Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

in the western

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. I-25 stretches from I-10 at

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...

(approximately north of

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

) to I-90 in

Buffalo, Wyoming Buffalo is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 census, down from 4,585 at the 2010 census. The city had experienced an economic boom due to methane production from the C ...

(approximately south of the

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

–Wyoming border). It passes through or near

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

;

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

and

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in Colorado; and Cheyenne and Casper in Wyoming. The I-25 corridor is mainly rural, especially in Wyoming, excluding the

Albuquerque metropolitan area The Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area, sometimes referred to as Tiguex (named after the Southern Tiwa), is a metropolitan area in central New Mexico centered on the city of Albuquerque. The metro comprises four counties: Bernalillo, Sa ...

and the Front Range urban corridor from Pueblo to Cheyenne. The part of I-25 in Colorado passes just east of the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encounter ...

of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. That stretch was involved in a large-scale renovation named the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) Project in Denver and the Colorado Springs Metropolitan Interstate Expansion (COSMIX). These projects, and others in New Mexico, were necessary because these stretches of I-25 were originally inadequately designed and constructed (the pavement was deteriorating rapidly) and also because urban areas, like Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, and Denver, had tripled and quadrupled in population much earlier than anyone had anticipated 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 New Mexico and Colorado.

Route description

, - , NM , , - , CO , , - , WY , , - , Total ,

New Mexico

I-25 begins at I-10's exit 144 in Las Cruces, just south of the New Mexico State University campus. I-25 runs concurrently with US Route 85 (US 85) at this point and carries this concurrency for the entire length of its run in New Mexico. Immediately, three exits provide access to the city, including one for US 70. When I-25 reaches Truth or Consequences, it is parallel to Elephant Butte Lake State Park. From Las Cruces to Santa Fe, I-25 follows the route of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. As I-25 nears Albuquerque, it has interchanges with highways, such as US 380, and a concurrency with US 60. Further north, State Road 6 (NM 6), former US 66, meets up with I-25 in Los Lunas. Through Albuquerque, I-25 is named the Pan American Freeway, and there are frequent exits to city streets. A major interchange with I-40 (which is styled as the Coronado Freeway in the city) is named the Big I. It was given an honorable mention by the US Department of Transportation and the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

for excellence in urban highway design in 2002. Leaving Albuquerque to the north, I-25 curves to the northeast as it approaches Santa Fe. Continuing 'northbound' at Santa Fe, I-25 heads southeast for approximately traveling through the Santa Fe National Forest and crossing Glorieta Pass (elevation ). It turns north again at Blanchard toward

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The highway maintains a north and northeast orientation as it leaves New Mexico traversing Raton Pass () and enters Colorado. Due to its elevation and frequent winter snowstorms, I-25 is sometimes impassible and closed in both directions at Raton Pass during winter months. From Santa Fe to Trinidad, Colorado, I-25 approximates part of the route of the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

. For its entire length in the state, I-25 shares its alignment with US 85, although the latter is unsigned.

Colorado

I-25 has many nicknames through the state's larger cities. In

, it is called the Valley Highway, as the highway parallels the course of the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sou ...

throughout the downtown area and is often sunken below ground level. The section in El Paso County is named the Ronald Reagan Highway, and, through

, it is named the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. In the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973, a transcontinental highway was named after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in commemoration of the route of the US Army's 1919 convoy. This route, rather than following a single highway, spans several, including I-25 in Denver. This combination of routes was intended to approximate the original 1919 convoy route. The designation of this highway, while clear in intent, has not seen widespread adoption in terms of signage or recognition, likely due to the irregular nature of the route. Despite this, a commemorative sign was installed in 1986 in the tourist information center off I-70 in Kansas City, Kansas. Congress attempted to honor Eisenhower's contributions to the Interstate System once more in 1990, leading to the renaming of the Interstate System as the "Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways". I-25 enters

south of the city of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. It is the main north–south route through Colorado with a length of . The Interstate exits Colorado in the north about south of Cheyenne, Wyoming. I-25 serves all the major cities in Colorado that are east of the

, such as Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Fort Collins, and Greeley. For the entire distance 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 Space Force Base Buckley Space Force Base is a United States Space Force base in Aurora, Colorado named after United States Army Air Service First lieutenant, First Lieutenant John Harold Buckley. The base is run by Space Base Delta 2, with major units includin ...

, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex headquarters of NORAD,

Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso, Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo, Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont, and Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano counties, Color ...

, Peterson Space Force Base, and the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

. I-25 crosses the Palmer Divide between Denver and Colorado Springs, providing some of the highway's most scenic views of the Rocky Mountains and its foothills. Blizzards and high winds on this stretch (particularly over Monument Hill) are notorious for causing traffic problems during the winter months. The section of I-25 that is between the northern border of Pueblo County and the

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.

Wyoming

I-25 enters Wyoming south of the state capital, Cheyenne. After traveling through Cheyenne, I-25 continues north to Douglas, 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 toward Casper. Once through Casper, I-25 turns due north, and it goes as far as Buffalo, where it ends at an interchange with I-90. I-90 then provides the connection to

History

The section in New Mexico between Romeroville and Los Lunas closely follows the original alignment of US 66, which was later shortened and realigned to run due west from Santa Rosa. Now, that has been replaced with I-40.

Junction list

;New Mexico : on the Las Cruces– University Park line. I-25/US 85 share an unsigned concurrency to Fountain, Colorado. : in Las Cruces : west of

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

: in Socorro. The highways travel concurrently to south-southwest of Abeytas. : in Albuquerque : in Bernalillo : south of Santa Fe. I-25/US 84 travels concurrently to Romeroville. I-25/US 285 travels concurrently to Eldorado at Santa Fe. These are wrong-way concurrencies; driving east, one is on I-25 North and US 84 and 285 South. : south of Raton. The highways travel concurrently to Raton. : in Raton. I-25/US 87 travels concurrently to southeast of Glenrock, Wyoming. ;Colorado : in

. The highways travel concurrently to Walsenburg. : in

. The highways travel concurrently through Pueblo. : in Colorado Springs. The highways travel concurrently through Colorado Springs. : in Colorado Springs : in Colorado Springs. The highways travel concurrently to Castle Rock. : in

: in Denver : in Denver. The highways travel concurrently through Denver. : in Denver. The highways travel concurrently through Denver. : in Denver : in Denver : southeast of Twin Lakes : on the Twin Lakes– Sherrelwood– Welby line : in Loveland ;Wyoming : south-southwest of Cheyenne : southwest of Cheyenne : in Cheyenne. The highways travel concurrently to Ranchettes. : west-southwest of Dwyer Junction. The highways travel concurrently to southeast of Glenrock. : in Orin. I-25/US 20 travels concurrently to southeast of Glenrock. : in Casper. I-25/US 20/US 26 travels concurrently to the Casper–Bar Nunn city line. I-25/US 87 travels concurrently to north-northeast of Buffalo. : in Buffalo : north-northeast of Buffalo

References

External links

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Interstate 25 by Matthew Salek
{{Authority control 25 025 Transportation in Colorado Transportation in New Mexico 25 25