Colorado State Highway 66 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Colorado State Highway 66 is a 22.7 mi (36.5 km) long east-west state highway

State highway

State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

in Boulder

Boulder County, Colorado

Boulder County is the sixth most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county seat is Boulder. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is the City of Boulder...

and Weld

Weld County, Colorado

As of the census of 2000, there were 180,936 people, 63,247 households, and 45,221 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 people per square mile . There were 66,194 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...

counties in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. The highway extends from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

at a junction with US Route 36 southeast of Lyons

Lyons, Colorado

Lyons is a Statutory Town in Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,585 at the 2000 census. Lyons is located at the confluence of the North St. Vrain Creek and the South St. Vrain Creek, twenty miles east of Rocky Mountain National Park. Due to its location at the...

, proceeding east through the northern edge of Longmont

Longmont, Colorado

Longmont is a Home Rule Municipality in Boulder and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Longmont is located in Northern Colorado. Longmont is the 13th most populous city in the State of Colorado. The word "Longmont" comes from Longs Peak, a prominent mountain named for explorer Stephen H....

, to Platteville

Platteville, Colorado

Platteville is a Statutory Town in Weld County, Colorado, United States. The population was 2,370 at the 2000 census. It is adjacent to Fort Vasquez on U.S. Route 85.-Geography:Platteville is located at ....

where it ends at US Route 85.

Route description

Modern SH 66 begins as a continuation of Ute Highway, southeast of Lyons

Lyons, Colorado

at a signalized T intersection where US Route 36 turns south towards Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

on North Foothills Highway. From here, the route heads eastward along Ute Highway through open grassland, passing several small reservoirs and streams. Near a junction with CR 37, the road passes McCall Reservoir, Independent Reservoir, and Burch Lake before passing by McIntosh Lake. It passes through the northern edge of Longmont

Longmont, Colorado

, where it meets US 287

U.S. Route 287

U.S. Route 287 is a north–south United States highway. It is long. It serves as the major truck route between the Texas cities of Fort Worth and Amarillo...

. Continuing eastward, the land on the side of the road transitions to farmland. After crossing the Boulder

Boulder County, Colorado

/Weld

Weld County, Colorado

county line, the road heads east in a straight line, crossing Interstate 25

Interstate 25

Interstate 25 is an Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway. I-25 stretches from Interstate 10 at Las Cruces, New Mexico, , to Interstate 90 in Buffalo, Wyoming, .Interstate 25 is the main north–south expressway through...

at Exit 243 near Mead

Mead, Colorado

Mead is a Statutory Town in Weld County, Colorado, United States. The population was 2,017 at the 2000 census.Mead was mentioned as the origin of a silver dolphin pendant in Bones, Season 2, Episode 11....

, continuing on to Plattville

Platteville, Colorado

which it enters on Justin Avenue, crossing Business US 85 at Main Street before ending at US Route 85.

History

The route was established in the 1920s, when it began at US 87 (now moved) in Longmont and headed west to Estes Park. The section east of Longmont, which now extends to Platteville, was added in 1939, when the older portion of the route was paved. The rest of the route was paved by 1960. In 1967 when the bonds for the Denver-Boulder Turnpike were paid off, US Route 36 was extended to Estes Park along SH 66. Gradually the signing of the overlapping segment was reduced to just "US 36", leaving an orphan segment of SH 66 signed within Estes Park. In 2007 this remnant of SH 66 in Estes Park was turned back and it was truncated to its junction with US 36 southeast of Lyons. However, even today mileposts are measured from Estes Park, with the road officially beginning at Milepost 26.89.

Major intersections

{| class=wikitable
!County
!Location
!Mile
!Destination
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=2|Boulder

Boulder County, Colorado

|Lyons

Lyons, Colorado

|28.69
|
|End of overlapping non-chargeable section
|-
|Longmont

Longmont, Colorado

|36.62
|
|
|-
|rowspan=3|Weld

Weld County, Colorado

|Mead

Mead, Colorado

Platteville, Colorado

|51.23
|
|
|-
|51.38
|
|
|-

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