State Highway 66 (SH 66) is a long east-west state highway in Boulder and Weld counties in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, 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 wes ...

. The highway extends from the foothills of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

at a junction with U.S. Route 36 (US 36) and SH 7 southeast of Lyons, proceeding east through the northern edge of

Longmont The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Longmont' ...

, to Platteville where it ends at

US 85 U.S. Route 85 (US 85) is a north–south United States Highway that travels in the Mountain and Northern Plains states of the United States. The southern terminus of the highway is at the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, connecting wi ...

. Although a number of western states retain their " state highway 66" as the decommissioned US 66, the "Mother Road" did not run through Colorado, and SH 66 has no connection to the famed Historic Route 66.

Route description

Modern SH 66 begins as a continuation of Ute Highway, southeast of Lyons at a signalized T intersection where

US 36 U.S. Route 36 (US 36) is an east–west United States highway that travels approximately from Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado to Uhrichsville, Ohio. The highway's western terminus is at Deer Ridge Junction, an intersection i ...

turns south towards Boulder 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

, where it meets

US 287 U.S. Route 287 (US 287) is a north–south (physically northwest–southeast) United States highway. At long, it is the second longest three-digit U.S. Route, behind US 281. It serves as the major truck route between Fort Worth and A ...

. Continuing eastward, the land on the side of the road transitions to farmland. After crossing the Boulder/ Weld county line, the road heads east in a straight line, crossing Interstate 25 (I-25) at Exit 243 near Mead, continuing on to Plattville which it enters on Justin Avenue, crossing Business US 85 at Main Street before ending at

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,

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

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado State Highway 066

066 66 may refer to: * 66 (number) * One of the years 66 BC, AD 66, 1966, 2066 * "66" (song), a song by Lil Yachty featuring Trippie Redd *66, a song by The Afghan Whigs, from the album 1965 *Sixty-Six (card game), a German card game * ''Sixty Six'' (f ...

Transportation in Boulder County, Colorado Transportation in Weld County, Colorado Longmont, Colorado