K-32 begins in extreme northeastern Douglas County at an intersection with US-24 and US-40 northeast of Lawrence. From this intersection, K-32 heads east along Linwood Road through rural parts of Leavenworth County and intersects County Route 1, which connects K-32 with I-70 and the Kansas Turnpike. K-32 continues east and soon passes through the town of Linwood. The road crosses into Wyandotte County and the town of Bonner Springs east of Linwood. In Bonner Springs, K-32 proceeds east on Kump Avenue until forced to turn northeast by the Kansas River. The highway then has an interchange with K-7. At this point, K-32 becomes a divided highway and runs alongside a Union Pacificrail line. Now bearing the name of Front Street, the route continues east into Edwardsville south of the Lake of the Forest. In Edwardsville, it picks up the name of Kaw Drive. On the Edwardsville–Kansas City line, K-32 has an interchange with I-435, the Kansas City beltway. The highway, still following Kaw Drive, continues northeast through the southwest portion of Kansas City. The highway then comes to an interchange with the Turner Diagonal. Here, K-32 departs from Kaw Drive, instead turning east to cross the river. Upon reaching the shore, the highway picks up Kansas Avenue, which it follows east alongside the BNSFrail yard. The highway has another interchange, this time with I-635, as it enters a heavy industrial area. East of I-635, K-32 crosses the Kansas River again before coming to an end at an interchange with the 18th Street Expressway, which also carries US-69.
History
Originally, the Turner Diagonal bore the route designation of K-132, which continued east onto Kansas Avenue. K-32 continued straight through the interchange along Kaw Drive, staying north of the Kansas River. The highway then passed through an interchange with I-70, then part of the Kansas Turnpike. This interchange has since been reconfigured and is now part of the I-70/I-635 interchange complex. Upon passing through the interchange, Kaw Drive changes names to Park Drive. K-32 continued east along Park until reaching 18th Street and Central, where the highway turned southeast. K-32 followed Central through Downtown Kansas City, Kansas before coming to an end at I-70 at what is now Exit 422D. For a time, of this stretch of road was concurrent with US-40. When the Kansas Turnpike Authority ceased collecting toll for the parallel stretch of I-70, US-40 was realigned to use the freeway. In 1993, the K-132 designation was removed from the state highway system and the portion of the Turner Diagonal west of Kaw Drive reverted to city control. K-32 was realigned onto the Kansas River bridge and Kansas Avenue, replacing K-132 east of Kaw Drive.
Major intersections
Truck route
K-32 Truck is a truck route of K-32 that serves Bonner Springs. It begins at K-32 and travels southeastward along Scheidt Lane. It then turns northeastward onto East Front Street, and ends back at K-32
