![[Floodgap Roadgap presents the Summer of 6]](../extras/so6.gif)
Floodgap Roadgap's Summer of 6 -- U.S. Highway 6, Part 14: US 6 in Colorado (Clear Creek to Interstate 76/Denver; Clear Creek County, Jefferson County, City and County of Denver, Adams County)
In this section we enter the consolidated city and county of Denver, the
capital and largest city of the state of Colorado. With a population of
682,545 [2015], Denver is the 21st largest city in the United States. Its
nickname as the Mile High City is well-deserved: while its official
elevation as measured at a convenient spot on the state capitol steps
is indeed 5,280 feet, the city elevation actually gets as high as 5,690'
(1730m) in some places. The most populous city in the Mountain West Region,
it is a major Midwest hub for agriculture, industry and culture with a
census metropolitan statistical area gross product of $157.6 billion [2010].
The modern city, named for Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver,
was founded in 1858 and incorporated in 1861; the city and county were
consolidated in 1902.
US 6 generally follows its later 1952 alignment into Golden along the
Clear Creek Canyon, formed by the eponymous creek that runs within it.
At that point it diverts off on a bypass alignment around Golden into
Denver; the old routing passes through downtown
Golden to join with US 40/BL 70 on Colfax Avenue
just south of the modern interstate and
north of the modern US 6 bypass. In 1954 US 6 was moved south to
6th Avenue and up Federal Blvd, partially
on which the modern freeway is built. From there, the exact old
alignment through downtown Denver is not clear but appears to have been
along Broadway (using the 8th Ave connector) and the now obliterated
46th Avenue to Vasquez Blvd where the modern alignment continues. This
routing is no longer traversible in this direction due to the loss of 46th
and the fact that Broadway traffic is southbound (westbound) only, so
we won't follow it here. Along
the way it passes near the state capitol and a number of local museums
and tourist destinations on its way out of town to Interstate 76, which
replaces US 6 through much of northeastern Colorado. We'll discuss that
a bit more when we get there.
Denver is the terminus of two pre-US Highway thoroughfares, the
Omaha-Lincoln-Denver Highway (OLD)
and the Detroit-Lincoln-Denver Highway (DLD), its
successor, which in this region is represented by the former US 38 and
the earliest incarnation of CO 81 (Part 15), both
becoming absorbed into US 6 after 1937.
We'll discuss this in more detail in Nebraska
where some actual historical remnants lie but point out some division points
in service of that later digression.
|
US 6/US 40
The earliest alignment of US 6 was shared with US 40 over Mount Vernon
Canyon, which US 40 still follows today. Between 1937 and 1952, with
delays for contention with the railroad right of way and
World War II, a new alignment was built along Clear Creek
Canyon to the north (we met Clear Creek in
Part 13). Even this routing is tight and
frequently inadequate, though there are few alternatives in this very
rugged region of the Rockies.
 |
Despite US 40 being the older route, the brief common portion as we
exit from I-70 is carried
on US 6 internally. This begins segment 006G at Mile
257.079 (but the actual mileposts don't show it until the half-mile here).
| |
 |
US 40 diverts south along Mt Vernon Cyn shortly after, with distance
signage here to Golden.
| |
|
US 6
We continue alone along US 6 into Golden.
| |
 |
Awful close to the rocks though!
| |
 |
Just in case you missed it: this is Clear Creek.
| |
 |
The first of the six Clear Creek Canyon tunnels at Mile 259. The tunnels
were some of the earliest portions completed, partially with WPA money in
the late 1930s. The tunnels are numbered going westward from Golden; this
is number 6.
| |
 |
Number 5.
| |
 |
Number 4, obliterated after road upgrades in 1998 replaced the old US 6/CO
119 junction with a properly controlled T instead of a wye.
| |
 |
Junction CO 119, heading north to the mountain casino town of Blackhawk and
arcing east into Boulder as a major regional arterial,
from which it makes another grand arc into Longmont to terminate at I-25.
| |
 |
Jefferson county line.
| |
|
|
Jefferson County, Colorado |
Billed as the "Gateway to the Rocky Mountains," Jefferson county is the
fourth-most populous county in Colorado. Among its major employers is the
Coors Brewing Company, the largest single brewery facility in the world,
still operating from the county seat of Golden. The state Colorado School
of Mines is also located in the county, offering degrees in not only
geology and mining but also chemistry, computational sciences and engineering.
The county's name harks back to the old Territory of Jefferson when local
residents seceded from what was then Arapahoe county in the Kansas Territory
and named their new territory after President Thomas Jefferson, organizing
it into twelve new counties in 1859.
Their action had no official sanction, but President
James Buchanan did organize the Territory of Colorado in 1861 and the new
territorial assembly formed the new and present-day Jefferson county in
roughly the same region as part
of the state's original 17. It was subsequently diminished to its
present acreage by transfers to
Park county and the consolidated city-counties of Denver and Broomfield.
Often abbreviated to Jeffco, an appellation that appears on many local
businesses and districts, the county has a population of 565,524 [2015].
Unfortunately, the modern day alignment of US 6 skirts most of the
population centres, so we will see relatively little of those areas.
 |
Continuing on EB US 6.
| |
 |
Mile 262.
| |
|
The terrain is tight and there are many sharp curves. CDOT eventually
added rumble strips and other safety features in subsequent upgrades.
|  | |
 |
Tunnel 2.
| |
 |
Mile 267.
| |
 |
Hi, Clear Creek.
| |
 |
The final Tunnel 1.
| |
 |
Entering Golden.
| |
|
Named for one of Jeffco's earliest prospectors, Thomas L. Golden, who
arrived during the Pike's Peak gold rush in 1858, Golden is the county
seat of Jefferson county. Interestingly, Golden's name was applied to
the new townsite being platted even though he himself did not actually
live there, despite being a resident of the region. Golden City, as it
was then called, was the capital of the Territory of Jefferson until 1861
when President Buchanan established the Territory of Colorado; Golden City
remained the territorial capital until 1867, when it was moved east to
Denver City. Coors and the Colorado School of Mines are both in Golden,
which was founded 1859 and incorporated in 1871.
The modern city has 18,867 residents [2010].
| |
 |
Junction CO 93 and CO 58. CO 93 is another, more direct connector to
Boulder rather than the gnarly CO 119; CO 58 is a freeway except for
this westernmost segment between Golden and I-70 at Wheat Ridge, six miles
east.
| |
|
Prior to US 6's southern realignment, the exact old alignment in Golden is
difficult to discern but probably ran along 6th St to Ford St, and then
out of town as S Golden Rd. The connectors between CO 58/6th St and 6th/Ford
are now
obliterated, and it is unclear if US 6 ran on the Ford/Jackson couplet
on the southeast side of town or merely on Ford. We turn right onto the
modern US 6 bypass, built originally 1956-7.
| |
 |
Mile 272.
| |
 |
Continuing along the US 6 bypass.
| |
 |
At the time these pictures were taken, US 6 was still an expressway, with
at-grade intersections. Since then CDOT has upgraded the alignment between
CO 58 and CO 470 to full freeway with grade separation.
| |
 |
Junction CO 470 to I-70.
| |
|
CO 470, as the number implies, was intended to become
"Interstate 470" as the Denver metro beltway. Although the goal was a complete
beltway around the metropolitan area, substantial public health and
environmental opposition mounted during the 1970s and the original
plan was abandoned. Instead, CDOT built a partial southwest bypass between
1980 and 1990 then
called the Centennial Parkway running between US 6 and, eventually, I-25.
This became the state highway and was constructed to freeway standards;
reflecting its history, it is largely Interstate standard as well. Nevertheless,
there are no plans to re-sign CO 470 as an Interstate after I-470
was eliminated by the FHWA in 1977.
CDOT had no appetite to continue building the beltway afterwards, but a
number of municipalities did and constructed their segments as tollways.
E-470, administered by eight local governments that formed
the E-470 Public Highway Authority and not CDOT, was built between 1991 and
2003 and runs from I-25/CO 470 in Lone Tree to I-25 in Thornton. It has one of
the highest toll rates of any such facility in the United States, over 36
cents per mile, and is among the earliest toll roads to not accept cash.
Subsequently, the city and county of Bloomfield continued "470" from the
I-25/E-470 interchange to US 36. The 11-mile Northwest Parkway
extension is separately administered from E-470 and opened in 2003. Typical
of such projects, the tollway's take has underperformed its original
estimates and the tollway bond debt suffered downgrading.
Meanwhile, the city of Golden,
alarmed by the prospect of additional traffic increases, blocked a
further extension plan in 2001 advanced by the cities of Westminster and
Arvada. Negotiations between the cities and CDOT resulted in a compromise
environmental impact study to evaluate additional alternatives. The
expected routing for "W-470" will likely follow Indiana Street and CO 93,
though the scheduled 2020 construction date seems highly optimistic. If
"W-470" is built as intended,
the planned Jefferson Parkway extension between CO 93 and the
Northwest Pkwy would finally finish the beltway with it, albeit with little
administrative resemblance to what was originally designed.
| |
   |
Junction US 40 (again), on Colfax Avenue carrying BL 70 (but only the
eastbound access is signed as such), at Mile 275.
| |
|
The actual
historic junction between US 6 and US 40 appears to have been Colfax Ave
and Golden Rd, roughly southeast of the modern Interstate and northeast
of this elongated connection. There is no direct access to I-70 from
US 6.
| |
 |
Begin US 6 freeway.
| |
|
The US 6 freeway in eastern Jeffco/western Denver is known as the 6th Avenue
Fwy, since it was built over 6th Ave. The original expressway was built as
part of the Denver-Golden US 6 bypass in
1956-7, as previously mentioned. The freeway upgrade proceeded west from I-25,
completed in this area in 1957, to Federal Blvd in 1960, to Kipling St by 1965,
and to the point here by 1966.
| |
 |
Junction CO 391, a local arterial known as Kipling Pkwy and Kipling St.
| |
|
|
City and County of Denver, Colorado |
For some reason, the Denver city/county line signage was apparently missing
at the time.
 |
Advance signage for CO 88, on Federal Blvd, a marginal local arterial,
and the I-25 junction (with unsigned US 87). On its north end
CO 88 connects to BL 70/US 40 on Colfax Avenue, carrying US 287 from
the east, from which US 287 then proceeds north from CO 88's terminus.
| |
 |
Junction I-25. This is the end of segment 006G at Mile 284.489. We exit
north onto I-25/US 87/US 85 (both unsigned).
| |
|
The Sixth Avenue Fwy continues to a terminus at the two-way couplet of Santa
Fe Dr and Kalamath St. This is the historic junction of US 6 and US 85, and
most likely was the, or one of the, western termin(us/i) of the OLD and DLD.
We will encounter the eastern end of the OLD (but not the DLD)
in Part 21.
I-25/US 87/US 85/US 6
Interstate 25 is a major north-south arterial, though unlike many I-x5
2 digit Interstates it does not cross any international borders. Instead,
it starts at I-10 in Las Cruces, NM (we
photographed it) and travels through Albuquerque, NM, Colorado Springs,
CO, Denver and Cheyenne, WY on its way to its northern terminus at I-90 in
Buffalo, WY for a total
of 1,063 miles. I-25 generally replaces US 85 in almost all of New Mexico
and substantial portions of Colorado, and US 87 in all of Colorado and
in Wyoming up until I-25's northern terminus. The corouting
of US 87 with I-25 is unusual in that the highways do not
separately exist at all within Colorado (US 87 is overlaid on I-25 for
its entire length), and for that reason although US 87
technically exists in Colorado it has no signage anywhere within it.
As US 87 had previously been (re)built as expressway and freeway in many
locations, it was simply given to I-25 and little other remnant remains.
Most of I-25 in Colorado was complete by 1970, though many Colorado
segments became woefully inadequate for their traffic volumes and
were expanded in the early 2000s. The major portions of the Denver I-25
expansion were complete by the time these photographs were taken.
For that matter,
US 6 is not signed anywhere along I-25 either, at least not that I could
determine at the time.
| |
 |
Merging onto I-25, with advance signage for the US 40 junction. This is
the only place in Colorado where US 287 meets its parent US 87, and neither
route is signed from I-25.
| |
 |
Continuing through metro Denver.
| |
Mile High Field, here in its form as Invesco Field at Mile High
in summer 2006, where
the Denver Donkeys Broncos appear to engage in a sport that may
resemble American football (go Chargers! die Chargers for moving
from my home town! I hate everybody in the AFC West!).
Opening in 2001 to replace
the historic 1948 Mile High Stadium (in which many teams played, including
the Colorado Crappies Rockies [go Padres!] before moving to Coors
Field in 1994) which was demolished, investment management company Invesco
controversially paid $120 million for the original naming rights which
many fans opposed. The Denver Post's objections for several years were
so strong they refused to use the new name.
|  | |
|
In 2011, the name transferred
to Sports Authority in a new 25-year contract, and the facility is now
officially Sports Authority
Field at Mile High. It is unclear what will happen now
after Sports Authority's Chapter 11 bankruptcy and restructuring.
| |
 |
Junction I-70 once again. US 85 jumps off with us onto EB I-70.
| |
|
I-70/US 6/US 85
Sorry about the quality of this segment; I was shooting nearly directly
into the sun here.
| |
 |
Interestingly, this alignment is, in fact, signed!
| |
 |
We don't stay on I-70 very long and divert off after barely a mile on I-70.
| |
|
US 6/US 85
US 85 is a true border-to-border highway (as reflected by its name as the
United States portion of the CanAm Highway), but you wouldn't know it
in the Southwest where much of it is on paper and anonymously co-routed with
Interstate highways. Starting from the Mexican border as MX 45 in El Paso, TX
(with US 62 which we see much later when we get further north), it joins
with I-10 into New Mexico where it then exits with I-25. Except for a
business loop in Las Vegas, NM, it is completely co-routed with I-25
until well into Colorado, and not signed at all along the Interstate
in either state until that point. It has separate alignments in Colorado
Springs and Denver, returning to the Interstate between them, until I-70
and US 6. North of I-76 (which we'll reach shortly), it becomes a largely
independent highway again through the rest of Colorado
and most of Wyoming except for some US highway
co-routings and its alignment over I-180 in Cheyenne, the only fully
at-grade Interstate in the nation. It mostly retains its old historic routing
from there into the Dakotas and the Canadian border at Fortuna, ND where it
continues into Saskatchewan as SK 35.
The CanAm Highway concept began as early as the 1920s, and continues from
US 85's terminus along SK 35 to SK 39, SK 6, SK 3 and SK 2 to terminate in
La Ronge, SK. (The continuations along MX 45 and SK 102 are not considered
part of the CanAm.) Its total length in both countries is 1,975 miles.
| |
 |
Turning left onto Vazquez Boulevard from I-70.
This begins segment 006H at Mile 290.98.
| |
 |
This segment is an expressway, with occasional grade separation.
We leave the city and county of Denver into Adams county, similarly
unsigned at the time.
| |
|
|
Named for Colorado Governor Alva Adams, best known for his notorious spat
with predecessor and successor Governor James Peabody (in which both called
the other illegitimate and both committed illegal electoral acts in office)
which ended in his removal and brief replacement with Peabody, the county
was formed in 1901 out of Arapahoe county and sectioned down to its
present size. Part of the county was transferred to Denver in 1989 for
the present-day Denver International Airport (the largest airport in the
United States in physical size), which Adams county completely surrounds,
and another section to the city and county of Broomfield in 2001. Colorado's
fifth-largest county by population, it counts 491,337 residents [2015] with
its seat since 1901 at Brighton.
 |
Junction Interstate 270/unsigned US 36. Matt Salek has a nice picture of
the old
southbound gantry. CO 2 briefly joins with us from the south in
an unsigned merge ...
| |
 |
... to split off again, feeding the eastern Denver region as it runs
between US 285 and CO 7.
| |
 |
EB US 6/NB US 85.
| |
 |
Junction CO 224, a minor local connector,
and advance signage for Interstate 76.
| |
 |
Proceeding to the Interstate.
| |
 |
Joining I-76. This is the end of segment 006H at Mile 296.32.
| |
|
![[Return to Floodgap Roadgap]](../../exitik.jpg "Click to return to the main Roadgap page.")