U.S. Route 50 (US-50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic Ocean. In the U.S. state of Kansas, US-50 is a main east–west highway serving the southwest, central and northeastern parts of the state. Kansas City is the only metropolitan area US-50 serves in the state but the highway does serve several other larger towns in Kansas such as (from west to east) Garden City, Dodge City, Hutchinson, Newton and Emporia. US-50 was established in Kansas by 1927, and at that time split into two branch routes in Kansas. The US-50 split began in Garden City and ended slightly west of Baldwin City. In Garden City, the split began at Kansas Avenue and Main Street. US-50N continued east on Kansas Ave. and went through Jetmore, Larned, Great Bend, Lyons, McPherson and Baldwin City. US-50S ran along current US-50. The routes rejoined near what is now the intersection of US-56 and K-33. US-50N was replaced by US-156 from Garden City to Great Bend and US-56 the rest of the way. US-156 is now known as K-156. The split was removed during the late 1950s. Route description US-50 enters the state running concurrently with US-400, which joins US-50 at Granada, Colorado. The first town it runs through is Coolidge. Syracuse is the first county seat (Hamilton County). In western Kansas, US-50 parallels the Arkansas River. US-50 then enters Kearny County and passes through the towns of Lakin and Deerfield before entering Finney County. West of the Old US-50 and Big Lowe Road overpass in Holcomb US-50 splits into four lanes and the speed limit increases to 70 MPH until east of the intersection with US-83. The highway then tapers back into two lanes at the 3rd Street intersection and remains so until the intersection with Bus-50 south of town. US-50 then passes through the towns of Ingalls, Cimarron, Dodge City, Kinsley, and Hutchinson before it heads to Newton. In Newton, US-50 joins I-135 for a short time before it angles northeast to Emporia, another meat-packing town as well as the home of Emporia State University. US-50 then joins I-35 and it overlaps that interstate for most of the rest of the way in Kansas. US-50, along with I-35, then passes through a place known as