End of US highway 287 |
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Summa
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Summa
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1935-1940
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1940-1965
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1965-present
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Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 1891 miles for US 287. That closely matches our own 2020 measurement, which yielded 1885.7 miles (reroutings and realignments likely explain the difference). The midpoint of US 287 is on the northwest edge of the town of Hugo, CO.
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Claim to fame: US 287 is the longest three-digit US route. The end-to-end journey covers a distance of 1954.5 miles. Some of that is an implied routing through Yellowstone National Park, but even if we ignore that mileage (since US routes are actually not designated or signposted within the Park), it is still about 20 miles longer than US 281.
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US 287 was commissioned in 1935, apparently for two reasons: 1.) to eliminate the US 87E / US 87W split routes, and 2.) to eliminate the short US 285 [i] designation. North of Yellowstone National Park, US 87W was subsumed by a northward extension of US 89. But US 89 could not fulfill that role to the south of Yellowstone, so instead the US 287 designation was created. It eliminated US 87W southeast to Muddy Gap, and then continued down to Rawlins via the original US 87. But instead of ending there, US 287 was overlapped with US 30 eastward to Laramie, and from there it subsumed US 285 [i] down to Ft. Collins. The remainder of US 285 [i] from Ft. Collins to Denver became part of a re-routed and extended US 87, which followed College Avenue north from downtown, then north and east on modern CO hwy. 1 through Wellington and into Wyoming. However, US 287's junction with US 87 was not configured the same as the current intersection where CO 1 meets US 287. Rather, College made a more gentle curve to connect with Terry Lake Road (today's CO 1):
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c. 1937, CDoT
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Part of that curve is still in use today: the short segment of Spaulding Lane that connects to Terry Lake. The map below shows how the junction has changed over the years:
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Here, we are looking north on College. Today this is northbound US 287, which curves to the left, and the signal at upper left is the modern intersection with CO 1. But originally, when this was northbound US 87, there was a "Y" intersection here. US 87 curved to the right to join Terry Lake Rd, while the curve to the left was the south beginning of US 287:
Sanderson, Oct. 2004
Heading that direction, the original north end of US 287 was at the south entrance to Yellowstone. In 1940, the US 287 designation was extended south and east along its present course, through Denver and all the way to its current southern terminus in Port Arthur.
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Originally in Montana, the road from West Yellowstone up to Three Forks was MT hwy. 1. Three Forks to Helena was US 10N; Helena to Wolf Creek was US 91; and Wolf Creek to Choteau was MT 33. But in about 1957, Montana designated that entire corridor as state highway 287. Clearly they were setting things up to extend the US 287 designation northward along that route, but for some reason that did not actually happen until 1965:
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So technically (since there are no US routes within the boundaries of Yellowstone) US 287 now consists of two segments. However, the US highways surrounding Yellowstone are numbered such that, whichever highway a traveler uses to enter the Park, they may resume using the same highway on the opposite side.
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Those maps indicate that originally US 287 traffic was directed to use 1st Street North (rather than Division Street) in Choteau. The following postcard image (taken looking southeast on Main Avenue, or US 89) was made shortly before US 287 was extended into town, as the highway marker at right indicated state highway 287. But within the next few years, the north beginning of US 287 was to the right on 1st St. N:
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c. late 1950s - early 1960s, attribution unknown
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At some point, perhaps in the 1990s, US 287 was changed to its modern configuration, which uses Division, one block to the south of 1st St. N. (or to the right from the photo above). This photo shows the current north end of US 287; note that the US 89 sign at lower right had arrows going both ways:
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Taylor, 2000
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At the time, traffic heading that way on Division was allowed to go any direction at the upcoming intersection (Main). But that is the point where traffic on Main bifurcates in order to go around opposite sides of the courthouse circle (behind the trees at far right). That intersection was the site of a disproportionate amount of traffic incidents, so shortly after that photo, the half-block of Division west of Main was changed to a one-way road, open only to westbound traffic. So now all US 287 traffic must go around the west side of the courthouse, even drivers who want to head north on US 89:
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Elbert, July 2008
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Ivy/Nitzman, Aug. 2016
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Northbound US 89 is actually to the left, but drivers can no longer turn that direction. Instead, all traffic must follow what essentially amounts to a one-way rotary around the courthouse. As of 2011, no further US 89 shields were posted ahead. Only the control points "Great Falls" and "Glacier National Park" precede the gore that separates northbound and southbound US 89 traffic, which is a bit underinformative.
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The courthouse is visible in this shot, which was taken looking southeast on Main (southbound US 89). Here US 89 traffic begins to curve to the right onto Division, but then curves back left to go around the right-hand side of the courthouse, and two-way traffic resumes on the opposite side...
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Elbert, July 2008
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...however, instead of going around the courthouse, if a driver remains on Division, then they are on the north beginning of US 287. Formerly another green sign was posted in the gore; this is gone now, but the first southbound confirming marker is right across the road from the gore:
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Taylor, 2000
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Ivy/Nitzman, Aug. 2016
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This series was taken from the opposite perspective: heading northbound on US 89, looping around the east and north sides of the courthouse. US 89 continues by curving back to the north on Main, while to the east on Division is the north beginning of US 287:
Elbert, July 2008
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Elbert, July 2008
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Elbert, July 2008
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In 1967 Montana requested to have the US 287 designation extended north from Choteau to the Canada line at the Port of Piegan. It would have overlapped US 89 for the entire distance, over 120 miles, but AASHO did not approve.
Research and/or photo credits: Chris Elbert; Brent Ivy; Alex Nitzman; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa; Steven Taylor
Page originally created 2001;
last updated Nov. 27, 2021.
last updated Nov. 27, 2021.
