U.S. Route 385 in Colorado
High Plains Highway | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by Colorado Department of Transportation | ||||
Length | 318.52 mi[1] (512.61 km) | |||
Existed | 1958–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | US 287 / US 385 / SH-3 towards Boise City | |||
US 50 / US 287 in Lamar US 40 in Cheyenne Wells I-70 in Burlington US 34 in Wray I-76 in Julesburg | ||||
North end | US 385 towards Chappell | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Colorado | |||
Highway system | ||||
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U.S. Route 385, also known as the High Plains Highway north of Cheyenne Wells, is the easternmost significant north-south state highway in the U.S. state of Colorado. It enters the state from Oklahoma overlapped with US 287, but splits at Lamar to follow its own route through the Eastern Plains to Nebraska.
Route description
US 385 is almost entirely a rural two-lane route. It begins at the Oklahoma state line on an overlap with US 287 (and at the west end of Oklahoma State Highway 3) and follows US 287 north through Campo and Springfield to Lamar. In that city it turns east with US 50 through Carlton to Granada, where the route turns north and finally separates from others. Communities along the route include Bristol, Sheridan Lake, Cheyenne Wells, Burlington, Wray, Holyoke, and Julesburg. US 385 turns west with US 138 in Julesburg, splitting west of the city and running northwest to the Nebraska state line.
In the Eastern Colorado Mobility Study (2002) the Colorado Department of Transportation identified US 385 as a potential connection between the Ports-to-Plains Corridor (US 287) and Heartland Expressway (SH 71 and US 385 in Nebraska).[2] In 2004 the Colorado General Assembly defined the High Plains Highway as that part of US 385 from Cheyenne Wells north to Nebraska, along with US 40 connecting US 287 near Kit Carson with Cheyenne Wells.[3] A more detailed study, made in 2007, recommended improving the highway to a "super 2" facility with improved roadway geometry and shoulders.[4] Signs marking the High Plains Highway were posted in 2009.[5]
History
The corridor along the eastern tier of Colorado was defined as several secondary highways in the 1910s. By 1914, the following were present: Secondary Road No. 2S from Oklahoma north to Holly, No. 9S from Cheyenne Wells north to Burlington, and No. 6S from Burlington north to Wray.[6] No. 24S from Wray north to Julesburg and No. 25S south from Granada were added by 1916,[7] and by 1919 the corridor had been completed with the extension of No. 9S south to near Granada and the connection of No. 25S to No. 2S via No. 33S east of Two Buttes.[8] As part of a renumbering in 1923, State Highway 51 was assigned to the route, with one major difference: SH 51 did not follow No. 2S (which mostly became SH 89), but instead went southeast from Two Buttes to Stonington and continued by replacing No. 30S (Dallas-Canadian-Denver Highway) to the Kansas state line in the direction of Guymon, Oklahoma.[9][10] (The connection in Kansas would become K-51 several years later,[11] but the rest of the road to US-64 west of Guymon did not become Oklahoma State Highway 95 until 1953-1954.[12])
In 1932-1934 a short extension from Julesburg north to Nebraska (mostly via present SH 11) was added to the route, taking it from border to border. At the same time, a new State Highway 166 was created, paralleling the Union Pacific Railroad's Overland Route from US 138 west of Julesburg northwesterly to the Nebraska line. SH 51 spent its early days as an unpaved road, except from Granada north to Road KK near Bristol, which received "oil process surfacing" in 1931-1932 when it was part of US 50. Otherwise, paving was begun in 1941-1942 between Holyoke and Julesburg, and was completed north of Cheyenne Wells in 1957-1958. In 1953 the state got rid of a large number of state highways,[9] including the short extension of SH 51 north of Julesburg (still unpaved), all of SH 166 (also unpaved), and the entire length of SH 51 south of Granada.[8]
Major intersections
County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baca | | 0.000 | 0.000 | US 287 south / US 385 south / SH-3 south | Oklahoma state line |
| 28.777 | 46.312 | US 160 – Pritchett, Walsh | ||
| 40.772 | 65.616 | SH 116 – Two Buttes | ||
Prowers | Lamar | 77.639 435.390 | 124.948 700.692 | US 50 west / US 287 north (Main Street) – La Junta, Eads | north end of US 287 overlap; south end of US 50 overlap |
Granada | 452.769 95.000 | 728.661 152.888 | US 50 east / US 400 east (Goff Street) – Holly | North end of US 50 overlap | |
| 98.628 | 158.726 | Road KK | former SH 196 | |
Kiowa | | 122.879 | 197.755 | SH 96 west – Eads | south end of SH 96 overlap |
Sheridan Lake | 123.682 | 199.047 | SH 96 east – Towner | north end of SH 96 overlap | |
Cheyenne | | 149.701 | 240.920 | US 40 east – Sharon Springs | south end of US 40 overlap |
Cheyenne Wells | 150.251 | 241.806 | US 40 west – Kit Carson | north end of US 40 overlap | |
Kit Carson | Burlington | 187.411 | 301.609 | I-70 | |
187.886 | 302.373 | US 24 west (Rose Avenue) | south end of US 24 overlap | ||
188.855 | 303.933 | US 24 east (Rose Avenue) | north end of US 24 overlap | ||
Yuma | | 216.861 | 349.004 | US 36 west – Idalia, Denver | south end of US 36 overlap |
| 219.448 | 353.167 | US 36 east – St. Francis | north end of US 36 overlap | |
Wray | 243.345 | 391.626 | US 34 (3rd Street) | ||
Phillips | Holyoke | 279.424 | 449.689 | US 6 (Denver Street) | |
279.893 | 450.444 | SH 23 – Venango, Amherst | |||
Sedgwick | | 294.617 | 474.140 | County Road 4 – Venango | former SH 148 |
Julesburg | 309.158 | 497.542 | I-76 – Sterling, Ogallala | ||
310.996 58.534 | 500.500 94.201 | US 138 east – Big Springs | south end of US 138 overlap | ||
56.956 | 91.662 | SH 11 to I-80 | |||
| 54.810 313.849 | 88.208 505.091 | US 138 west – Ovid, Sterling | north end of US 138 overlap | |
| 317.631 | 511.178 | US 385 north | Nebraska state line | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
References
- ^ Colorado Department of Transportation, Highway Data Explorer, accessed November 2013
- ^ Colorado Department of Transportation, Eastern Colorado Mobility Study, April 2002
- ^ Senate Joint Resolution 04-032
- ^ Colorado Department of Transportation, High Plains Highway Corridor Development and Management Plan, July 2007
- ^ Holyoke Enterprise, New Highway 385 signs unveiled last week, April 15, 2009
- ^ Third Biennial Report of the State Highway Commission of the State of Colorado, 1914, pp. 54-55
- ^ Fourth Biennial Report of the State Highway Commission of the State of Colorado, 1916, p. 66
- ^ a b Colorado Department of Transportation, official highway maps: 1919, 1922, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1941, 1942, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1958
- ^ a b 1923 list of state highways, reproduced in Highways to the Sky, Appendix C, p. 39
- ^ Colorado Highways, July 1923, map of state highways
- ^ Rand McNally, Junior Auto Road Map: Kansas, 1927
- ^ Oklahoma Department of Transportation, official highway maps: 1953, 1954
External links