Texas US 281, beginning at the west, or the lower Rio Grande Valley, at an intersection with Business US 77 and
SH 48 about from the Mexico border. It travels along close to the border through the Rio Grande Valley. At the east, or Upper Rio Grande Valley, turning north from
Hidalgo, traveling through Las Milpas, Pharr, Edinburg, and many small towns while also having a Border Patrol checkpoint in Brooks County south of Falfurrias, Texas. It is alternating as a
divided highway and main street, until joining
I-37. It splits with I-37 and travels through
Pleasanton as Business 281, travelling north to
San Antonio. In San Antonio, US 281 overlaps
I-410 on the south side of the city until the interchange with I-37. US 281 and I-37 then overlap north into downtown San Antonio until I-37 ends at
I-35. US 281 continues north from downtown San Antonio as a freeway, intersecting I-410 again on the north side of the city, with access to the
San Antonio International Airport. A project to construct a stack interchange at I-410 (the "San Antonio Web") was completed June 9, 2008; formerly there was no direct access between the two freeways and surface streets were required travel between the freeways. North of San Antonio, US 281 is not a freeway and forms the
Main Street of
Blanco. It overlaps
US 290 south of
Johnson City. US 290 continues toward Austin, so US 281 and US 290 between San Antonio and Austin are available as a scenic and less congested alternate to I-35. North of San Antonio, US 281 continues through central and
north-central Texas, passing through many towns, including
Stephenville,
Mineral Wells and
Jacksboro before reaching
Wichita Falls, where the highway begins a concurrency with
I-44 north across the
Red River into
Oklahoma.
Oklahoma US 281 enters the state of Oklahoma at the Red River bridge north of
Burkburnett, Texas on a route concurrent with
I-44 starting in
Wichita Falls. About north of the Red River, US 281 leaves I-44 at
Randlett and follows a two-lane roadway parallel to the newer I-44, which becomes the Wichita Falls–Lawton section of the
H.E. Bailey Turnpike, from Randlett to a point south of
Lawton. Through the Lawton/Fort Sill metropolitan area, US 281 again overlaps a toll-free section of I-44, while the former US 281 alignment through the city of Lawton is designated as Business US 281 between I-44 exits 34 and 39B. About north of downtown Lawton, US 281 departs from I-44 to continue north through the cities of Apache,
Anadarko, Gracemont, Binger and Hinton. About north of its junction with I-40 near Hinton, US 281 crosses a 1930s-vintage 38-span steel pony truss bridge over the South Canadian River that served traffic of the former east–west
US 66 before that highway was superseded by I-40 in the 1960s. A section of US 281's paving from north of I-40 to a point south of Geary is the original concrete surface of US 66. Through central and northern Oklahoma, US 281 then proceeds through the cities of Geary, Watonga, Seiling, Waynoka and Alva. The highway crosses the Kansas state line about north of Alva at Hardtner, Kansas.
Kansas Passing largely through sparsely populated areas of central Kansas, US 281 enters the state at
Hardtner in
Barber County and passes through
Medicine Lodge,
Pratt,
St. John and
Great Bend, the only city along the route in Kansas, which has more than 7,000 people. Along its venture through southern Kansas, US 281 intersects several major east–west routes: first
US 54 and
US 400, which heads east to
Wichita and west to
Dodge City,
Garden City and
Liberal;
US 50, which veers east to
Hutchinson and west to Garden City; and
US 56, heading to Dodge City westbound and Overland Park eastbound. Following a four-mile (6 km) concurrency with
K-4 near
Hoisington, the highway intersects
I-70 at
Russell before joining
K-18 near
Paradise for an concurrency. The two highways split at
Luray, and US 281 turns north into
Osborne County, passing through the town of
Osborne before joining
US 24 and
K-9 for another concurrency. US 281 joins
US 36 at
Smith Center, turning east before the two highways split; US 281 turns north for its final stretch in the state, passing through
Lebanon and the geographic center of the lower 48 states.. All sections of US 281 in Kansas are two-lane. The last stretches of the highway overlaid with bricks, through downtown Pratt and Hoisington, were resurfaced with asphalt and concrete in the 2010s.
Nebraska US 281 enters Nebraska south of
Red Cloud and meets
US 136 there. It continues north to
Hastings and meets
US 6 and
US 34. Between Hastings and
Grand Island, US 281 overlaps US 34 as a divided highway and is designated the
Tom Osborne Expressway after the former Nebraska Cornhuskers football coach and U.S. Representative, who is a native of Hastings. At Grand Island, US 281 intersects
I-80, loses US 34 and intersects
US 30. US 281 continues north of Grand Island to
St. Libory as American Legion Memorial Highway. From there northward, US 281 is a two-lane undivided highway passing mostly through unpopulated areas, with the exception of the regional trade center
O'Neill, where it junctions
US 20 and
US 275. US 281 exits the state north of
Spencer.
South Dakota US 281 enters South Dakota in
Gregory County. Just north of the South Dakota-Nebraska border, it is cosigned with US 18. It crosses the
Missouri River at
Fort Randall Dam. Just south of
Armour, US 18 leaves the US 281 alignment. North of Armour, US 281 makes a short jaunt west on
South Dakota Highway 44, then continues north. US 281 and
I-90 intersect at
Plankinton. On both sides of
Wolsey, US 14 is cosigned with US 281 for a stretch of - from 3 miles south of Wolsey to 4 miles north of town. US 281 becomes an expressway at
South Dakota Highway 20. This expressway continues through
Aberdeen to a point near
Westport.
South Dakota Highway 10 is cosigned with US 281 for near
Barnard. It exits the state north of
Frederick. US 281 was recently realigned in the city of Aberdeen. A bypass was built that travels on the west side of Aberdeen, and the US 281 designation was moved onto that new roadway. It runs north from
US 12 and connects with the old alignment south of 24th Avenue Northeast. The South Dakota section of US 281, with the exception of concurrencies with
US 18 and
US 14, is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-229.
North Dakota In North Dakota, US 281 is a major north–south artery. It enters south of
Ellendale and intersects
I-94 and
US 52 at
Jamestown. US 281 and US 52 remain paired together to
Carrington. From there, US 281 continues northward through
Sheyenne. north of Sheyenne, the highway curves in order to go around
Devil's Lake, and it then continues to west of
Minnewaukan, North Dakota. From there it goes to
North Dakota Highway 5 at
Rocklake. US 281 follows ND 5 westward to
Dunseith, where the highway turns north in concurrence with
North Dakota Highway 3 to its end at the Canadian border in the
International Peace Garden. The northernmost section of US 281 passes through North Dakota's
Turtle Mountains. Recently, US 281 was rebuilt near
Minnewaukan, North Dakota to accommodate flooding close to the city. ==Future==