COS to Denver before I-25

[mtngigi]

Originally Posted by mtngigi

You could try AAA's website to map a trip-tik route such as what you're looking for ... might work.

Or ... what otowi said

[Marcy1210]

I have an old black and white picture from 1962 when my Dad was a construction supervisor with Johns-Manville at the USAFA's chapel construction. (J-M did all the insulation, tiles and plumbing pipes at the Academy apparently) We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Aurora right near an overhead arched sign that said "Welcome to Aurora, CO". It was probably on Colfax. Anyway, we went back and forth every day and one day we took a picture of my dad standing by the side of a road with a deer watching him. The road sign says U.S. Hwy 85. In another picture, we're also on our way down to the USAFA and the sign says Parker. It's all grass and prairie...and a two lane road. If 85 goes up from Castle Rock, through Louviers up to Chatfield, what road were we on that went from Aurora, through Parker and down to the Springs?

[otowi]

Originally Posted by Marcy1210

I have an old black and white picture from 1962 when my Dad was a construction supervisor with Johns-Manville at the USAFA's chapel construction. (J-M did all the insulation, tiles and plumbing pipes at the Academy apparently) We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Aurora right near an overhead arched sign that said "Welcome to Aurora, CO". It was probably on Colfax. Anyway, we went back and forth every day and one day we took a picture of my dad standing by the side of a road with a deer watching him. The road sign says U.S. Hwy 85. In another picture, we're also on our way down to the USAFA and the sign says Parker. It's all grass and prairie...and a two lane road. If 85 goes up from Castle Rock, through Louviers up to Chatfield, what road were we on that went from Aurora, through Parker and down to the Springs?

That would be highway 83. It still goes that way and is still in many places a two-lane highway, although that might not last much longer. Although Aurora, Parker, etc. are basically in Denver today, back then they were more remote - particularly Parker. Highway 83 ends/runs into highway 85/87 back then or the Interstate now considerably north of what were then the northern boundaries of Colorado Springs but not too far from what became the USAFA.

[huffdiver]

I was told that the part of the old road (prior to I25) to Denver was pretty close to the Academy (as the previous poster stated) - if you look at where the airfield is part of the old road is visible going NE to SW if you look closely. You can see it pretty well if you ride the bike trail there.

Is this correct?

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by otowi

It was Nevada/85/87. Some of it is now eaten up by various other roads.
US 85 enters Colorado from New Mexico concurrent with 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, then turning north following Nevada Avenue through Colorado Springs before rejoining I-25 at Exit 148. Approaching the south side of Denver, US 85 again leaves I-25 at Exit 182. From there it heads west and north as a two lane rural highway. It becomes an expressway near Chatfield Lake and the southern Denver suburbs of Littleton and Englewood. It continues north through Denver for a few miles before once again joining with I-25 at mile marker 207. There it becomes a concurrency with US 87 as well as I-25 and heads north through downtown Denver. At exit 214, US 85 turns east and becomes a concurrency with I-70 and US 6 for about a mile where it exits with U.S. 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 3 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.

I have never seen a map of Littleton old enough to confirm it, but I have read that originally US 85 coming from Colorado Springs entered Downtown Littleton on Rapp St., then turned east on Main St., then north on Rio Grande St. along the side of the railroad tracks to Englewood, where it merged with the current alinement of Santa Fe Dr. The highway traffic on Main Street caused serious problems, so they built the Santa Fe Bypass around Downtown Littleton sometime before 1950.

[reed303]

Topo map here shows Denver area roads as of 1957. I-25 to the south has its beginnings as US 87/CO 243

http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/img4/ht_icons/...957_250000.jpg

[otowi]

I have a 1950 Colorado highway map. It doesn't show any detours in Littleton, but it doesn't really get down to street level in Littleton - the street level part shows up in Denver at which point it says 85 and Santa Fe Drive are one and the same, and then 85 is Broadway, then Brighton (which is also 6), then 46th, then Vasquez.

[Marcy1210]

Originally Posted by reed303

Topo map here shows Denver area roads as of 1957. I-25 to the south has its beginnings as US 87/CO 243

http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/img4/ht_icons/...957_250000.jpg

That's a great map! When I first moved to CO in 1972, we lived in Littleton at Coal Mine and Platte Canyon across from Columbine Country Club. In 1975, my parent built a house in Highland Lakes Subdivision in Divide, the 4th house built. Before we moved into it in 1989, we'd visit by driving down Santa Fe to I-25. Going south on Platte Canyon, once you got past Ken Caryl Ave., there was nothing. I took that drive in June for the first time in 20 years, and I was shocked at all the development. Mind boggling, especially Platte Canyon to County Line. Yikes!