K-238 is a short north–south state highway in northeast Kansas connecting US 36 near Elwood to Rosecrans Memorial Airport in Missouri. Although the highway is located in Kansas it was needed to connect St. Joseph, Missouri with its airport. Prior to a flood in 1952 the city and its airport were on the same side of the Missouri river. Missouri supplemental route OO in Buchanan County had previously linked the two. After the flood the Army Corps of Engineers proposed a plan to rechannel the river into a less flood prone course by removing the oxbow bend around the airport. The city of St. Joseph agreed to the plan, which included construction of this highway, even though it would separate the city from the airport.