Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the largest city and capital of the state of Colorado, United States of America. It is the largest city along the Front Range and forms the heart of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area.

Transportation

Grid system

Most of Denver has a straight forward north-south, east-west street grid. Blocks are usually identified in hundreds from the median streets. Colfax Avenue, the major east-west artery through Denver, is 15 blocks or 1500 north of the median. Ellsworth Ave is the north-south median, while Broadway is the east-west median. Both of these streets are identified as "0." Avenues north of Ellsworth are numbered (with the notable exception of Colfax Ave. and a few others). Avenues south of Ellsworth are named. All streets are named.

Related Topics:
Street grid - Colfax Avenue

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However, there is also an older downtown grid system that was designed to be parallel to the South Platte River and Cherry Creek. Therefore, most of the streets downtown and in LoDo run northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast. The latter streets are numbered, while the former are named. The named streets start at the intersection of Colfax Ave and Broadway with the block long Cleveland Place. The numbered streets start underneath the Colfax and 1-25 viaducts. There are 27 named and 44 numbered streets on this grid. There are also a few vestiges of the old grid system in the normal grid such as Park Ave, Morrison Rd., and Speer Blvd.

Related Topics:
South Platte River - Cherry Creek - LoDo

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Of course, this makes Denver a somewhat confusing city to drive in, especially in areas where these two grid systems meet. Often, people will take a wrong turn and end up in the completely opposite direction they intended. Fortunately, downtown traffic in Denver is much calmer than in many other large cities, and the mountains to the west provide an easy navigational reference.

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Highways

Denver is primarily served by the interstate highways I-25 and I-70. I-25 runs north-south from the New Mexico border through Denver to the Wyoming border. Likewise, I-70 runs east-west from Utah to Kansas. The intersection of the two interstates in Denver has been locally termed "the mousetrap." Additionally, I-76 intersects I-70 and I-25 just west and north of the city, respectively, and runs northeast to Nebraska.

Related Topics:
I-25 - I-70 - New Mexico - Wyoming - Utah - Kansas - I-76

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A highway expansion and transit project, dubbed "T-REX", is currently under construction. The project includes the addition of extra freeway lanes and a light rail line in the I-25 corridor between downtown Denver and the Denver Technological Center. The massive project is slated to be finished in fall of 2006.

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Mass Transportation

Mass transportation throughout the Denver metro area is managed and coordinated by Regional Transportation District (RTD). RTD currently operates more than 1,000 buses serving 10,000 bus stops in 38 municipal jurisdictions. Additionally, RTD operates two light rail lines with a total of 15.8 miles of track and serving 24 stations. Current RTD local fare is $1.25. The recently passed FasTracks expansion project will allow light rail to serve cities such as Lakewood, Golden, and Aurora. Commuter rail lines will serve Boulder, Longmont and the Denver International Airport.

Related Topics:
Buses - Light rail - FasTracks

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Trains

Train service to Denver is provided by the Amtrak California Zephyr which runs from Chicago west through Denver to San Francisco. Additionally, there is the Ski Train provided by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad which takes passengers between Denver and the Winter Park Ski Resort. Trains stop in Denver at Union Station, where travellers can meet up with RTD's 16th Street Free MallRide or use light rail to tour the city.

Related Topics:
Train - Amtrak - California Zephyr - Chicago - San Francisco - Ski Train - Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad - Winter Park - Union Station

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Airports

• Denver International Airport
• former Stapleton International Airport (replaced by Denver International Airport and closed in 1995)
• former Lowry Air Force Base (flights stopped around 1965)