Historic US Highway ends in Grand Junction, CO
Photo credits: me
| Highway | Approx. time period |
|---|---|
| US 40-S | 1926-1936 |
| US 24 | 1936-1975 |
When the US routes were originally commissioned in 1926, US 24 went only as far west as Kansas City. West from Manhattan KS, US 40 was split into two routes: today's US 40 was signed as "US 40-S", and modern US 24 was known as "US 40-N". The two routes joined again in Limon CO. West of there US 40 followed essentially the same route as today. But US 40-S also continued west of Limon, following the path of today's US 24 through Colorado Springs and to Minturn CO. From there, US 40S followed what would later become US 6 (better known today as I-70) to Grand Junction, where the designation ended at its junction with US 50. In other words, the west segment of US 40S didn't reconnect with mainline US 40.
In 1936, the US 24 designation was extended west from Kansas City, replacing US 40-N from Manhattan to Limon and US 40-S from Limon to Grand Junction (US 40-S from Manhattan to Limon became simply "US 40").
The next year, US 6 was extended through the Rockies and all the way to California. Originally it met US 24 at Leadville CO and was co-signed with it to Grand Junction. A few years later, after Vail Pass was built, US 6 didn't meet US 24 until Minturn CO. This US 6/24 multiplex between Minturn and Grand Junction lasted for nearly 40 years, until in 1975 the US 24 designation was truncated to its present terminus at Minturn. So today no US routes end in Grand Junction, but below are some photos showing the location of the historic terminus.
It's logical to assume US 40-S (and later US 6/24) would've followed the railroad all the way into downtown: dropping south to Pitkin Avenue before angling northward again. In other words, you'd think the original highways would've followed what is today marked as Business Loop 70. But from what I've seen, that wasn't the case. CDoT maps as early as 1931 indicate that US 40-S was routed across town on North Avenue, just as US 6 uses North Av today. US 50 is shown heading north of Pitkin on 5th Street, then turning west on North Av. So US 40-S (and later US 24) are shown ending on North Av at 5th, and that's where I snapped the photos below (July 2004). This first one is looking west on North Av at 5th:
This was US 40-S (and later US 24), but both routes ended at this point. Eastbound US 50 was to the left (south) on 5th, and westbound US 50 took over straight ahead. The cliffs in the distance are part of Colorado National Monument.
Below we're looking north on 5th:
This used to be westbound US 50, which continued to the left on North Av. To the right was the west beginning of US 40-S, and later the west beginning of US 24.
US 6 was extended through Grand Jct in 1937; after that US 24 was co-signed with it between GJ and Minturn. Matt Salek has researched historic CDoT maps, and determined that the diagonal highway (a segment of today's Business 70) which heads northwest from downtown GJ to North Av was built in 1958. The partial interchange at that junction shows up on the 1963 map. So we'll say it was "around 1960" that US 50 would've been rerouted off 5th and North Av, and instead along its current alignment through town. At that time, one would assume that the US 24 designation must've been extended further west along North Av, to its new junction with US 50. If so, then its endpoint would've been here:
That's looking west on North Av (US 6), where it merges with the diagonal highway, heading northwest with US 50 and BL 70. Seems likely that this would've been the west end of US 24 until 1975, when the designation was truncated to Minturn.