U.S. Highway 138 (US 138), commissioned in 1926, is an east–west U.S. Highway 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 ...

and

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 sout ...

that travels predominantly northeast to southwest, paralleling the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/ Mountain West. It ...

and Interstate 76 (I-76). Similarly to the spurs of the former US 66 and US 99, US 138 is an orphan route. US 38 was commissioned in 1926, but US 6 was extended over it to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

(but was truncated to

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is a city in California, United States. It is the largest populated place and only incorporated city in Inyo County. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of . The city was ...

in 1964). Therefore, US 138 still meets its former parent route's path.

Route description

Colorado

U.S. 138 begins in Sterling at U.S. 6 and Business Loop 76. It goes northeast and intersects Colorado State Highway 113 southwest of Iliff. It becomes more easterly as it goes through Iliff, Proctor and

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, where it intersects Colorado State Highway 55. It continues on to Sedgwick, where it meets

Colorado State Highway 59 State Highway 59 (SH 59) is a state highway in eastern Colorado. SH 59's southern terminus is at U.S. Route 40 (US 40) and US 287 in Kit Carson, and the northern terminus is at US 138 in Sedgwick. Route description SH 59 begins in ...

. After passing through

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, it then meets U.S. Highway 385 west of Julesburg, and they overlap into Julesburg. Also in Julesburg, U.S. 138 intersects Colorado State Highway 11. U.S. 138 then leaves Julesburg going northeast and enters Nebraska.

Nebraska

Shortly after entering Nebraska, U.S. 138 intersects Interstate 80. It continues east from I-80 and enters Big Springs. At Big Springs, U.S. 138 turns north and ends at U.S. Highway 30.

History

The western terminus is in Sterling, Colorado, where it met U.S. Route 38 from 1926 to 1931 (US 38 became

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 ...

); the eastern terminus is at

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

north of

Big Springs, Nebraska Big Springs is a village in Deuel County, Nebraska, Deuel County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 400 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History The first name of the settlement was "Lone Tree", after a large cottonwood t ...

. US 138 is an example of a "child" route that has long outlived its "parent"; before U.S. Route 99 was decommissioned in 1964, US 138 was the only US route to not have a "parent" route.

Major intersections

References

External links

Endpoints of U.S. Highway 138
* ttp://nebraskaroads.com/roads/usroutes/136-183.html#138 Nebraska Roads: Nebraska US Highways 136-183 {{s-end 38-1 38-1 38-1 1 38 Transportation in Logan County, Colorado Transportation in Sedgwick County, Colorado Transportation in Deuel County, Nebraska