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40-59
Colo Hwys
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Location: Central Western Slope > Central
Mountains > Southern Front Range > Arkansas Valley
Length*: 441.48mi signed; 467.58mi implied
W End: Utah
border on unmarked overlap with I-70
E End: Kansas
border east of Holly (link to Richie Kennedy's site)
Nationally: W End: Jct I-80 in Sacramento, Califonia;
E End: Ocean City, Maryland (3011mi)
Counties: Mesa, Delta, Montrose, Gunnison,
Saguache, Chaffee, Fremont, Pueblo, Otero, Bent, Prowers
Places: Grand Junction, Delta, Olathe, Montrose,
Gunnison, Monarch Pass, Poncha Springs, Salida, Howard, Cañon City, Penrose, Pueblo West, Pueblo, Fowler,
Manzanola, Rocky Ford, Swink, La Junta, Las Animas, Lamar,
Granada, Holly
NHS:
Freeway: Short concurrent section with I-25
Expressway:
Broken Route: US 50 is nonexistent west of Grand Junction, disappearing at I-70 Exit 26.
Mountain Passes: West of Poncha Springs, Monarch Pass (11,312ft; 6.4% grade).
Milepost Guide:
Annual Average Daily Traffic (2008):
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Guide:
The first place US 50 appears is I-70 at Exit 26, where it
heads southeast toward Grand Junction with US 6 and BL 70.
Closer in to downtown, US 6 breaks off at an interchange and
heads east on North Ave., while US 50/BL 70 continue
southeast. In downtown, they curve east, and split onto two
one-way streets. Eastbound is on Pitkin Ave., and WB on Ute Ave. At 5th St., US 50 turns south and heads over the
Colorado River. From there, US 50 is an almost-freeway
through suburbia to SH 141.
From Grand Junction, US 50 heads southeast through near-desert along the
Gunnison River to Delta. It's 65 mph expressway petty much the whole way. At Delta US 50 turns south
onto Main St. and heads right through downtown. Then, it's expressway southeast
toward Montrose, passing through Olathe, where there is a
bypass to the east of town, with old US 50 marked as
a business route.
In Montrose, US 50 heads southeast into town on Townsend Ave. Northeast
of downtown at San Juan Ave and US 550, US 50 takes a turn east and
uses San Jan Ave to bypass around the northeast side of downtown. East
of downtown US 50 turns northeast on Main St and heads out of town.
US 50 then heads
east from Montrose, generally following the south side of the Gunnison
River. West of Sapinero, SH 92 goes across the dam holding back Blue
Mesa Reservoir, and intersects US 50. US 50 parallels the south shore
of the massive Blue Mesa Reservoir for a while then crosses over the
north side via a long bridge.
East of the end of Blue Mesa Reservoir, US
50 enters Gunnison, heading east through town on Tomichi Ave. US
50 then follows the Tomichi Creek hay-making valley southeast to
Sargents, then goes
northeast via Agate Creek. Climbing Monarch Pass, US 50 has a fairly
straight alignment, with few sharp corners. The east side down the
South Arkansas River features an even straighter alignment than the
west side. The crest of Monarch itself is at 11,312 feet, and features
a large parking area and general store that makes a handy rest stop.
Nearby there's a gondola that can take you the last 500 feet to the top
of Monarch Ridge.
US 50 becomes a divided expressway as it goes over the rolling terrain north of Royal Gorge, then comes down a hill and warps down to a city street as it enters the west side of Cañon City. US 50 goes through town on Royal Gorge Blvd. (which is appropriate) passing one block to the south of the main part of downtown. US 50 then becomes expressway on the east side of town, all the way to Pueblo. Much of the stretch is fairly desolate, with Penrose about halfway along it. Eventually US 50 comes to the expanse of suburbia in Pueblo West, then meets I-25 Exit 101 on the north side of Pueblo. US 50 goes south on I-25, but, if you're planning on simply driving through and are going to La Junta or something, it would be best to simply head through the interchange, and go onto SH 47, and take that southeast to US 50 on the east side of Pueblo.
US 50 leaves I-25 at Exit 100A, and heads east through the northern part of Pueblo as a divided expressway. At the 4th St interchange SH 96 joins US 50 and head east out onto the heavily irrigated and farmed Arkansas valley plains along SH 96's historic routing along the north side of the river. Meanwhile, BR US 50 starts at SH 96 at 4th St. and Santa Fe Ave. in downtown Pueblo, and heads south, and then east. US 50 goes past the Pueblo Airport and through Baxter and Devine, remaining an expressway. At the entrance to the Pueblo Chemical Depot there's a trumpet interchange, and immediately east of that SH 96 breaks off to the northeast and US 50 warps down to a two-lane road. US 50 crosses over the south side of the Arkansas, and east of Avondale BR 50 meets US 50 and ends.
US 50 and SH 96 are on opposite sides of the Arkansas until US 50 hits Fowler, at which point SH 96 curves northeast. At Rocky Ford US 50 splits onto two one-way streets through town, with EB on Elm Ave. and WB on Swink Ave. Speaking of Swink, that town is passed through on the way to La Junta, where US 50 goes east through town on 1st St. It continues following the south side of the Arkansas to Las Animas, where it heads east into town on 7th St., then turns north at Bent Ave. It follows that north out of town and across to the north side of the Arkansas, then turns east at the SH 194 interchange. US 50 then heads due east through Hasty and to the US 287 interchange, then at SH 196 turns south and goes across the Arkansas (again).
US 50-287 then enters Lamar, and heads south on Main St. to Olive St., where it turns east and goes concurrent with US 385. A local-maintained Truck US 50 provides a bypass around the busiest part of downtown. They continue east to Granada, where at Goff Ave. and Main St. US 385 heads north on Main. That is also the western end of US 400, and US 50-400 continues east. Halfway between Granada and Holly, they cross over to the Arkansas' north side (again), then go through Holly on Colorado St. From there, it's four short miles east to the Kansas line.
For a story of life along US 50, check out the July 7, 1997 issue of Time Magazine.
Photo Gallery:
History:
US 50 is an original 1920s US highway. It has remained
pretty much on the same alignment in the rural areas of
Colorado. However, it, along with US 6, originally went into
Utah west of Mack via current CR M.8, rather than along the
alignment of I-70. By 1938 all of US 50 was paved except for
Monarch Pass, which was paved by 1946.
In Pueblo and Pueblo County US 50 has undergone a lot of changes over the years. Originally US 50 came from its current
alignment at the Fremont/Pueblo County line and drifted southeast into
what is now Pueblo West, crossing the Turkey Creek arroyo near
present-day Corrizo Springs Ave. US 50 then shot straight east through
present-day Pueblo West on a section line that lines up with the
westbound road of US 50 at the SH 45 intersection (some maps show a
phantom line along this alignment, even though development in Pueblo
West has obliterated any road that was along this alignment at one
time). From the current US 50/SH 45 intersection US 50 originally went
southeast on Wild Horse Rd (a.k.a. Baker Steamer Rd) into Pueblo, then
using 29th St (and maybe 24th St at one time) east to Elizabeth St.
From Elizabeth St US 50 went south and east through Pueblo using 25th
St, Court St, 15th St, Main St, 4th St and Santa Fe Ave. From Santa Fe
Ave US 50 went east out of town on the current business route. [Some
info from Dale Sanderson and Steve Riner]
The first major change for US 50 in Pueblo County came about 1934.
The routing was changed so it no longer went through present-day Pueblo
West, instead from the Pueblo/Fremont line US 50 was moved to its
current alignment all the way to the north side of Pueblo, intersecting
US 85-87 at Elizabeth St and then heading south as before. In Pueblo
itself the route US 50 used through town was changed by 1947 using
Elizabeth St heading south, then east on 9th St and south on Santa Fe
Ave and out east as before.
By 1951 the routing of Us 85-87 on the north side of Pueblo had been moved to an expressway alignment along current I-25, and US 50 used that heading south into town. That road fed onto 13th/14th Streets (which appear to be two one-way streets) that took US 50-85-87 west to Grand Ave., US 50 then went south to 9th St, east to Santa Fe Ave., south and then east out of town. By 1954 things had been switched around again, now US 50-85-87 came south into town to 13th St then continued south on Santa Fe Ave, with US 50 continuing south on Santa Fe Ave then east out of town. The current route of US 50 north of Pueblo east of I-25 was built about 1957, with the former route along Santa Fe Ave and east of town becoming the business route.
East of Cañon City, US 50 and SH 120 were originally reversed
from what they are now, with US 50 going through Florence and Portland.
They were bypassed with US 50 being moved to the north by 1950. By 1958
the expressway east of La Junta was in place. By 1960 it was expressway
from Rocky Ford to La Junta. Expressway from Delta half way to Olathe
opened by 1974, and from Olathe to Montrose opened by 1975. By 1977 the
Olathe expressway bypass opened, as well as the sections from
Cañon City to east of SH 120 and from west of SH 45 to I-25. The
expressway from US 287 southeast into Lamar opened by 1988, with the
interchange at US 287 being built the same time. The gap in the
expressway northwest of Olathe was closed by 1994. Expressway segements
between Grand Junction and Delta were done in multiple phases in the
early 2000s with completion in 2004.
In Montrose, US 50 originally came south on Townsend Ave and turned
east on Main St. That meant that intersection was turn in US 50 as well
as the ends of US 550 and SH 90. In May 2010 CDOT rerouted US 50 around
the northeast side of downtown on San Juan Ave. Main St from Townsend
to San Juan was turned back to the city while US 550 was extended north
to San Juan to still meet US 50. The San Juan Ave bypass was built by
the city in the 1990s was was signed as a local-maintained US 50 truck bypass until the transfer happened.
Alvin Edlund, Jr. of Salida has written an extensive article on the history of US 50 in Colorado. It is available on Route50.com, Wulf Berg's site.
Related Site: Route50.com, from Wulf Berg of Virginia.
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Page created 30 May 2005
Last updated 27 June 2010
