The highway passes through
Texas,
New Mexico,
Colorado,
Wyoming,
South Dakota, and
North Dakota. From
Las Cruces, New Mexico to
Fountain, Colorado, US 85 shares its alignment with
I-25 and is not signed.
Texas US 85 in Texas begins at the Mexican border with
US 62 and travels north through
El Paso, beginning at the
Santa Fe Street Bridge, and following Santa Fe Street, then Paisano Drive westward, along the
Rio Grande until Paisano Drive ends where it joins with
Interstate 10 (I-10), about before both reach the New Mexico border. The route is concurrent with I-10 for the remainder of its route within Texas. The original route of US 85 in Texas had the highway concurrent with Doniphan Drive (after Paisano Drive), and parallelling the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway through the
Mesilla Valley communities of
Canutillo,
Vinton and
Anthony before crossing the Texas/New Mexico state line in
Anthony, New Mexico, then following the road which is now
New Mexico State Road 478 (NM 478) up the Mesilla Valley to
Las Cruces. This route is marked as
Texas State Highway 20 north of the intersection with Mesa Street/Country Club Drive.
New Mexico The unsigned route of US 85 through New Mexico exists only on paper to maintain continuity with signed sections in Colorado and Texas. Except for a segment through
Las Vegas (signed as Business Loop 25), US 85 in New Mexico is entirely concurrent with Interstate Highways. For the first it shares its route with I-10, then continues north for the remainder of its length in New Mexico concurrent with I-25. US 85 was de-signed in segments between 1970 and 1990 as I-25 was built through the state. I-25 between
Bernalillo and a point just south of
Santa Fe was built over the old US 85 alignment. I-25 was also built directly over US 85 from east of Santa Fe to
Las Vegas and from US 64 to the Colorado border at
Raton Pass. From the US 64/US 87 interchange in Raton to the Colorado state line at Raton Pass, US 85 also runs concurrently with
US 87 (also unsigned along I-25 in New Mexico). At one point, the route went along the historic
El Camino Real. The original route from
Anthony to
Las Cruces is now signed as
NM 478. The original route from Las Cruces to
Hatch is now signed as
NM 185;
NM 187 south of
Truth or Consequences (T or C);
NM 181 north of T or C;
NM 1 (the route's pre-US-85 designation) from
Redrock to
Socorro;
NM 314 from
Belen to
Albuquerque;
NM 313 from Albuquerque to Bernalillo;
NM 14 and
NM 466 through Santa Fe; and
NM 445 from Maxwell to
US 64 Remnant US 85 signs can still be seen on Fourth Street in downtown Albuquerque, the original route through the city before I-25 was built. For concurrencies of Interstate, US Routes, and routes of different levels of significance, the New Mexico Department of Transportation's policy is to sign only the route of greater significance, while leaving the route of lesser significance unsigned. Consistent with this policy, NMDOT has removed US 85 from its route logs, but the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) retains US 85 on a concurrent alignment with I-10 and I-25 to maintain continuity with signed segments in Texas and Colorado. Many mapmakers, such as the
American Automobile Association,
Rand McNally and
Google Maps follow AASHTO's practice and still sign US 85 along its concurrent stretches with the respective Interstates.
Colorado US 85 enters
Colorado from New Mexico concurrent with
I-25 and US 87 but is not signed. US 85 leaves I-25 at exit 184. From there it heads west and north as a two-lane rural highway. It becomes an expressway near
Chatfield Reservoir and the southern Denver suburbs of
Littleton and
Englewood, where it is commonly known as Santa Fe Drive. It continues north through Denver for a few miles before once again joining with I-25 at mile marker 207. There it runs concurrently with
US 87 as well as I-25 and heads north through downtown Denver. At exit 214, US 85 turns east and runs concurrently with
I-70 and
US 6 for about a mile where it exits with US 6 and heads northeast through
Commerce City. In just a few miles the US 6/US 85 concurrency merges with
I-76 at mile marker 9. They travel concurrently for until exit 12 when US 85 becomes an expressway and continues north out of the Denver area through
Brighton. From there it parallels I-25 for about passing through
Fort Lupton,
Platteville,
LaSalle,
Evans,
Greeley,
Eaton,
Ault,
Pierce, and
Nunn before crossing into
Wyoming.
Wyoming US 85 enters Wyoming from Colorado south of
Cheyenne. In Cheyenne it joins with Business Route 87, and a mile later with
I-180 until it meets with
US 30. The segment with I-180 is the only fully at-grade Interstate Highway in the U.S. At exit 12, it joins with I-25 and
US 87 in a concurrency for until US 85 leaves at exit 17 and travels northeast towards
Meriden. From there it heads north to
Torrington, where it meets with
US 26 and runs concurrently for until
Lingle, and later it meets
US 20 and
US 18 at
Lusk. It shares the next with US 18 and later meets
US 16 near
Newcastle. From here it is until it enters
South Dakota in the
Black Hills.
South Dakota The
South Dakota section of US 85, with the exception of two concurrencies with
US 14 Alternate and a concurrency with
I-90, is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-181. US 85 enters the
Black Hills from Wyoming and travels northeast until it meets with
US 14 Alternate east at
Cheyenne Crossing. The two routes run a concurrently from there, along the way coming to the road which leads to
Terry Peak. Upon entering to
Lead, the two routes are separated, and the overlap with US 85 is replaced by a
truck route. As the route US 85 and US 14 are separated until both meet again in
Deadwood, but not before US 85 serves as the northern terminus of
US 385. The routes run together through Deadwood before splitting, and US 85 then runs north to meet
I-90. US 85 overlaps I-90 for while heading west. At exit 10 on the north side of
Spearfish, US 85 heads back north. At
Belle Fourche it crosses
State Highway 34 and
US 212. From there it continues to
North Dakota passing only through the small towns of
Redig,
Buffalo (where it meets
State Highway 20), and
Ludlow, as well as coming to the
Geographic center of the United States.
North Dakota US 85 enters
North Dakota in the southwest part of the state. The first city on its route is
Bowman at the junction of
US 12. Continuing north, it passes between North Dakota's two highest points,
White Butte and Black Butte. Near
Amidon US 85 heads east for before going back north along the
Little Missouri National Grassland for about . Near
Belfield it junctions with
I-94. After forming a concurrency with
North Dakota Highway 200 (ND 200), 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 where it turns back north before
Alexander. US 85 continues north as ND 200 turns west toward Montana. South of
Williston it crosses the
Missouri River. A few miles later it meets with
US 2 where the two overlap for as an
expressway, which bypasses Williston to the northwest. After US 2 heads east, US 85 continues north to a concurrency with
ND 5. From there it is to
Fortuna where US 85 heads back north for its remaining to the Canadian border. ==History==