Interstate 25 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Length:	1062.77 mi[1][2] (1,710.36 km)
South end:	I-10 / US 180 near Las Cruces, New Mexico
Major junctions:	I-40 in Albuquerque, New Mexico US 50 in Pueblo, Colorado I-70 in Denver, Colorado I-76 in Denver, Colorado I-80 in Cheyenne, Wyoming
North end:	I-90 / US 87 near Buffalo, Wyoming

Interstate 25 (I - 25) is an Interstate Highway in the western United States. Its odd number indicates that it is primarily a north–south highway. I - 25 stretches from Interstate 10 at Las Cruces, New Mexico, (not too far north of El Paso, Texas), to Interstate 90 in Buffalo, Wyoming, (not too far south of Montana).^[3]

Interstate 25 is the main north–south expressway through Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. From north to south, it passes through or close by Casper, Wyoming; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Fort Collins, Colorado; Denver, Colorado; Colorado Springs; Pueblo, Colorado; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Albuquerque; Socorro, New Mexico; and Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Incidentially, it also passes by the town of Truth or Consequences in southern New Mexico). The I - 25 corridor in Colorado and New Mexcio is somewhat urbanized, but nothing like the long heavily-urbanized stretches of Interstate 5, Interstate 75, and Interstate 95. The part of I - 25 in Colorado passes just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. That stretch was recently involved in a large-scale renovation named the T-REX^[4] (TRansportation EXpansion) in Denver, and the COSMIX ^[5] (Colorado Springs Metropolitan Interstate Expansion). These projects and others in New Mexico were necessitated because these stretches of I - 25 had been inadequately designed and constructed originally (the pavement was deteriorating rapidly) and also because urban areas like Denver, Colorado Springs, and Albuquerque had tripled and quadrupled in population much earlier than anyone had anticiplated back in the 1950s and 1960s. Major highway work for the T-REX project ended on August 22, 2006. The COSMIX project was completed in December 2007. Several other smaller improvement projects for I - 25 are still ongoing within Colorado and New Mexico.

[edit] Route description

[edit] New Mexico

Interstate 25 begins at Interstate 10's exit 144 in Las Cruces.^[6] Immediately, three exits provide access to the city, including one for U.S. Route 70.^[7] After this, there are no major cities along the corridor until Albuquerque. However, when I - 25 reaches Truth or Consequences, it is parallel to Elephant Butte Reservoir State Park.^[8]

As I - 25 nears Albuquerque, it has interchanges with highways such as U.S. Route 380 and a concurrency with U.S. 60.^[9] Getting even closer, State Road 6, former U.S. Route 66, meets up with I - 25 in Los Lunas.^[10] Now getting even closer to Albuquerque, there are frequent exits to city streets,^[11] along with a huge interchange with Interstate 40.^[12] Named the Big I, it was given an honorable mention by the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for excellence in urban highway design in 2002.^[13]

Leaving Albuquerque, I - 25 starts to curve into a brief east–west orientation as it heads toward Santa Fe.^[14] I - 25 retains that orientation until Las Vegas, where it starts to revert back into its usual north–south orientation.^[15] The highway stays this way as it leaves New Mexico and enters Colorado.

[edit] Colorado

Rush hour on I - 25 through downtown Denver

Interstate 25 has many nicknames though the state's larger cities. In Denver it is called the Valley Highway, the section in El Paso County is named the Ronald Reagan Highway, and through Pueblo it is named the John F Kennedy Highway.

I - 25 enters Colorado 14 miles (23 km) south of the city of Trinidad. It is the main north–south route through Colorado with a length of 300 miles (480 km). The Interstate exits Colorado in the north about 8 miles (13 km) south of Cheyenne, Wyoming. I - 25 serves all the major cities in Colorado that are east of the Rocky Mountains, such as Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Fort Collins, and Greeley. For almost the entire distrance in Colorado, from the north to the south, the Rocky Mountains are clearly visible.

There are also several important military and air bases and institutions along this route, such as Buckley Air Force Base, the Cheyenne Mountain headquarters of NORAD, Fort Carson, Peterson Air Force Base, the United States Air Force Academy, and Francis E. Warren Air Force Base.

The section of I - 25 that is between the northern border of Pueblo County, Colorado, and the New Mexico state line is named the "John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway", in honor of President Kennedy's support of water resources development in the Arkansas River Valley.

[edit] Wyoming

I - 25 enters Wyoming 8 miles (13 km) south of the state capital city, Cheyenne. After traveling through Cheyenne, Interstate 25 continues north to Douglas, Wyoming, passing many plateaus and also railroad tracks. Commonly, very long trains can be seen slowly moving alongside this highway. Around Douglas, this interstate highway curves somewhat to the west towards Casper. Once it has passed through Casper, I - 25 turns due northerly, and it goes as far as Buffalo, Wyoming, where it ends at an intersection with Interstate 90. Then, Interstate 90 provides the connection to Montana.

[edit] History

The section between Romeroville, N.M., and Los Lunas, New Mexico, closely follows the original alignment of U.S. Highway 66, which was later shortened and realigned to run due west from Santa Rosa. Now, that has been replaced with Interstate 40.

[edit] Major intersections

• I-10 in Las Cruces, New Mexico
• US 60 in Socorro, New Mexico
• I-40 in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• US 50 in Pueblo, Colorado
• E-470/C-470 in Lone Tree, Colorado
• Interstate 225 in Denver, Colorado
• I-70 in Denver, Colorado
• Interstate 76 at Welby, Colorado
• Interstate 270 at Welby, Colorado
• Northwest Parkway/E-470 in Broomfield/Thornton, Colorado
• I-80 in Cheyenne, Wyoming
• I-90 in Buffalo, Wyoming

[edit] Auxiliary routes

• Interstate 225

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Interstate 25

• Interstate 25 by Matthew Salek

edit Main Interstate Highways (major interstates highlighted)
4	5	8	10	12	15	16	17	19	20	22	24	25	26	27	29	30
35	37	39	40	43	44	45	49	55	57	59	64	65	66	68	69
70	71	72	73	74	75	76 (W)		76 (E)		77	78	79	80	81	82
83	84 (W)		84 (E)		85	86 (W)		86 (E)		87	88 (W)		88 (E)		89	90
91	93	94	95	96	97	99	(238)		H-1		H-2		H-3
Unsigned			A-1		A-2		A-3		A-4		PRI-1		PRI-2		PRI-3
Lists		Primary			Main - Intrastate - Suffixed - Future - Gaps
		Auxiliary			Main - Future - Unsigned
		Other			Standards - Business - Bypassed