End of US highway 550

View a map showing this route.

Photo and/or research credits: James Allen; Karin and Martin Karner; Scott Pekeris; Matt Salek; Francis Stanton; me

Approx. time period North terminus South terminus
1926-1934 Montrose, CO Durango, CO
1934-1989 Montrose, CO Shiprock, NM
1989-1999 Montrose, CO Farmington, NM
1999-present Montrose, CO Bernalillo, NM

The north end of US 550 has been in Montrose CO since the US highway system was implemented in 1926 (although in 2010, the designation was extended about a mile to the north, along what had until then been US 50). As far as I know, Colorado DoT has never had an "End US 550" sign posted at its terminus on northbound Townsend Avenue. The photo below shows the last northbound marker:

Karners, Aug. 2010

That was at South 8th Street. About a half-mile ahead is the historic endpoint:

me, Sep. 1999

That was looking north on Townsend at Main Street. Shortly after that shot was taken, Black Canyon became a National Park, and signage was changed accordingly:

me, Aug. 2003

For 84 years (from 1926 until 2010), US 50 made a right angle at this intersection. During the first ten years of that timeframe, US 550 began to the west (left on Main). From there, traffic was directed south on Chipeta Road, which joins today's US 550 after about three miles. After 1936, US 550 was changed to follow Townsend, and for the next 74 years it ended here. In 2010, US 50 was rerouted, such that it uses San Juan Avenue instead of Main. In other words, US 50 traffic is no longer routed through this intersection, so US 550 has been extended ahead about a mile (along former US 50) in order to reach the new US 50. On the sign bridge above, initially the two panels on the right were simply taken down (one of them appears to have been moved to the location of the photo below). However, the "US 50 West Grand Jct" sign was not changed to read "TO US 50", nor was there any evidence that the road ahead is now US 550. And, as of 2011, that entire sign bridge is gone, and now northbound traffic looking for CO 90 is not given any directions. If you continue ahead about a mile, you encounter new signs that imply the true north end of US 550...

me, July 2010

...but there is no "End" sign. Signage on the San Juan signal mast is shown close-up below:

me, July 2010

Westbound US 50 traffic approaching that intersection on San Juan encounters the signage shown below:

me, July 2010

US 50 continues to the right on Townsend, while the north beginning of US 550 is to the left. The signal mast in the distance features these signs:

me, July 2010

Now, let's head south on Townsend, or east on US 50. In this direction, the San Juan Mountains make for a scenic backdrop. Approaching San Juan Avenue, we have these panels indicating the new north beginning of US 550...

me, July 2010

...and the signal mast looks like this:

me, July 2010

Ahead, there was no immediate confirmation for US 550 traffic - the first mention of that route doesn't occur for about a mile:

me, July 2010

Formerly that sign bridge had an additional panel, directing eastbound US 50 traffic left on Main towards Gunnison. Now that whole thing is gone, so the first standard confirming marker is an old one, just past Main:

me, July 2010

The photo below shows the signage as one approaches that intersection from the west on CO 90 (Main):

me, Sep. 1999

(If you're curious how "Ouray" is pronounced, click here). That's the perspective of a driver at the original north end of US 550, but at the time of that photo, US 550 began to the right. Today, it's actually US 550 that runs both directions on Townsend, but look how the junction is signed now:

me, July 2010

US 550 is still described as going only south on Townsend, while northbound Townsend is signed only as "TO US 50". You can see how the "TO" was added to both panels on the left, and the "ahead" arrow was greened out and replaced with a "left" arrow. This is a little odd, because if you simply continue ahead on Main, you reach US 50 in about a mile... whereas, if you follow the signs, you'll travel about three miles before reaching the same place.

The photos below show the approach to this intersection from the opposite direction (east on Main):

me, Aug. 2003 (unchanged as of July 2010)

The Uncompahgre Plateau is visible on the horizon; the signage on the stoplight at the intersection itself (visible one block ahead) is shown below:

me, Sep. 1999 (unchanged as of July 2010)

Until 1936, US 550 began straight ahead, but at the time of those photos it began to the left. Until 2010, this was westbound US 50, which continued to the right. Now it's US 550 that goes to the right (as well as left), but as of the time of my most recent visit, neither of those sets of signs had been changed.

US 550 runs north/south in Colorado, and as you can see in the photos above, it's signed that way too (despite its east/west number). US 550 has always been essentially a north/south route: it branches off US 50, and its original south terminus was at US 450 in Durango CO. Those were the only two US routes with which it connected, so there was no logical north/south (odd) number that could've been assigned to US 550. In 1934 the designation was extended through Aztec and Farmington NM, and it ended at Shiprock for the next 50-plus years. However, this change still didn't provide an opportunity to renumber US 550 as a north/south branch, because the north/south route at which it ended (US 666) was also misnumbered as an east/west route! In 1989 the US 550 designation was cut back to Farmington (when its former route to Shiprock became an extension of US 64). You can click any of the links in this paragraph to get more info and to view photos from these historic endpoints.

Until recently, US 550 went southwest out of Aztec, ending in Farmington. But in 1998 or 1999, New Mexico removed the US 550 designation from the highway between Farmington and Aztec - that road is now NM 516. Today US 550 goes south from Aztec to Bloomfield, and then along former NM 44 through Cuba, all the way down to I-25's exit 242 at Bernalillo NM (just north of Albuquerque). Presumably NM 44 was signed as an east/west route (at least around Bernalillo), and that's probably why US 550 is signed east/west in that area too (but I don't know whether it changes to north/south elsewhere in New Mexico).

To my knowledge, there's never been an "End" sign in Bernalillo. But if you continue east of the I-25 interchange, all you'll see are signs for NM 165 - implying, one must assume, that US 550 has ended. The photo below was taken from northbound I-25:

me, June 2006

If you take that exit, you'll see the sign shown below, mounted on the stop light:

me, June 2006

Obviously US 550 begins to the left. Heading the opposite direction (south on I-25), exit signage looks like this:

me, June 2006

There you can see how the old NM 44 marker was greened out and replaced with a US 550 shield. If you exit there and turn right, you'll soon see a confirming assembly:

me, June 2006

That's different than what was there in 2000, shortly after US 550 was extended... the route used to be co-signed with NM 44, as you can see below:

Allen, 2000

Also, at the intersection with Camino del Pueblo (old US 85), there is no longer any mention of NM 313. The photo below (taken from northbound Camino del Pueblo), shows more signage that was gone by 2006:

Allen, 2000

Since NM DoT has decommissioned US 85 in their state, US 550 still doesn't connect with any north/south US routes. It's destined to remain one of the surprisingly few US routes that defy the concept of number-direction parity.