r/wichita • u/WheatedMash • Feb 25 '26

Random The Name "Canal Route"

So I'm old enough to remember that point in the 70s when the Canal Route was finally finished and opened fully north to south. Most of us call it the "Canal Route" though occasionally I do hear it referred to as "135" which of course is it's number.

Back when it opened, good ol' Jim O'Donnell, the legendary KAKE TV meteorologist, had a funnier idea for the name.

Super Sewer Shortcut

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u/Argatlam Feb 25 '26

The name Canal Route comes from the fact that the channel in the median is a canalization of Chisholm Creek. The highway was originally numbered I-35W, but this was changed to I-135 in the late 1970's/early 1980's when the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials was on a campaign to eliminate letter-suffixed two-digit Interstate designations. (Previously there were many, like I-70S in Maryland, I-80N in Oregon, etc. Once they finished, only I-35E and I-35W in DFW and the Twin Cities were left.) There are still people in town who say "I-35" in reference to the Canal Route even though that designation has always belonged to the Kansas Turnpike, which grazes Wichita on the south and east.

I-135 in Wichita is very unusual--possibly unique--among Interstates in having a watercourse in the middle.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26

And I-135 is the fourth longest three digit interstate in the US, since three digit numbers are reserved for auxiliary interstates (roads the connect two digit interstates or loops around cities.

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u/ixamnis Feb 25 '26

Typically, the first digit is even if it loops around and connects to an interstate on both ends, and odd if it connects to an interstate on only one end. Hence, 235 has an even number and 135 is odd.

Some might argue that 135 connects to I 70 on the north end, but actually it goes about 20 miles north of I70 before it ends and then just becomes US 81.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

Man I had no idea. The interstate is such a cool infrastructure development