State Highway 23 (SH 23) is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
in
Phillips and
Sedgwick counties in the northeastern corner of
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 ...
, United States, that connects
U.S. Route 385 (US 385) in
Holyoke
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...
with
Nebraska Highway 23
Nebraska Highway 23 is a highway in southwestern Nebraska, United States. Its western terminus is on the Colorado border at Venango, where the highway continues west as Colorado State Highway 23. The eastern terminus of NE 23 is at Holdrege ...
(N-23) in
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
.
Route description
SH 23 begins at an intersection with US 385 (North Interocean Avenue) and Howitt Street in Holyoke, near the city's northern edge. (US 385 heads north toward
Julesburg and south to connect with
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...
(US 6) in Holyoke, and then on toward
Wray,
Idalia, and
Burlington. Howitt Street heads west along the northern edge of the Phillips County Raceway.) From its southern terminus SH 23 heads very briefly due east (immediately leaving Holyoke) until it reaches the
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
railway track
Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers ( railroad ties in American ...
s and then turns northeast to run parallel with the tracks through rural
agricultural area. About from the beginning of the route, and after connecting with multiple
county roads
A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the County (United States), county highway departm ...
, SH 23 passed through the
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
of
Amherst.
Continuing northeast along the north side of the BNSF tracks from Amherst, SH 23 travel through more agricultural area and connects with several more county roads. Roughly northeast of Amherst, the route has a slight S curve, crossing over the tracks in the middle of the curve at a
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...
. Approximately, northeast of the railroad crossing, SH 23 leaves Phillips County and enters Sedgwick County. About farther northeast, SH 23 reaches its northern terminus at County Road 63.2 (CR 63.2), which runs along the Colorado-Nebraska state line. (The highway continues northeast into Nebraska as
Nebraska Highway 23
Nebraska Highway 23 is a highway in southwestern Nebraska, United States. Its western terminus is on the Colorado border at Venango, where the highway continues west as Colorado State Highway 23. The eastern terminus of NE 23 is at Holdrege ...
E-23and quickly enters
Venango. CR 63.2 heads north along the state line toward
Big Springs, Nebraska and south along the state line toward US 6.)
For its entire length of SH 23 is
two-lane road, with no major junctions and, other than Holyoke and Amherst, does not pass near any populated paces.
History

The route established in about 1935, but was originally designated as
SH 176. The highway was decommissioned in 1952 but was reinstated in 1968 (still as SH 176). To avoid confusion with
Interstate 76 (I-76), which runs less than to the north of the route,
and to match Nebraska's connecting highway number (NE-23), the former SH 176 was renumbered as SH 23 in 1989.
Major intersections
See also
*
List of state highways in Colorado
The state highways of Colorado are a system of public paved roads funded and maintained by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in the U.S. state of Colorado. These are state highways, which are typically abbreviated SH. The numbered ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado State Highway 023
023
Transportation in Phillips County, Colorado
Transportation in Sedgwick County, Colorado