Interstate 180 (I-180) is a expressway in the US state of

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 ...

between

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

and downtown

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

. It is unusual for being one of the few

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 ...

s that does not conform to

Interstate Highway standards Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the publication ''A Policy on Design Standards: Interstate System''. For a certain highway t ...

. There is also no control of access anywhere along its route. Other routes in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

and

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

are similar in nature, as they are funded by Interstate dollars but do not conform to Interstate Highway standards. The only

grade separation In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

s are a

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade separation, grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. ...

at its southern end (at a junction with I-80) and a pair of bridges that run over 1st Street and the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

tracks. However, even the interchange with I-80 is a standard diamond with signalized intersections. There are five

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

s along I-180. I-180 is cosigned with I-25 Business Loop (I-25 BL), US Highway 85 (US 85), and US 87 Business (US 87 Bus.), making it the only concurrency of an Interstate, Interstate business route, US Highway, and US Highway business route. It is also the only

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a subset of highways within the United States' Interstate Highway System. The 323 auxiliary routes generally fall into three types: spur routes, which connect to or i ...

in Wyoming.

Route description

I-180 begins at a

with

, heading north concurrently with I-25 BL/ US 85/ US 87 Bus. on the four-lane divided North Greeley Highway. South of this interchange, I-25 BL/US 85/US 87 Bus. continues along North Greeley Highway. From the southern terminus, I-180 passes over Deming Drive and passes local homes and businesses. The road curves northwesterly and intersects 5th Street at a traffic light. The highway passes under a pedestrian bridge at 7th Street before crossing 9th Street at a signalized intersection. Past 9th Street, the directions of I-180 split and pass over a large

yard. After this bridge, I-180 reaches its northern terminus at an at-grade signalized intersection with I-80 BL/ US 30. Past this intersection, I-25 BL/US 85/US 87 Bus. continues north on the

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

ing of Warren Avenue northbound and Central Avenue southbound.

History

I-180 was conceived in November 1967, when Wyoming requested it for a new spur route into Cheyenne. The

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

added it to the Interstate Highway System in June 1970. The original plan was to have a freeway along the same corridor, with a full freeway-to-freeway interchange at I-80, but 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 ...

(FHWA) rejected it in December 1970 due to high cost and access issues. Wyoming revised the proposal to the current configuration in February 1971, and it was approved by the FHWA that March. I-180 opened in June 1984, after six years of expressway upgrades.

Major intersections

References

External links

I-180 at AARoadsI-180 at Interstate-Guide
{{3di, 80 80-1 Wyoming 80-1 1 Wyoming U.S. Route 85 Transportation in Cheyenne, Wyoming Transportation in Laramie County, Wyoming