Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

At the SH 95 exit. I love the zig-zag effect on the pedestrian bridge.

Buses get a lot of their own offramps on 36. And it allows us to see the ever-elusive Keep Left sign, too.

Old bridge with a tacked-on covered pedestrian lane. I'm betting this is pretty high on the "get rid of" list.

Interesting signage for the extra ramp on the onramp.

As the bridges get replaced (or as new ones get built, as is the case here) along the 36 corridor, they get a design upgrade.

The next exit along 36. This is the second time we've crossed 287.

There's definitely some older bridges along US 36.

Trimming some bush. The tumbleweed in the lane didn't come from this dude, and it didn't survive the impact with my bumper.

Hey there. How they hangin'?

Note the subtle difference between this sign and the one a few picts back. US 287 is actually about 1/2 mile to the north of us at this point.

Distance sign surrounded by suburbia and scenery. Guess which one I prefer.

The Northwest Tollway is the northwest (natch!) segment of the beltway around Denver. Problem is that there wasn't enough funding to put in an interchange with US 36. So you have to take surface streets to it.

Buses get their own dedicated offramp at the StorageTek interchange.

Yeah, that's a little confusing.

Random low pipe crossing.

Looking down at the Louisville area. Note to non-Coloradans: the "s" in Louisville is not silent. Don't ask.

Oh, yeah. We should probably mention what road is intersecting the highway, huh?

Impressive pedestrian walkway.

The frontage road you see here is actually SH 170. It parallels the highway for about a mile.

Not well marked turnoff to a scenic overlook. I've made out with a pretty lady here before. :D

Here's the scenery you see past the scenic overlook.

At the bottom of that long grade, we find the END! of SH 157. This is a semi-confusing interchange, as you can see.

There's a RTD stop just ahead.

Designated ramp for the buses.

Boulder is the home of the University of Colorado. Here's how to get there.

Just after an interchange with Baseline Road, which is also an unsigned spur of US 36 to SH 93, 36 curves due north and loses it's highway status--fast.

From high speed to traffic light is 3....2....1....

Since this is the main gateway to Boulder and CU, agencies pulled out all the stops to create a well planned and manicured US 36.

Snazzy retaining wall.

Another shot of the retaining wall. You know, if more retaining walls were like this, I wouldn't mind taking pictures of 'em.

BOulder is very bike-friendly. You can bike from one side to the other and rarely have to travel on city streets.

Approaching SH 7. Even though the signs say 7 continues north on 36, this will be the only indication of that until its exit from 36 in Lyons.

Just a scant few blocks from SH 7, we intersect SH 119.

Unlike 7, 119 is very well signed while along US 36.

There's a ton of traffic calming devices throughout Boulder. Here's an example of one on a right turn ramp.

Old-man signage spotting.

At the intersection of 28th Street (US 36) and Diagonal Highway (SH 119). Looks like a signal update is in progress.

Hmmm. I thought the 8" lights weren't done anymore. Interesting.

That's a lot of lights. I'm getting confused just looking at this pic. (It doesn't take much)

Now that we're done with the majority of Boulder, it's time for a new distance sign.

Interesting spot for the first warning that the right lane is about to go away.

One colorful signal mast arm, primed and ready for you.

A wide split. I could have sworn that I've seen a state highway signed here before, but I can't remember and can't find out any information in it.