 U.S. Highway 385 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Plains Highway | ||||
 US 385 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byCDOT | ||||
| Length | 318.52 mi[1] (512.61 km) | |||
| Existed | 1958 (1958)–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |    US 287 /US 385 /SH-3 towardsBoise City, OK | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end | US 385 towardsChappell, NE | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Colorado | |||
| Counties | Baca,Prowers,Kiowa,Cheyenne,Kit Carson,Yuma,Phillips,Sedgwick | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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U.S. Highway 385 (US 385), also known as theHigh Plains Highway north ofCheyenne Wells, is the easternmost significant north–southstate highway in the U.S. state ofColorado, and many of the state's major east–west routes intersect with US 385 before crossing into neighboringKansas andNebraska. It enters the state fromOklahoma whileoverlapped withUS 287, but splits atLamar to follow its own route through theEastern Plains toNebraska.
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US 385 is almost entirely a rural two-lane route. It begins at the Oklahoma state line on an overlap withUS 287 (and at the west end ofOklahoma State Highway 3) and follows US 287 north throughCampo andSpringfield toLamar. In that city it turns east withUS 50 throughCarlton toGranada, where the route turns north and finally separates from others. Communities along the route includeBristol,Sheridan Lake,Cheyenne Wells,Burlington,Wray,Holyoke, andJulesburg. US 385 turns west withUS 138 in Julesburg, splitting west of the city and running northwest to the Nebraska state line.
The corridor along the eastern tier of Colorado was defined as several secondary highways in the 1910s. By 1914, the following were present: Secondary Road No. 2S from Oklahoma north toHolly, No. 9S fromCheyenne Wells north toBurlington, and No. 6S from Burlington north toWray.[2] No. 24S from Wray north toJulesburg and No. 25S south fromGranada were added by 1916,[3] and by 1919 the corridor had been completed with the extension of No. 9S south to near Granada and the connection of No. 25S to No. 2S via No. 33S east ofTwo Buttes.[4] As part of a renumbering in 1923,State Highway 51 (SH 51) was assigned to the route, with one major difference: SH 51 did not follow No. 2S (which mostly becameSH 89), but instead went southeast from Two Buttes toStonington and continued by replacing No. 30S (Dallas-Canadian-Denver Highway) to theKansas state line in the direction ofGuymon, Oklahoma.[5][6] (The connection in Kansas would becomeK-51 several years later,[7] but the rest of the road toUS 64 west of Guymon did not becomeOklahoma State Highway 95 until 1953–1954.[8])
In 1932–1934 a short extension from Julesburg north to Nebraska (mostly via presentSH 11) was added to the route, taking it from border to border. At the same time, a newState Highway 166 (SH 166) was created, paralleling theUnion Pacific Railroad'sOverland Route from US 138 west of Julesburg northwesterly to the Nebraska line (where it connected withNebraska Highway 27). SH 51 spent its early days as an unpaved road, except from Granada north to Road KK nearBristol, which received "oil process surfacing" in 1931–1932 when it was still part ofUS 50. Otherwise, paving was begun in 1941–1942 between Holyoke and Julesburg, and was completed north of Cheyenne Wells in 1957–1958. Several major realignments were made prior to paving. US 385 was realigned north of Wray in 1937–1939, leaving behind two separate sections of County Road FF and Roads 43 and 10 returning to current US 385 south of Holyoke. Soon thereafter, in 1939–1940, US 395 was realigned to bypassIdalia andVernon to the east, leaving behind Road 9 to Idalia (now part ofUS 36), Roads DD and CC between Idalia and Vernon, and Road 26 back east to current US 385. In 1953 the state got rid of a large number of state highways,[5] including the short extension of SH 51 north of Julesburg (still unpaved), all of SH 166 (also unpaved), and the entire length of SH 51 south of Granada. Except for 7 miles (11 km) ofSH 116 east of Two Buttes, this was given back to the counties,[4] and is now Roads M, 49, X, and 44 from Kansas (where K-51 still exists) toWalsh, Road 45 from Walsh to SH 116, and Roads 38, 21, N, 22, R, and 25 from SH 116 to Granada.[9][10] All of these roads remain unpaved with the exception of 6 miles (9.7 km) of Road 44 south of Walsh.[11]
US 385 was created nationally in 1958–1959. In Colorado it followedUS 287 from Oklahoma toKit Carson,US 40 east to Cheyenne Wells, SH 51 to Julesburg, and former SH 166 (paved in 1959–1960) was returned to the state highway system for the final bit into Nebraska. The remaining independent section of SH 51 was paved over the next few years and completed in 1963–1964, at which time US 385 was moved off US 287 north of Lamar. SH 51 was dropped along with other redundant state highway designations in late 1968.[5][4]
In the Eastern Colorado Mobility Study (2002) theColorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) identified US 385 as a potential connection between thePorts-to-Plains Corridor (US 287) andHeartland Expressway (SH 71 andUS 385 in Nebraska).[12] In 2004 theColorado General Assembly defined the High Plains Highway as that part of US 385 from Cheyenne Wells north to Nebraska, along withUS 40 connecting US 287 nearKit Carson with Cheyenne Wells.[13] A more detailed study, made in 2007, recommended improving the highway to a "super 2" facility with improved roadway geometry andshoulders.[14] Signs marking the High Plains Highway were posted in 2009.[15]
| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baca | | 0.000 | 0.000 |   US 287 south /US 385 south /SH-3 east –Boise City OK | Oklahoma state line |
| | 28.777 | 46.312 |  US 160 –Trinidad,Johnson KS | ||
| | 40.772 | 65.616 |  SH 116 –Two Buttes | ||
| Prowers | Lamar | 77.639 435.390 | 124.948 700.692 |    US 50 west /US 287 north (Main Street) –La Junta,Eads | Northern end of US 287 overlap; southern end of US 50 overlap |
| Granada | 452.769 95.000 | 728.661 152.888 |  US 50 east /US 400 east (Goff Street) –Holly | Northern end of US 50 overlap | |
| | 98.628 | 158.726 | Road KK | FormerSH 196 | |
| Kiowa | | 122.879 | 197.755 |  SH 96 west –Eads | Southern end of SH 96 overlap |
| Sheridan Lake | 123.682 | 199.047 | SH 96 east –Towner | Northern end of SH 96 overlap | |
| Cheyenne | | 149.701 | 240.920 |  US 40 east –Sharon Springs | Southern end of US 40 overlap |
| Cheyenne Wells | 150.251 | 241.806 | US 40 west –Kit Carson | Northern end of US 40 overlap | |
| Kit Carson | Burlington | 187.411 | 301.609 |  I-70 –Denver,Topeka | I-70 exit 437. |
| 187.886 | 302.373 |  US 24 west (Rose Avenue) | Southern end of US 24 overlap | ||
| 188.855 | 303.933 | US 24 east (Rose Avenue) | Northern end of US 24 overlap | ||
| Yuma | | 216.861 | 349.004 |  US 36 west –Idalia,Denver | Southern end of US 36 overlap |
| | 219.448 | 353.167 | US 36 east –St. Francis | Northern end of US 36 overlap | |
| Wray | 243.345 | 391.626 |  US 34 (3rd Street) | ||
| Phillips | Holyoke | 279.424 | 449.689 |  US 6 (Denver Street) | |
| 279.893 | 450.444 |  SH 23 –Venango,Amherst | |||
| Sedgwick | | 294.617 | 474.140 | County Road 4 –Venango | FormerSH 148 |
| Julesburg | 309.158 | 497.542 |  I-76 –Sterling,Ogallala | I-76 exit 180. | |
| 310.996 58.534 | 500.500 94.201 |  US 138 east –Big Springs | Southern end of US 138 overlap | ||
| 56.956 | 91.662 |    SH 11 toI-80 | |||
| | 54.810 313.849 | 88.208 505.091 | US 138 west –Ovid,Sterling | Northern end of US 138 overlap | |
| | 317.631 | 511.178 | US 385 north –Chappell,Sidney | Nebraska state line | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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| U.S. Route 385 | ||
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| Previous state: Oklahoma | Colorado | Next state: Nebraska |
