The Colorado Highways Site: About

About | Colored Table Format | Info Given About the Routes | Abbreviations & Terms | Sources

About This Site

This site's purpose is to explore the past, present and future of Colorado's state highway system. The general idea is to log information for all of the numbered highways in the state, information such as where they end, where they go, how they get there, their history, etcetera. This site started out in rudimentary form in spring 1997, after having seen similar sites for several other states. When I decided to undertake this effort, I never imagined I would have spent as much time on it as I have, but I have stuck with it. The site is a constantly evolving, growing thing. I've basically just been continually building to it since 1997.

The main bulk of the site is made up of pages that list numerically each numbered highway -- state, US and Interstate -- that has ever existed in Colorado. The full version of the route listings list all routes, past and present, with full notes, histories, photos, guides, etc. The barebones version lists only routes that presently exist, and have only partial info given to keep it short and sweet.

Comments? Questions? Concerns? My e-mail address is at the bottom of every page.

As Always, There Are Disclaimers:

THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL SITE. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Colorado Department of Transportation, the E-470 Public Highway Authority, or any other official agency. The opinions expressed here are mine or a fellow citizen's, not of the government of Colorado. This site is meant for general information purposes only. 100% information accuracy cannot be and is not guaranteed.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: This site © Matthew E. Salek, 1997-2006. All text and images are created by myself unless otherwise noted. Use of text and images where I am originator is authorized as follows: Use prohibited for any commercial/profit purpose. Use for non-commercial purposes is allowed under "fair use" (meaning credit is given). A special note on photographs: Many of the photographs shown on this site are not mine, they are given to me. Any use of a photograph taken by someone else is prohibited unless authorized by that person. Thank you for not stealing!

Colored Table Format

When browsing the full version of my route listings, you will notice that different routes are in different colors. This is done to quickly convey whether a route still exists or not, and if it doesn't, when it became defunct. Theses colors do not apply to the Auxiliary Routes section of my site, nor the US/Interstate Highways page.

White: Currently Active Routes These are signed routes that currently exist in the Colorado highway system. Some of them may not be marked in the field very well, but they do exist.

Gray: Pre Mid-1950s Decommissioning This color is used for routes that became defunct before the mid-1950s.

Yellow: 1940s Route This is a special case. This color indicates a route that, as near as I can tell, existed only around the 1940s. These are routes which were brought into the system in 1939, and disappear in 1953. There are a lot of them. A write-up on these routes can be found on my history page.

Green: Mid-1950s to 1968 Decommissioning This color is used for routes that became defunct from the mid-1950s to 1968.

Blue: Post-1968 Decommissioning Routes which have this color in the table are routes that became defunct after 1968.

Orange: Unknown, Never Signed, Carrier Route, Other This color is used to indicate several cases: A US Highway that was proposed, but never ended up getting signed. A state route which I have never found evidence of existing. Colorado appears to not have skipped numbers up through at least 403, but below that there are several routes I have never found on a map. A route that served mainly or only as a carrier route. That is my term for a state highway that appears to have been used mainly or only as the state number along a roadway that was a US or Interstate highway. A route whose current status is unknown. Other. Read the explanation.

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Information Given in the Route Tables

This section here explains the info that is given about each route in the route tables. In the Barebones section of the site, the routes will have the following info given about them:

• Location: This is the highway's location in the state. I have divided up Colorado, somewhat arbitrarily, into sectors called Western Slope, Mountains, San Luis Valley, Northern Front Range, Metro Denver, Southern Front Range, Eastern Plains, and Arkansas Valley. Here's a map. When a highway crosses from one sector to another, I'll say "Metro Denver > Eastern Plains". If a highway is really short so that it is only in one city, I will give the city as the location.
• Length: Given in miles. Lengths with an * are official mileages down to the 0.01 of a mile out of the official CDH/CDOT sources. Lengths without an * are estimations on my part using a variety of sources.
• Termini: The two endpoints of the route in Colorado, given in the direction the route is defined in CDOT sources.
• Nationally: If the route goes outside of Colorado, the national endpoints will be given along with the total national length.
• Counties: Counties the highway passes through or borders.
• Places: All incorporated cities the highway passes through, as well as notable unincorporated places, canyons, passes, etc.
• NHS: If part of the route belongs to the National Highway System, this will indicate which sections. The NHS is a system of major highways that get partial federal funding. Maps of the system are available from the FHWA.
• Freeway: This will appear and explain any sections of a route that are access-controlled with interchanges.
• Expressway: This will appear and explain any sections of a route that are 4-lane high-speed expressway.
• Spur Connections: Any spur connections, officially defined in CDOT sources, are noted. If a link is present, it will take you to additional info about the spur on the Auxiliary Routes section of my site.
• Business Routes: Cities in which the route in question has a business route. Links will let you view the information on the BRs on the Auxiliary Routes section of my site.
• Broken Route: If a route is "broken", meaning discontinuous or having gaps in it, this will appear along with a explanation.
• Mountain Passes: If a route goes over any mountain passes I will give the pass name, elevation, and other notes.
• Sections Closed in Winter: If a certain section of a route is closed every winter, this will note the location of the closure.
• Roadway Names: If a route is known by any other common names this will appear along with the name.
• Notes: Little tidbits of info for the route.

In the complete version of the route listings, the information above will be followed by this additional information:

• Milepost Guide: This section lists, to the 0.01 of a mile, where the route in question intersects other state highways. If a route's only intersections are its end points, this is omitted.
• Annual Average Daily Traffic: Lists traffic counts (from CDOT sources) at various points along the route. The data is much more exhaustive than I list.
• Guide: A complete rundown of the route, from one end to the other. This is the bulk of the information given about most routes.
• Photo Gallery: Links to photos I or others have taken of the highways. The photos are also shown in the Photo Gallery.
• History: Historical info I've been able to dredge up will appear after this.
• Suggestions: Here I offer suggestions for what I feel would be improvements to the route. Listening, CDOT?
• Related Sites: Other sites with info relating to the route.

Abbreviations and Terms Used

All of the various compass directions are abbreviated with one or two letters. States and provinces are abbreviated with the two-letter postal code. Other abbreviations and terms:

• AADT: Annual average daily traffic, a way to express the average daily number of vehicles on a stretch of roadway, determined either through actual measurement or statistical analysis
• AASHTO: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. They set the rules for US and Interstate route numbering, and set design guidelines for roadways.
• Aux Lane (Auxiliary Lane): A lane on a freeway which is a continuous lane on from an entrance ramp but becomes an exit-only lane at the next interchange. Aux lanes are not included in the total number of through lanes a freeway has, since they are disjointed at each interchange. For example, I-25 south of I-225 has six total lanes each direction between interchanges, but because one of those is an aux lane, I-25 is considered to have only five through lanes each direction.
  
• BL: Business loop
• BNSF: Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, one of Colorado's two major rail companies. Maps that have any rail lines labeled as Burlington Northern or Atchison Topeka Santa Fe are actually BNSF rail lines.
  
• BR: Business route
• BS: Business spur
• BYP: Bypass
• Carrier Route: Term I use to describe an SH route that served primarily or only as the SH number along a stretch of roadway that was a US or Interstate highway. Before 1968 the state gave every stretch of highway in the state an SH number, even if it was only marked in the field as a US or Interstate.
• CDH: Colorado Department of Highways (up to 1991)
• CDOT: Colorado Department of Transportation (since 1991)
• C-D Road: Collector-distributor road, a kind of road at an interchange which branches off of the main line and then feeds traffic onto multiple ramps. Example: All four directions at the Mousetrap (I-25/70).
• CO x: Colorado Highway x. The routes signed with the state route marker.
• CR: County road
• DBT: Denver-Boulder Turnpike
• Decommission: Term used usually to mean when a US route is taken out of service. Can also be applied to other kinds of highways
• Defunct: A numbered route no longer in existence
• Expressway: A multi-lane divided highway that still has intersections, but may have the occasional interchange
• Expy: Expressway
• Freeway: A multi-lane divided highway with access only at interchanges
• Fwy: Freeway
• HOT Lane: High occupancy or toll lane, special lanes set aside for vehicles that have two or more people in them, or for single occupant vehicles that are willing to pay a toll. In Colorado the single occupant vehicle tolling is done with ExpressToll electronic toll collection. The toll may be variable by time of day. See the next entry for additional rules for high occupancy vehicles that want to use HOT lanes. HOT lanes have been given the derisive nickname "Lexus Lanes" by critcis, on the belief that rich, single occupant drivers can use the lanes to bypass the commoners in the congested general purpose lanes.
  
• HOV Lane: High occupancy vehicle lane, special lanes set aside for vehicles that have two or more people in them. In Colorado motorcycles and alternative fuel vehicles are allowed to use HOV lanes even with only one person. ("Alternative fuel vehicles" means things such as ethonal or propane powered. Gas-electric hybrid and flex fuel vehicles don't qualify.)
  
• Loop Ramp: A form of ramp at an interchange that usually takes the driver 270 degrees around to the right, like would be found in a cloverleaf interchange.
• MP: Milepost. Mileposts generally increase heading east and north along a highway. CDOT tends to use MM (mile marker) in public information releases.
  
• MUTCD: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the book put out by the federal DOT which sets sign, signal and pavement marking practices for the US. CDOT issues a state supplement to the MUTCD to include Colorado-specific signs for things such as switchbacks and snowsheds.
  
• NHS: National Highway System, a system of major routes across the US that get partial federal funding
• Pkwy: Parkway
• Purge of 1968: A massive renumbering that the state did in 1968, in which it got rid of all carrier routes and renumbered numerous state highways to avoid number duplication with US and Interstate highways.
• Ramp Meter: A traffic signal part way down a freeway onramp that, when operating, is red part of the time to control the number of vehicles entering the freeway. The timing of the meter can be set such that it spaces out cars entering the freeway to smooth out operation of the merge area, or it can be used to proactively restrict the number of vehicles entering the freeway to keep the mainline from reaching capacity. Studies have shown travel time and accidents decrease when meters are used.
  
• SH x: State Highway x. Generally the same as CO x, but in very limited circumstances can also refer to Interstate and US routes
• Spgs: Springs
• Spur: A highway that branches off of the mainline, for usually a fairly short distance
• Turn Back: The state taking a stretch of state highway out of its system and turning authority of it back to a local government. Minnesota term which I've adopted. "Abandonment" is the official term CDOT uses when it turns a road over the local control.
  
• UPRR: Union Pacific Railroad, one of Colorado's two major railroads. Many maps still label some rail lines as bygone-era companies that no longer exist such as Southern Pacific and Denver Rio Grande Western, even though UPRR bought those years ago.
  
• VMS: Variable message sign, an electronic sign that can display a variety of messages.
• VPD: Vehicles per day

Sources

Sources from Colorado State University Morgan Library:

• Official Colorado highway maps, CDH/CDOT, 1937, '47, '55, '72-'76, '80, '84, '86, '87 & '90-'92
• National Atlas of the United States, USGS, 1970
• Colorado/Wyoming map, AAA, 1983
• I-470 - Preliminary Screening Process Report, CDH, January 30, 1976
• I-470 - Detailed Assessment Report, CDH, September 1976
• Interstate 470 Withdrawal - Substitution Proposal Submitted to the Secretary of Transportation, Office of Governor Richard D. Lamm, State of Colorado, July 1977
• The DOT-Mandated Studies on Tolls and Tunnel & Public Highway Authorities, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., in association with Decision Economics Inc., for CDOT, 1991
• The High Road, Marion C. Wiley, the Bicentennial Project of the Division of Highways, CDH, 1976
• Colorado State Highway System - Route Descriptions and Mileage Statistics, CDH, January 1, 1971, & January 1, 1976

Sources from the Denver Public Library:

• Official Colorado highway maps, CDH/CDOT, 1919, '32, '36, '38, '39, '46, '47, '49, '50, '54-'58, '60, '61, '63-'68, '70, '76 & '88
• Preliminary Report on a North-South Limited Access Highway Through Denver, to Charles Vail, from Crocker & Ryan Consulting Engineers, Denver, December 9, 1944
• Commemorating the Opening of the Denver Valley Highway, CDH, November 23, 1958
• Commemorating the Opening of the East 46th Avenue Freeway, CDH, September 12, 1964
• Commemorating the Opening of the Colorado-Wyoming Link of I-25, CDH, October 11, 1964
• Auto Trails Map State of Colorado, Rand McNally, dist. by Continental Oil, 1923
• Colorado Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, CDH, 1952, '64 & '68
• Glenwood Canyon: From Origin to Interstate, Conrad F. Schader, Regio Alta Publications, 1996

Map collection of George Sammeth of Westminster:

• Official Colorado highway maps, CDH/CDOT, 1970-'94

Sources from other places:

• Official Colorado highway maps, CDOT, 1997, '99 & 2002
• CDOT online databases, including traffic counts (1996 & 2000), route descriptions, highway segment information, and structures
• Miscellaneous CDOT sources, such as press releases
• Colorado/Wyoming maps, AAA, 1994 & '97
• Northern Colorado Front Range Cities Streetfinder, Rand McNally & Pierson Graphics, 1997
• Denver Metropolitan Street Atlas, Pierson Graphics, 2000
• Rand McNally Road Atlas, 1989, '99 & 2000
• National Geographic Road Atlas, 1999
• Colorado Atlas and Gazetteer, DeLorme, 1995 & 2000
• Street Atlas USA 4.0 software, DeLorme, 1997
• Historical Atlas of Colorado, T.J. Noel, P.F. Mahoney, and R.E. Stevens, University of Oklahoma Press, 1994
• Various newspaper articles in the Rocky Mountain News, Fort Collins Coloradoan & Denver Post
• Other Internet sources, be they websites or misc.transport.road
• Information other people have sent me
• My own personal observations from my travelings around the state

Continue:

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Last updated 28 May 2007