U.S. Highway 159 (US 159) is a 83.6-mile-long (134.5 km) auxiliary route of US 59. It travels from Nortonville, Kansas at US 59 to New Point, Missouri, also at US 59. The highway permits through traffic on US 59 to bypass the cities of Atchison, Kansas and Saint Joseph, Missouri, traveling instead through Falls City, Nebraska and Hiawatha, Kansas (assuming the bridge over the Missouri River is open).

Quick Facts Route information, Length ...

U.S. Route 159
US 159 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 59
Maintained by KDOT, NDOT, MoDOT and the city of Horton
Length	83.584 mi[lower-alpha 1] (134.515 km)
Existed	1935[citation needed]–present
Major junctions
South end	US-59 / K-4 Alt. in Nortonville, KS
Major intersections	US-73 in Horton, KS US-36 in Hiawatha, KS US 73 in Falls City, NE I-29 near Fortescue, MO
North end	US 59 in New Point, MO
Location
Country	United States
States	Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri
Counties	KS: Jefferson, Atchison, Brown NE: Richardson MO: Holt
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided

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When the route was commissioned in 1934, U.S. Route 159 only went between Nortonville, Kansas and Horton, Kansas. In 1945, it was extended north to Craig, Missouri via Falls City, Nebraska. After 1975, the route in Missouri was altered to go east from the Fortescue area to what is now its current terminus near New Point, Missouri. The old route which went to Craig is now Route 111.^[1]

In 2013, a new bridge over the Missouri River, located about 650 feet south of the old Rulo Bridge, opened to traffic.^[2] In April 2019, a large portion of this route was closed for several months because of flooding of the Missouri River.^[3] The bridge and the road between Rulo, Nebraska and Missouri Route 111 was reopened in September 2019,^[3][4] and the remainder of the route to Interstate 29 was reopened in late October.^[5]

• U.S. Route 59
• U.S. Route 259