U.S. Route 85 (US 85) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, north to the Canadian border in Fortuna, North Dakota. In the state of Colorado, US 85 begins at the New Mexico state line south of Starkville and ends at the Wyoming state line south of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
  U.S. Highway 85 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanAm Highway | ||||
 US 85 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by CDOT | ||||
| Length | 309.6 mi[1] (498.3 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |    I-25 / US 85 / US 87 at the New Mexico state line | |||
| North end | US 85 at the Wyoming state line | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Colorado | |||
| Counties | Las Animas, Huerfano, Pueblo, El Paso, Douglas, Arapahoe, Denver, Adams, Weld | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
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US 85 enters Colorado from New Mexico running concurrently with Interstate 25 (I-25) but is not signed. US 85 leaves I-25 at exit 128 and follows Santa Fe Avenue through Fountain before turning west briefly onto Lake Avenue before rejoining I-25 at exit 138. Approaching the south side of Denver, US 85 again leaves I-25 at exit 184. From there it heads west and north as a two-lane rural highway. It becomes an expressway near Chatfield Reservoir and the southern Denver suburbs of Littleton and Englewood, where it is commonly known as Santa Fe Drive. From just north of its intersection with C-470 to its northern intersection with I-25, it is known as the Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Highway. It continues north through Denver for a few miles before once again joining with I-25 at mile marker 207. There it runs concurrently with US 87 as well as I-25 and heads north through downtown Denver. At exit 214, US 85 turns east and runs concurrently with I-70 and US 6 for about a mile where it exits with US 6 and heads northeast through Commerce City. In just a few miles the US 6/US 85 concurrency merges with I-76 at mile marker 9. They travel concurrently for three miles (4.8 km) until exit 12 when US 85 becomes an expressway and continues north out of the Denver area through Brighton.
From there it parallels I-25 for about 75 miles (121 km) passing through Fort Lupton, Platteville, Evans, Greeley, and Eaton before crossing into Wyoming.[2]
History
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2017) |
US 85 originally followed some of the route that I-25 would later take.[3] In southern Colorado, US 85 originally was placed on city streets in Pueblo and Trinidad until 1938 where the route was ultimately paved from one state to another, taking place at the present I-25 corridor. In Denver, US 85 followed Santa Fe Drive north to Iowa Avenue, three miles (4.8 km) south of downtown, then jogged east to Broadway, continuing about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north to turn northeast onto Brighton Boulevard.[4]
Realignment
editStarting in 1942, a realignment project took place in northeastern Denver, involving the opening of Vasquez Boulevard. Originally, US 85 ran along Brighton Boulevard from downtown going northeast and then was realigned along 46th Avenue to Vasquez Bouleard. Five years later, in Pueblo, the route took the downtown streets before the Greenhorn/Crow bypass opened two years later. In 1950, the Palmer Lake/Larkspur bypass opened, moving US 85 along with US 87 along the expressway. The expressway opened north of Pueblo in 1951, which allowed both US 85 and US 87 to use the expressway coming out of downtown until 1954.
In 1958, when the Valley Highway (now I-25) opened in Denver, US 85 no longer followed Broadway. It followed Santa Fe Drive north to Alameda, then transitioned onto I-25 until 46th Avenue, where it turned east toward Vasquez. When I-70 was connected to I-25 in 1964,[5] it became US 85 between I-25 and Vasquez.[4]
On October 1, 2007, part of the US-85 known as Nevada Avenue was relinquished and is now maintained by the City of Colorado Springs.[6]
Junction list
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All exits are unnumbered.
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado–New Mexico line | 0.00 | 0.00 |  I-25 south (US 85 / US 87 south) | Continuation into New Mexico | |||
| See I-25 | |||||||
| El Paso | Fountain | 128.0 | 206.0 |  I-25 north (US 87 north) – Colorado Springs | Northern end of I-25/US 87 concurrency; I-25 exit 128 | ||
| 131.7 | 212.0 |   SH 16 (Mesa Ridge Parkway) to I-25 (US 87) – Ft. Carson | Interchange | ||||
| Stratmoor | 135.4 | 217.9 |  Academy Boulevard – Colorado Springs Airport | Interchange | |||
| 137.04 | 220.54 | B Street – Ft. Carson | Northern end of state maintenance | ||||
| Colorado Springs | Frontage Road (Willwood Road) | Interchange; northbound exit and southbound left entrance | |||||
| 139.8 | 225.0 |   SH 115 south – Cañon City | Interchange; southern end of SH 115 concurrency; SH 115 exit 46 | ||||
| 141.0 | 226.9 |   SH 115 ends / I-25 / US 24 (US 87) – Pueblo, Denver | Northern terminus of SH 115; northern end of SH 115 concurrency; I-25 exit 140 | ||||
| 148.0 | 238.2 | I-25 south (US 87 south) / Rockrimmon Boulevard – Pueblo | Southern end of I-25/US 87 concurrency; I-25 exit 148 | ||||
| See I-25 | |||||||
| Douglas | Castle Rock | 184.7 | 297.2 |   I-25 north (US 87 north) / SH 86 east (Founders Parkway) – Denver | Southern end of state maintenance; northern end of I-25/US 87 concurrency; I-25 exit 184 | ||
| 186.3 | 299.8 | N. Meadows Drive / Castle Rock Parkway | Interchange | ||||
| Sedalia | 190.4 | 306.4 |  SH 67 – Woodland Park | ||||
| | 196.4 | 316.1 | Titan Parkway | Interchange | |||
| Douglas–Arapahoe county line | Highlands Ranch–Littleton line | 200.5 | 322.7 |  SH 470 – Chatfield Dam | SH 470 exit 17 | ||
| Arapahoe | Littleton | 204.8 | 329.6 |  SH 88 (Belleview Avenue) | Interchange | ||
| Sheridan | Frontage Road Access | Interchange; southbound exit and entrance | |||||
| Sheridan–Englewood line | 206.8 | 332.8 |  US 285 (Hampden Avenue) | Interchange | |||
| City and County of Denver | 208.7 | 335.9 | Evans Avenue | Interchange | |||
| 211.0 | 339.6 | I-25 south (US 87 south) / Santa Fe Drive north – Colorado Springs | Southern end of freeway section; southern end of I-25/US 6/US 87 concurrency; I-25 exit 207B | ||||
| See I-25 | |||||||
| 216.8 | 348.9 | I-25 north (US 87 north) | Northern end of I-25/US 87 concurrency; northbound left exit and southbound left entrance; I-25 exit 214A | ||||
| 38th Avenue / Park Avenue – Downtown | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; northbound access via I-25 exit 213 | ||||||
  I-70 west – Grand Junction | Northbound left exit and southbound entrance; I-70 exit 274 | ||||||
| I-25 north (US 87 north) – Thornton, Ft. Collins | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-25 exit 214A | ||||||
| Washington Street | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; southbound access via I-70 exit 275A | ||||||
| I-70 west | Southern end of I-70 concurrency; southbound left exit and northbound left entrance; I-70 exit 274 | ||||||
| See I-70 | |||||||
| 218.9 | 352.3 |  I-70 east | Northern end of freeway section; northern end of I-70 concurrency; I-70 exit 276A | ||||
| See US 6 | |||||||
| Adams | | 228.1 | 367.1 |  I-76 east (US 6 east) – Fort Morgan | Northern end of I-76/US 6 concurrency; left entrance southbound, no southbound exit; I-76 exit 12 | ||
| | 228.3 | 367.4 |  SH 44 – Thornton | ||||
| Henderson | 231.3 | 372.2 |  SH 22 | ||||
| 231.7 | 372.9 |  E-470 – Aurora | Interchange; E-470 exit 38; entrance ramp includes direct entrance from Brighton Road | ||||
| Brighton | 235.7 | 379.3 |  SH 7 – Brighton | Dumbbell interchange | |||
| Weld | Fort Lupton | 241.6 | 388.8 |   US 85 Bus. east / SH 52 – Ft. Lupton | Interchange | ||
| Platteville | 250.5 | 403.1 |  SH 66 – Longmont | ||||
| 252.0 | 405.6 | US 85 Bus. south | Southbound access only | ||||
| | 253.8 | 408.5 |  SH 60 – Milliken | ||||
| Peckham | CR 44 | Partial dumbbell interchange[7] | |||||
| Evans | 265.6 | 427.4 |  US 85 Bus. north – Greeley | Southern end of freeway; northbound left exit and southbound left entrance | |||
| 8th Avenue | Right in/right out interchange; southbound exit and entrance | ||||||
  US 34 west – Loveland | Southern end of US 34 concurrency; no direct northbound exit; northbound access via US 85 Bus. | ||||||
| US 85 Bus. north – Greeley | Southbound exit only; access from US 85 Bus. to northbound US 85 via US 34 | ||||||
| Greeley | US 34 east – Ft. Morgan | Northern end of freeway; northern end of US 34 concurrency; left exit and entrance southbound | |||||
| 267.2 | 430.0 | US 34 Bus. (18th Street) | |||||
| 270.2 | 434.8 | O Street east | Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||||
| 270.5 | 435.3 | US 85 Bus. south – Greeley Business District | Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||||
| Lucerne | 272.5 | 438.5 |  SH 392 – Windsor | ||||
| Ault | 279.8 | 450.3 |  SH 14 – Fort Collins | ||||
| | 309.6 | 498.3 | US 85 north – Cheyenne | Continuation into Wyoming | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Related routes
editUS 85 has three current business routes in Colorado: one in Fort Lupton, one in Platteville, and one in Greeley.
See also
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References
edit- ^ a b "Overview Map of US 85 in Colorago" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
- ^ "U.S. Highway 85". AA Roads. Retrieved October 11, 2017.[self-published source]
- ^ "Colorado State Roads and Highways" (PDF). Colorado Historical Society. p. 9. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- ^ a b Sanderson, Dale. "US highway history of Denver, Colorado". US Highways Blog. Retrieved July 9, 2024.[self-published source]
- ^ "Interstate 70 Construction Timeline". Colorado Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
- ^ "Colorado SH 83". www.mesalek.com. Retrieved October 3, 2021.[self-published source]
- ^ "US 85 & Weld County Road 44 Interchange". Colorado Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
External links
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Media related to U.S. Route 85 in Colorado at Wikimedia Commons
