State Highway 3 (SH 3) is a short north–south
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
La Plata County,
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 (almost entirely within the southern part of the city of
Durango
Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...
). It follows the former alignment of
U.S. Route 160
U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a east–west United States Numbered Highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 west of Tuba City, Arizona. The eastern terminus is at US 67 and Missour ...
(US 160) and
U.S. Route 550
U.S. Route 550 (US 550) is a spur of U.S. Highway 50 that runs from Bernalillo, New Mexico to Montrose, Colorado in the western United States. The section from Silverton, Colorado, Silverton to Ouray, Colorado, Ouray is frequently called ...
(US 550) south of downtown, lying across the
Animas River
Animas River (''On-e-mas''; ) is a river in the western United States, a tributary of the San Juan River, part of the Colorado River System.
The river has experienced numerous catastrophes due to the mining nearby, the largest being the 201 ...
from the modern highway constructed about 1980.
Route description
SH 3 begins in southern Durango at US 160/US 550 (Camino del Rio), just south of that route's crossing of the Animas River to the Durango Mall. SH 3 travels northward along the former alignment of US 160/US 550 (an even older alignment is now County Road 209, Sawmill Road), following the eastern bank of the Animas River for about . After leaving and re-entering the city of Durango, SH 3 ends at Santa Rita Drive, which curves to the southwest before meeting US 160/US 550 about later.
[ The former alignment of US 160/US 550 does not use Santa Rita Drive, but instead continues north on East Eighth Avenue and turns west on College Drive to Main Avenue, where the two routes used to split.
]
History
A new alignment of US 160/US 550 was built in 1979-1980, crossing the Animas River twice south of downtown Durango. The old road east of the river was redesignated SH 3 in 1981-1982.Colorado Department of Transportation
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT, pronounced See Dot) is the principal department of the government of Colorado, Colorado state government that administers state government responsibility for Transportation in Colorado, transport ...
, official highway maps: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
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 ...
* List of highways numbered 3
References
External links
Colorado Highways: Route 3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado State Highway 003
003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to:
* 003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986)
* 1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen
* OO3 gauge model railway
* ''O03 (O2)'' and other related blood type alleles in the AB ...
State Highway 003
Durango, Colorado
U.S. Route 160