U.S. Route 34

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U.S. Route 34
Length: 1122 mi[1] (1806 km)
Formed: 1926[1]
West end: US 40 in Granby, CO
Major
junctions:		 I-25 at Loveland, CO
I-80 at Lincoln, NE
I-29 near Glenwood, IA
I-35 near Osceola, IA
I-74 at Galesburg, IL
I-39 near Mendota, IL
I-294 at Western Springs, IL
East end: IL 43 in Berwyn, IL
United States Numbered Highways
List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 34 is an east-west United States highway that runs for 1,122 miles (1,806 km) from the western suburbs of Chicago to north-central Colorado. Through Rocky Mountain National Park it is known as the Trail Ridge Road where it reaches 12,183 ft (3,713 m), making it the highest paved through highway in the United States. The highway's eastern terminus is Berwyn, Illinois at Illinois Route 43. Its western terminus is Granby, Colorado at U.S. Route 40.

U.S. Route 34 becomes a toll road for a short distance in Colorado, where it passes through Rocky Mountain National Park.

Before Interstate 55 was completed in greater Chicago, US 34 coincided with U.S. Route 66 at its eastern end, mostly along Ogden Avenue. A few years after US 66 was wholly decommissioned as a numbered route in Illinois, so was US 34 east of its current eastern terminus.

Contents

[edit] Route description

View of US 34 in Rocky Mountain National Park, at an altitude above 11,000 feet
View of US 34 in Rocky Mountain National Park, at an altitude above 11,000 feet
Major cities

[edit] Colorado

Main article: U.S. Route 34 in Colorado

In the state of Colorado, U.S. Route 34 runs north from Granby through Rocky Mountain National Park. It passes through Estes Park, Loveland and Greeley before entering Nebraska east of Wray.

Route 34 transverses Fall River Pass and Milner Pass in the Front Range of Colorado.

[edit] Nebraska

Main article: U.S. Route 34 in Nebraska

In the state of Nebraska, U.S. Route 34 is a major east-west arterial surface road along the southern portion of Nebraska. It enters Nebraska west of Haigler and overlaps other routes for the majority of its routing. U.S. 34 passes through Hastings, Grand Island, and Lincoln before entering Iowa east of Plattsmouth over the Plattsmouth Bridge.

U.S. Route 34 from between Hastings and Grand Island is known as the Tom Osborne Expressway, which is named for the former Hastings resident, Nebraska Cornhusker football coach, and Congressman. Also, the segment from the Lancaster County/Cass County border to Nebraska Highway 1 south of Elmwood is the Bess Streeter Aldrich Memorial Highway, after the former author and Elmwood resident.

[edit] Iowa

In the state of Iowa, U.S. Route 34 is a major east-west arterial surface road across southern Iowa. It enters Iowa west of Pacific Junction and is briefly concurrent with Interstate 29. U.S. 34 then passes through Glenwood, Red Oak, and Creston before intersecting [[Interstate 35 at Osceola. East of Osceola, it continues through Chariton and Albia before meeting U.S. Route 63 at a traffic circle in Ottumwa.

East of Ottumwa to Burlington, the highway is expressway with some freeway segments. It goes through Fairfield and then bypasses Mt. Pleasant, with a portion of this bypass also concurrent with U.S. Route 218, which is also the Iowa route for the Avenue of the Saints. It then continues southeast to Burlington before crossing the Mississippi River on the Great River Bridge into Illinois.

Much of this route was originally known as the Bluegrass Highway and parallels tracks of what was originally the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad and is now the BNSF. Amtrak's California Zephyr passenger rail service also parallels this route.

U.S. 34 in the state of Iowa is officially designated the Red Bull Highway in honor of the 34th Infantry (Red Bull) Division.

[edit] Illinois

U.S. 34 in western Illinois
U.S. 34 in western Illinois
Main article: U.S. Route 34 in Illinois

In the state of Illinois, U.S. Route 34 enters from the Mississippi River across from Burlington, Iowa. It passes through or around the cities of Monmouth, Galesburg, Princeton, Oswego and Naperville, and continues in a largely southwest-northeast direction to its eastern terminus in Chicago.[2] Throughout Chicago and its suburbs, the highway is known as "Ogden Avenue", after William Butler Ogden, Chicago's first mayor.

[edit] Major intersections

[edit] See also

[edit] Bannered routes

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b US Highways from US 1 to US 830 Robert V. Droz
  2. ^ Illinois Highway Ends: US 34


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Main U.S. Routes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
80 81 82 83 84 85 87 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
101 400 412 425
Lists  U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Bypassed - Portal
Browse numbered routes
< SH 30 CO SH 35 >
< N-33 NE N-35 >
< IA 31 IA I-35 >
< IL 33 IL IL 34 >
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