Interstate 225

Interstate 225
East Denver Freeway
I-225 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by CDOT
Length:	11.959 mi[2] (19.246 km)
Existed:	1976[1] – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-25 / US 87 in Denver
	I-70 Bus. / US 40 / US 287 in Aurora
North end:	I-70 / US 36 in Denver
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business Colorado State Highways ← SH 224 SH 227 →

Interstate 225 (I-225) is a spur route of Interstate 25 in Colorado. It is the only auxiliary route of Interstate 25, and one of two in Colorado. I-225 traverses Aurora and small portions of Denver and Greenwood Village. It runs north from Interstate 25 to Interstate 70. It intersects with Interstate 70 Business/U.S. Highway 40/U.S. Highway 287, known locally as Colfax Avenue. Construction on the freeway began in 1964 and continued progressively through many years until final completion in 1976.

Route description

The southern end of I-225 begins at an interchange with Interstate 25, as a typical two lane interstate with a 65 mph speed limit. The road then traverses from the southern end northeastward through southern Denver, with Cherry Creek State Park and Cherry Creek Lake on its east side.^[3] After exits with DTC Boulevard and Yosemite Street in Greenwood Village,^[4] a large suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area, the road becomes three lanes with a fourth auxiliary lane traversing the Denver/Greenwood Village city limits. The highway interchanges with State Highway 83 at the northern boundary of Cherry Creek State Park. Following the exit at SH 83, the freeway enters a suburban area of Aurora,^[5] where it turns northward, narrowing back to two lanes and having a 55 mph speed limit, and has exits at Iliff Avenue, Mississippi Avenue, and Alameda Avenue, also signed as State Highway 30.^[6] After crossing Sand Creek, the freeway interchanges with Colfax Avenue, also signed as U.S. Route 40, U.S. Route 287 and Interstate 70 Business. After the exit, I-225 enters Adams County, continuing through the city of Aurora. The route then crosses a railroad^[7] and reenters Denver, where it interchanges with Interstate 70 at its northern terminus.^[2] The highway recently has gone under construction to widen to three lanes in each direction from Colfax to Mississippi, and later will be expanded from Mississippi to Parker, completing construction. The Colfax Avenue exit has also been reconstructed to include a 17th Place ramp for direct access to Anschutz Medical Campus.

History

The Dayton RTD station in Aurora is located in the center of Interstate 225.

Construction on I-225 began in May 1964 at Interstate 70. A section from Colfax Avenue to Sixth Avenue was opened in 1966. Five years later, a segment between Mississippi Avenue and Parker Road was opened, and construction began on another segment south of Parker Road, completed in May 1975. The rest of the route between Yosemite Street and Interstate 25 was completed in May 1976.^[1] Since completion of construction, the road has retained its original designation from I-25 to I-70.^[5]

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[2]	#	Destinations	Notes
Denver		0.00	—	I-25 – Colorado Springs, Denver	Signed as exits 0A (south) and 0B (north); south end of I-225
Arapahoe	Greenwood Village	0.673	1A	DTC Boulevard, Tamarac Street	Signed as exit 1 northbound
		1.333	1B	Yosemite Street	Southbound exit
	Aurora
		3.946	4	SH 83 (Parker Road)
		5.373	5	Iliff Avenue
		6.886	7	Mississippi Avenue
		7.921	8	Alameda Avenue
		8.953	9	SH 30 (6th Avenue)
Adams		9.901	10	I-70 Bus. / US 40 / US 287 (Colfax Avenue, 17th Place)	Interchange reconstruction in progress, will open in 2012.[8]
Denver		11.997	12	I-70 / US 36 – Denver, Limon	Signed as exits 12A (west) and 12B (east); north end of I-225
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

See also

• Colorado portal
• U.S. Roads portal

References

External links

Route map: Google / Bing

• Colorado Routes 200-233