From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 25, 1986:

The Kansas Turnpike was celebrating its 30th birthday this week in 1986. The Jayhawk interchange of the turnpike had been opened with a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 24, 1956, where Lawrence mayor John Crown spoke on the “influence it [would] have on our town.” The original plan for the brand-new, 181-mile turnpike had originally been three miles north of its current location, but community leaders had managed to lobby state highway officials to get the plans shifted so that Lawrence would benefit from the toll road, according to Steve Jansen, then director of the Watkins Community Museum. Jansen also pointed out that community leaders had also managed to get two interchanges — unusual for a city of 25,000 to 30,000 — for Lawrence, which helped shape current driving patterns. Now in 1986, KTA officials were estimating that the 275 millionth vehicle would have used the turnpike by 3:00 that afternoon.