Kansas include I-470 around Topeka, I-235 around Wichita, and I-670 in downtown Kansas City. I-435 is a beltway around the Kansas City metropolitan area while I-635 bypasses through Kansas City. U.S. Route 69 (US-69) travels south to north, from Oklahoma to Missouri. The highway passes through the eastern section of Kansas, traveling through Baxter Springs, Pittsburg, Frontenac, Fort Scott, Louisburg, and the Kansas City area. Kansas also has the country's third largest state highway system after Texas and California. This is because of the high number of counties and county seats (105) and their intertwining. In January 2004, the Kansas Department
U.S. Route 66 in Kansas of US-66 in Kansas retains much of the character of the Mother Road. It passes through Baxter Springs, Riverton and Galena in Cherokee County. In 1929 the US-66 in Kansas was paved, Kansas being the first state to do that. In Galena, US-66 originally turned north on Main Street, then east on Front Street before leaving the state as Route 66 to Central City, Missouri. This portion was changed in 1979 to remain on 7th Avenue, seven blocks south of the original routing, eastward to the Missouri state line. When US-66 was bypassed by Interstate 44 (I-44) in 1961, the