US 85 in Colorado Springs News

r-dub · April 23, 2025, 11:22:08 AM

A sign upgrade project on this stretch of US 85 (the one with the random ending with no connection to signed routes talked about in this thread from a long time ago) has produced quite a few reassurance shields showing this segment as a state route instead of a US route now, including adding endpoint signage.

I reached out to CDOT and heard back from them:

QuoteIn general it is desired to have US highways that don't have a "break" in them. In the Colorado Springs area US85 has been non-continuous for many years. We are currently replacing the majority of signs on the highway and thought it was a good time to make the switch changing the name from a US highway to a Colorado highway. No addresses are impacted so the change does not really impact anyone

Makes sense to me. CO 36 and CO 40 follow the same idea: former US highway with no direct access to signed routes at their new endpoints. Honestly surprised this didn't happen when it was truncated back in the 2000s.

usends · April 23, 2025, 11:33:23 AM

Presumably this means US 85 will just remain on I-25 (unsigned of course, as CDOT does). On the plus side, US 85 would no longer be physically discontinuous, but on the other hand this will extend the unsigned segment of US 85 by 57 miles. Instead of being hidden from El Paso* north to Fountain (609 miles), it will be El Paso* to Castle Rock (666 miles).
*Or more precisely, the TX-NM line at Anthony.

JayhawkCO · April 23, 2025, 11:35:00 AM

Looks like I have a road trip I need to take in the next couple of weeks. Is the exit from I-25 on the south end now (or soon to be) signed as CO85 then?

r-dub · April 23, 2025, 11:42:53 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on April 23, 2025, 11:35:00 AMLooks like I have a road trip I need to take in the next couple of weeks. Is the exit from I-25 on the south end now (or soon to be) signed as CO85 then?

This is an ongoing project, so none of the BGSs have been updated yet as far as I know. At least the ones on Academy (former CO83) and CO 16 have not. I haven't made it down to the southern interchange.

SD Mapman · April 30, 2025, 03:14:22 PM

Looking at this and found what I believe is the only reference to 87 in Colorado now: US 85/87 New Mexico style!

usends · April 30, 2025, 07:52:12 PM

Quote from: SD Mapman on April 30, 2025, 03:14:22 PMLooking at this and found what I believe is the only reference to 87 in Colorado now: US 85/87 New Mexico style!

Good find. Ironically Venetucci at that point is no longer a US route, just a city street now.

Molandfreak · April 30, 2025, 10:07:43 PM

Quote from: usends on April 23, 2025, 11:33:23 AMPresumably this means US 85 will just remain on I-25 (unsigned of course, as CDOT does). On the plus side, US 85 would no longer be physically discontinuous, but on the other hand this will extend the unsigned segment of US 85 by 57 miles. Instead of being hidden from El Paso* north to Fountain (609 miles), it will be El Paso* to Castle Rock (666 miles).
*Or more precisely, the TX-NM line at Anthony.

Are there any US 85 signs along I-10 in Texas? I couldn't find any on GSV.

usends · April 30, 2025, 10:19:18 PM

Quote from: Molandfreak on April 30, 2025, 10:07:43 PMAre there any US 85 signs along I-10 in Texas? I couldn't find any on GSV.

Here's one northbound just before crossing into NM (on the frontage road, not actually on I-10).

averageroadgeek · June 25, 2025, 04:17:01 PM

Just wanted to give an update to this thread. All US 85 shields have been removed and replaced with CO 85 along Santa Fe Blvd, except for one street sign. The exit signs along I-25 are still for US 85. This was a couple weeks ago (June 12 2025), not sure if anything has changed since then.

pderocco · June 25, 2025, 10:43:01 PM

Quote from: averageroadgeek on June 25, 2025, 04:17:01 PMJust wanted to give an update to this thread. All US 85 shields have been removed and replaced with CO 85 along Santa Fe Blvd, except for one street sign. The exit signs along I-25 are still for US 85. This was a couple weeks ago (June 12 2025), not sure if anything has changed since then.

Good. That'll knock ten minutes off my two-week clinch trip next month.

M3100 · September 01, 2025, 06:26:31 PM

Quote from: averageroadgeek on June 25, 2025, 04:17:01 PMThe exit signs along I-25 are still for US 85. This was a couple weeks ago (June 12 2025), not sure if anything has changed since then.

The US 85 signs are still on I-25 (and CO SR 16 too) as of Aug 12, 2025.

The Ghostbuster · September 02, 2025, 03:36:21 PM

US 85 (and 87) should have been completely moved onto Interstate 25 when the Interstate was first completed through Colorado Springs. Maybe old 86/87 (and present-day CO 85) could have become Business 25.

JayhawkCO · January 16, 2026, 10:45:18 AM

Happened to look at the Highway Data Explorer and it looks like CO85 now ends at the roundabout for Charter Oak Ranch Road instead of I-25 for its southern end. GSV hasn't been over there since 2024, so I don't know if it's signed over there.

The High Plains Traveler · February 15, 2026, 11:45:22 PM

Colorado didn't apply to AASHTO for approval to make this change, at least from my reading of the most recent route numbering committee agenda. They did get approval when the hanging end of 85 was implemented about 15 years ago.

Elm · July 07, 2026, 11:30:18 PM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on January 16, 2026, 10:45:18 AMHappened to look at the Highway Data Explorer and it looks like CO85 now ends at the roundabout for Charter Oak Ranch Road instead of I-25 for its southern end. GSV hasn't been over there since 2024, so I don't know if it's signed over there.

I haven't been down that way myself, but when Apple Maps added sporadic Look Around (StreetView) imagery around the US in May, they did this stretch of Santa Fe Ave, and it looks like it is signed as CO 85.

Heading east from the roundabout, there's CO 85 North, and approaching the roundabout westbound, there's END CO 85.

usends · July 08, 2026, 10:00:52 AM

Quote from: The High Plains Traveler on February 15, 2026, 11:45:22 PMColorado didn't apply to AASHTO for approval to make this change, at least from my reading of the most recent route numbering committee agenda. They did get approval when the hanging end of 85 was implemented about 15 years ago.

This is an interesting point, because I would consider this change to be an intra-urban routing decision. Decades ago AASH(T)O made it clear that the state DOTs had the discretion to make intra-city changes without their approval (as long as it didn't affect any control points in AASH(T)O's route log). But AASHTO stopped being proactive around 1980 (when they delegated US route decisions to their Special Committee on Route Numbering), and they haven't reminded the DOTs of this guidance for decades. Many DOTs have since forgotten about that guidance, so they send applications to AASHTO for anything and everything that involves a US route (whether necessary or not). Instead of closely analyzing these applications and kicking back the unnecessary ones, SCORN just rubber stamps almost everything the DOTs send in. That is really frustrating to me, because "AASHTO approval" tends to give these decisions some sense of weight and authority, but the reality is: hardly anyone is even paying attention. That was the case back in 2009, when AASHTO approved CDOT's request to "move part of US 85 to I-25". If anyone on the SCORN had checked, they would have seen that it was impossible for traffic to make the movement described, and they also would have seen that it was an intra-urban change. So the application should have been rejected, for either one or both of those reasons.

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US 85 in Colorado Springs News