U.S. Route 81 - History

History

For more details, see the state-specific articles linked in the route description above.

US 81 started out as the Meridian Highway, an auto trail organized in 1911 to connect Winnipeg, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico near the Sixth Principal Meridian. The southern terminus, initially at Galveston, was later moved to Laredo, where it would connect with a proposed extension to Mexico City (later built as part of the Pan-American Highway). 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.) Planning to replace these designations — and the Meridian Highway name — began in 1925, when the Joint Board on Interstate Highways created a preliminary list of interstate routes to be marked by the states; the entire Meridian Highway was assigned Route 81. The new number was officially adopted in late 1926.

The Interstate Highway System was approved in 1956, and included several routes that would replace much of US 81. Interstate 35 followed the corridor from Laredo north to Wichita, where I-35 turned northeast towards Kansas City, with a branch - Interstate 35W - continuing parallel to US 81 to Salina, Kansas. Between Fort Worth, Texas and South Haven, Kansas, I-35 did not directly replace US 81, instead following U.S. Route 77 through Oklahoma City, but replaced it as a long-distance highway. From Salina north through Nebraska, the US 81 corridor was not part of the Interstate system, but Interstate 29 began at Kansas City, gradually heading northwest and intersecting US 81 at Watertown, South Dakota, then following it north to the Canadian border. The portion through northern Kansas and Nebraska remains an important regional corridor, but by the late 1970s, the rest had been mostly replaced by I-35 and I-29 for non-local traffic. The American 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 long overlaps with and short sections parallel to I-35.

The portion of US 81 between Grandview, Texas and Hillsboro, Texas that was not part of Interstate 35W was renamed State Highway 81.

Business US 81 in San Antonio, Texas was replaced by Loop 368 and Loop 353. The north side (Loop 368) traveled down Broadway & Austin Highway while the south side (Loop 353) was Nogalitos & Laredo Highway. When it was replaced, they renamed the street New Laredo Highway.

Old portions of US 81 in various parts of North Dakota are now county routes. The current US 81 in these areas is co-signed with Interstate 29.

Completion of the four-lane section of U.S. 81 between Salina and Minneapolis, Kansas occurred in 1971.

Between Wichita and Salina, Kansas, old sections of US-81 are now county routes and short sections of state highways. The current US-81 in this area is co-signed with Interstate 135. In McPherson County, the old alignment of US-81 is signed as Business US-81.