U.S. Route 81 (US-81) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from Fort Worth, Texas to the Pembina–Emerson Border Crossing near Pembina, North Dakota. In the U.S. state of Kansas, US-81 is a main north–south highway central part of the state. Wichita is the only metropolitan area US-81 serves in the state but the highway does serve several other larger towns in Kansas such as Wellington and Concordia.

Interstate 35 (I-35) is an Interstate Highway in the US that runs from the Mexican border near Laredo, Texas, to Duluth, Minnesota. In Kansas, the highway goes from the Oklahoma border to Kansas City at the Missouri border, with a length of 235 miles (378 km). Along the way, I-35 passes through Wichita, the state's largest city, linking it to Emporia, Ottawa, and Kansas City and its Johnson County suburbs. The section of the route from the Oklahoma border to I-335 is part of the Kansas Turnpike.