State Highway 23 (SH 23) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in Phillips and Sedgwick counties in the northeastern corner of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, United States, that connects

U.S. Route 385 U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from Deadwood, South Dakota to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Route description , - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 ...

(US 385) in

Holyoke Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

with

Nebraska Highway 23 Nebraska Highway 23 is a highway in southwestern Nebraska, United States. Its western terminus is on the Colorado border at Venango, where the highway continues west as Colorado State Highway 23. The eastern terminus of NE 23 is at Holdrege at ...

(N-23) in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Route description

SH 23 begins at an intersection with US 385 (North Interocean Avenue) and Howitt Street in Holyoke, near the city's northern edge. (US 385 heads north toward Julesburg and south to connect with

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

(US 6) in Holyoke, and then on toward Wray, Idalia, and

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

. Howitt Street heads west along the northern edge of the Phillips County Raceway.) From its southern terminus SH 23 heads very briefly due east (immediately leaving Holyoake) until it reaches the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

railway track A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

s and then turns northeast to run parallel with the tracks through rural agricultural area. About from the beginning of the route, and after connecting with multiple

county roads A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

, SH 23 passed through the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

. Continuing northeast along the north side of the BNSF tracks from Amherst, SH 23 travel through more agricultural area and connects with several more county roads. Roughly northeast of Amherst, the route has a slight S curve, crossing over the tracks in the middle of the curve at a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

. Approximately, northeast of the railroad crossing, SH 23 leaves Phillips County and enters Sedgwick County. About farther northeast, SH 23 reaches its northern terminus at County Road 63.2 (CR 63.2), which runs along the Colorado-Nebraska state line. (The highway continues northeast into Nebraska as

E-23and quickly enters Venango. CR 63.2 heads north along the state line toward Big Springs, Nebraska and south along the state line toward US 6.) For its entire length of SH 23 is

two-lane road A single carriageway (British English) or Undivided highway (American English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road has a s ...

, with no major junctions and, other than Holyoke and Amherst, does not pass near any populated paces.

History

The route established in about 1935, but was originally designated as SH 176. The highway was decommissioned in 1952 but was reinstated in 1968 (still as SH 176). To avoid confusion with Interstate 76 (I-76), which runs less than to the north of the route, and to match Nebraska's connecting highway number (NE-23), the former SH 176 was renumbered as SH 23 in 1989.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado State Highway 023 023 Transportation in Phillips County, Colorado Transportation in Sedgwick County, Colorado

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links