Colorado actually does sign some US routes along interstates, but...

6/2/2017

Colorado is somewhat infamous for not signposting its US routes where they are concurrent with interstates. This is more than just signage policy: CDoT route logs actually divide US routes into segments, and these segments are discontinuous in cases where the US route shares pavement with an interstate. So in a sense, CDoT considers US routes to be non-existent wherever their implied route is on an interstate. This notion has resulted in at least one very strange sign, shown here:

Sanderson, May 2017

That was taken looking west on I-270 at its interchange with I-25. Straight ahead on the Boulder Turnpike is the east "beginning" of US 36... that is, assuming one disregards the 1300-mile segment of US 36 behind the camera. (Incidentally, heading the opposite direction, there is a "Begin I-270" assembly, but it is not accompanied with an "End US 36" sign.)

However, there are a few exceptions... that is, a few places where US routes are still signposted along interstates. For example, US 160 is well-signed along I-25 between Trinidad and Walsenburg. Also, in Denver, the segment of I-70 between I-25 and Vasquez Boulevard is triple-signed with US 6 and US 85 shields. (Which is kind of a cruel joke, because there are no signs instructing drivers following those routes to get on I-70 in the first place!) Since that portion of I-70 is slated to be rebuilt starting in 2018, I wanted to document the condition of the signs before they are removed. (I would be very surprised if US 6 and US 85 were still co-signed along the new I-70 after it is rebuilt.) Heading westbound on I-70, the first such sign assembly is shown in this photo:

Sanderson, May 2017

That is posted about one block east of the Steele Street overpass, so I-70 drivers at that point are technically not on US 6-85 yet. The semi visible behind the sign assembly is following the implied route of US 6-85, so obviously the driver would never see the signage shown there. The first confirming assembly* that is actually visible to US 6-85 traffic is about a half-mile further ahead (*conundrum: can it still be referred to as a "confirming assembly" even if there are no signs directing traffic to turn onto the freeway?) This is posted just before the York Street overpass:

Sanderson, May 2017

The US 6 and US 85 shields are twisted so far that they are really not even visible to drivers (except maybe those who happen to look out their passenger-side window when they are essentially right next to the signpost). Google Street View images reveal that this assembly became deformed sometime between Aug. 2015 and Sep. 2016.

One more triple-sign assembly is posted ahead; this one is right at the Brighton Boulevard overpass:

Sanderson, May 2017

Oops, that should actually be "South" US 85. But I'm told those are 1961-spec US shields, so it is possible that they date back to the time when US 6-85 traffic was first directed onto this road.

So although CDoT does co-sign US routes with interstates in a few cases, they are certainly neither consistent nor meticulous about it. Heading the opposite direction (east on I-70), there is only one triple-sign assembly, posted just past the York-Josephine off ramp:

Sanderson, May 2017

The upcoming interchange is where US 6-85 traffic exits and heads north on Steele to Vasquez. But again: neither US 6 traffic (heading east on the 6th Avenue Freeway) nor US 85 traffic (heading north on Santa Fe Drive) is instructed to head north on I-25 and then east on I-70 to reach this point, so these assemblies are kind of pointless. But historically, CDoT did a much better job of co-signing US routes along interstates: