U.S. Route 85
Length:	1,4791 mi (2,380 km)
Formed:	19261
South end:	MX 45 at the Mexican Border at El Paso, TX
Major junctions:	I-40 at Albuquerque, NM I-25 in Colorado Springs, CO I-70 in Denver, CO I-76 in Denver, CO I-80 at Cheyenne, WY I-90 near Deadwood, SD I-94 at Belfield, ND
North end:	Hwy 35 at Canadian Border at Fortuna, ND
United States Numbered Highways List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 85 is a north-south United States highway that runs for 1,479 miles (2,380 km) in the Midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, connecting with Mexican Federal Highway 45. The northern terminus is at the United States-Canada border in Fortuna, North Dakota, where the route continues north as Saskatchewan Highway 35. In both the United States and Saskatchewan, Canada the route is known as the CanAm Highway.

Route description

The highway passes through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

Texas

US 85 in Texas begins at the United States/Mexico border with U.S. Highway 62 and travels north through El Paso. It then splits from US 62 and travels northwest along the Rio Grande until it joins with I-10, about 14 miles before both reach the New Mexico border.

New Mexico

U.S. 85 in New Mexico is entirely concurrent with Interstate Routes. For the first 20 miles (32 km) it shares its route with I-10. It then continues north for the remainder of its length in New Mexico concurrent with I-25. It is not signed. [1]

Colorado

U.S. 85 enters Colorado from New Mexico concurrent with I-25 but is not signed. US-85 leaves I-25 at Exit 128 and follows Santa Fe Avenue through Fountain before turning west briefly onto Lake Avenue, then turning north following Nevada Avenue through Colorado Springs before rejoining I-25 at Exit 148. Approaching the south side of Denver, US-85 again leaves I-25 at Exit 182. From there it heads west and north as a two lane rural highway. It becomes an expressway near Chatfield Lake and the southern Denver suburbs of Littleton and Englewood. It continues north through Denver for a few miles before once again joining with I-25 at mile marker 207. There it becomes a concurrency with U.S. Route 87 as well as I-25 and heads north through downtown Denver. At exit 214 U.S. 85 turns east and becomes a concurrency with Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 6 for about a mile where it exits with U.S. 6 and heads northeast through Commerce City. In just a few miles the U.S. 6/U.S. 85 concurrency merges with Interstate 76 at mile marker 9. They travel concurrently for 3 miles (4.8 km) until exit 12 when U.S. 85 becomes an expressway and continues north out of the Denver area through Brighton. From here it parallels I-25 for about 75 miles (121 km) passing through Platteville, Greeley, and Eaton before crossing into Wyoming.

Wyoming

See also: Interstate 180 (Wyoming)

US 85 enters Wyoming from Colorado 8 miles (13 km) south of Cheyenne. In Cheyenne it joins with Business Route 87, and a mile later with Interstate 180 until it meets with U.S. Highway 30. The segment with I-180 is noteworthy as it is the only fully at grade interstate route in the U.S. [2] At exit 12 it joins with I-25 and U.S. Highway 87 in a concurrency for 5 miles (8.0 km) until US 85 leaves at exit 17 and travels northeast towards Meriden. From there it heads north to Torrington where it meets with U.S. Highway 26 and concurrencies for 10 miles (16 km) until Lingle. 47 miles (76 km) later it meets U.S. Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 18 at Lusk. It shares the next 47 miles (76 km) with US 18 and 33 miles (53 km) later meets U.S. Highway 16 near Newcastle. From here it is 29 miles (47 km) until it enters South Dakota in the Black Hills.

South Dakota

The South Dakota section of U.S 85., with the exception of two concurrencies with U.S. 14 Alternate and a concurrency with Interstate 90, is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-181.²

U.S. 85 enters the Black Hills from Wyoming and travels northeast until it meets with U.S. 14 Alternate east. The two routes form a concurrency from there until I-90 where U.S. 85 overlaps for 8 miles (13 km) while heading west. At exit 10 U.S. 85 heads back north towards Belle Fourche where it crosses U.S. 212. From there it continues to North Dakota passing only through the small towns of Redig, Buffalo, and Ludlow.

North Dakota

U.S. 85 enters North Dakota in the southwest part of the state. The first city on its route is Bowman at the junction of U.S. Route 12. Continuing north, it passes between North Dakota's two highest points, White Butte and Black Butte. Near Amidon it heads east for 9 miles (14 km) before going back north along the Little Missouri National Grassland for about 125 miles (201 km). Near Belfield it junctions with Interstate 94. It eventually passes through part of the scenic Badlands, crosses the Little Missouri river and passes near the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Unit).

Then, at Watford City it travels west for 16 miles (26 km) where it turns back north before Alexander. South of Williston it crosses the Missouri River. A few miles later it meets with U.S. Route 2 where the two overlap for 19 miles (31 km) as an expressway, which now bypasses Williston to the northwest. After U.S. 2 heads east U.S. 85 continues north to a concurrency with North Dakota Highway 5. From there it is 7 miles (11 km) to Fortuna where U.S. 85 heads back north for its remaining 6 miles (9.7 km) to the U.S./Canada border.

History

What is now US 85 from El Paso, Texas to then-U.S. Route 66 (now SR 6) in Los Lunas, New Mexico (south of Albuquerque) was shown as U.S. Route 466 in an early 1925 plan for the U.S. Highway System. This north-south route was never signed in the field; instead, the route was designated as part of US 85. This proposed routing is often referred to as "US 466 (I)" to distinguish it from the later, signed US 466.

Major intersections

• U.S. Highway 2 north of Williston, North Dakota
• Interstate 94 exit 42 at Belfield, North Dakota
• U.S. Highway 12 in Bowman, North Dakota
• U.S. Highway 212 in Belle Fourche, South Dakota
• Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 14 in Spearfish exit 10
• U.S. Highway 385 in Deadwood, South Dakota
• U.S. Highway 14 in Deadwood, South Dakota
• U.S. Highway 16 in Newcastle, Wyoming
• U.S. Highway 18 west of Edgemont, South Dakota
• U.S. Highway 20 in Lusk, Wyoming
• U.S. Highway 26 in Lingle, Wyoming
• U.S. Highway 87 north of Cheyenne, Wyoming
• U.S. Highway 30 in Cheyenne, Wyoming
• Interstate 80 in Cheyenne, Wyoming
• U.S. Highway 34 in Greeley, Colorado
• U.S. Highway 6 and Interstate 76 north of Denver, Colorado (they are paired with U.S. 85)
• U.S. Highway 36 and Interstate 270 north of Denver, Colorado (paired together)
• Interstate 70 in Denver, Colorado
• U.S. Highway 40 and U.S. Highway 287 in Denver, Colorado (paired together)
• Interstate 25 south of downtown Denver, Colorado (intersects with I-25/US-87)
• U.S. Highway 285 in Englewood, Colorado
• U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado
• U.S. Highway 50 in Pueblo, Colorado
• U.S. Highway 160 near Walensburg, Colorado
• U.S. Highway 350 in Trinidad, Colorado
• U.S. Highway 64 in Raton, New Mexico
• Interstate 40 in Albuqurerque, New Mexico
• Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 70 in Las Cruces, New Mexico
• U.S. Highway 62 in El Paso, Texas

See also

Related U.S. Routes

• U.S. Route 185
• U.S. Route 285
• U.S. Route 385
• U.S. Route 485

References

		Main U.S. Routes
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
40	41	42	43	44	45	46		48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
80	81	82	83	84	85		87		89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
101		163					400				412				425
Lists		U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Bypassed - Portal

Browse numbered routes
< US 84	TX		SH 85 >
< US 84	CO		SH 86 >
< I-80	WY		US 87 >
< SD 85	SD		US 85E >
< US 83	ND		ND 89 >

Bridges of the Missouri River Upstream ND 58 Bridge US 85 Bridge Downstream Four Bears Bridge