nebraska remains an important regional corridor and was proposed as a potential Interstate in the 1960s,[14] but by the late 1970s, the rest had been mostly replaced by I-35 and I-29 for non-local traffic.[15] TheAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials approved a truncation in 1991, changing the southern terminus from Laredo to north of Fort Worth and removing longoverlaps with and short sections parallel to I-35.[16]
The portion of US 81 betweenGrandview, Texas, andHillsboro, Texas, that was not part of I-35W was renamedSH 81.[citation needed]
Business US 81 in San Antonio was replaced byLoop 368 andLoop 353. The north side (Loop 368) traveled down Broadway and Austin Highway while the south side (Loop 353) was Nogalitos and Laredo Highway. When it was replaced, they renamed the street New Laredo Highway.[citation needed]
Old portions of US 81 in various parts of North Dakota are now county roads. The current US 81 in these areas is cosigned with I-29.[citation needed]
Completion of the four-lane section of US 81 between Salina and Minneapolis, Kansas, occurred in 1971.[17][better source needed]
Between Wichita and Salina, Kansas, old sections of US 81 are now county roads and short sections of state highways. The current US 81 in this area is cosigned with I-135. InMcPherson County, the old alignment of US 81 is signed as Business US 81.[citation needed]
I-35W /US 287 inFort Worth. US 81/US 287 travels concurrently toBowie.
US 380 inDecatur
US 82 inRinggold
US 70 inWaurika
US 277 inNinnekah. The highways travel concurrently toChickasha.
I-44 in Chickasha
US 62 /US 277 in Chickasha. US 62/US 81 travels concurrently through Chickasha.
I-40 inEl Reno
US 60 /US 412 inEnid. US 60/US 81 travels concurrently toPond Creek.
US 64 in Enid. The highways travel concurrently to west of Pond Creek.
US 177 inSouth Haven
US 166 north of South Haven
US 160 inWellington. The highways travel concurrently through Wellington.
I-135 inWichita. The highways travel concurrently to northwest ofSalina.
I-235 in Wichita
US 54 /US 400 in WichitaI-235 in Wichita
US 50 inNewton. The highways travel concurrently to northeast of Newton.
US 56 inMcPherson
I-70 /I-135 /US 40 northwest of Salina
US 24 south ofConcordia
US 36 inBelleville
US 136 south-southeast ofHebron
US 6 inFairmont
I-80 inYork
US 34 in York. The highways travel concurrently to north of York.
US 30 south ofColumbus. The highways travel concurrently to Columbus.
US 275 inNorfolk
US 20 southeast ofMcLean
US 18 south ofFreeman
I-90 south ofSalem
US 14 south ofArlington. The highways travel concurrently to Arlington.
US 212 inWatertown
I-29 northeast of Watertown. The highways travel concurrently to east ofManvel, North Dakota.
US 12 northwest ofSummit
I-94 /US 52 inFargo
US 10 in Fargo
US 2 inGrand ForksI-29 south-southwest ofJoliette. The highways travel concurrently to theCanada–United States border north ofPembina.I-29/PTH 75 at the Canada–United States border north of PembinaThough it did in the past, US 81 currently does not connect to either of its spur routes.
| Browse numbered routes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ←I-80 | NE | → US 83 | ||
← SD 79 | SD | →US 83 | ||
Routes initalics are no longer a part of the system. Highlighted routes are considered main routes of the system. |
