K-17 (Kansas Highway) - History

History

K-17 was commissioned by 1932. Originally, the route went through Hutchinson and ended at US-81 south of McPherson. Only the portion from just south of Hutchinson to the city of Medora was paved. The remainder of the route was gravel. Within a year, the segment from Medora to the route's northern terminus had been paved with a bituminous surface. Between 1933 and 1936, a stretch of the route in Reno County was also given a bituminous surface. In 1940, the route was extended north from its northern terminus along the route of US-81 to an intersection with K-4 in Saline County. By this time, all segments of the route had been paved. The majority of the route had a bituminous surface, but some segments had a hard surface. Between 1941 and 1945, the whole route was paved with a hard surface.

In 1957, the portion of K-17 from its intersection with K-61 to its northern terminus was redesignated as an extension of K-61. This realignment removed K-17 from McPherson and Saline counties. In 1962, K-96 was realigned through Hutchinson and replaced a portion of K-17 south of the city. This shortened K-17 yet again to its current northern terminus at an intersection with K-96. In 1977, the southern terminus was upgraded to an interchange as US-54 was upgraded to a freeway in much of eastern Kingman County. In 2013, K-17 was decommissioned when KDOT realigned a number of state highways in Reno and Kingman counties. The former alignment of K-17 was re-designated as a segment of K-14.