U.S. Route 34

U.S. Route 34 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 1,122 miles (1,806 km) from north-central Colorado to the western suburbs of Chicago. Through Rocky Mountain National Park it is known as the Trail Ridge Road where it reaches elevation 12,183 feet (3,713 m), making it the highest paved through highway in the United States. The highway's western terminus is Granby, Colorado at U.S. Route 40. Its eastern terminus is in Berwyn, Illinois at Illinois Route 43 and Historic US 66.

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

Route description

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.

Within Rocky Mountain National Park US 34 is known as Trail Ridge Road. Due to its high elevation through the park and over the Continental Divide, Route 34 closes entirely in winter from the Colorado River Trailhead on the west (10 miles north of the Grand Lake entrance) to Many Parks Curve on the east (8 miles from the Estes Park entrance.) Closure runs roughly from mid-October to Memorial Day weekend in May, and can occur at any time in summer due to high alpine snow storms.

U.S. Route 34 in Nebraska

In the U.S. state of Nebraska, U.S. Highway 34 is a highway which goes between the Colorado border west of Haigler to the Iowa border east of Plattsmouth. Between Culbertson and Hastings, U.S. 34 overlaps U.S. Highway 6. From Grand Island to Lincoln, U.S. 34 has been replaced by Interstate 80 as a high-speed corridor and mostly serves local traffic. On this portion of the highway, U.S. 34 is continuously north of Interstate 80. Within Lincoln, U.S. 34 runs concurrent with all of Interstate 180, and much of it follows O Street.

Route description

U.S. Highway 34 begins west of Haigler. At Haigler, it meets Nebraska Highway 27, which connects with K-27 in Kansas. It continues east to Benkelman, where it intersects and overlaps with Nebraska Highway 61 and briefly turns north. After leaving Benkelman, the overlap ends, and U.S. 34 continues northeast through Max and Stratton before meeting Nebraska Highway 25 in Trenton. Before reaching Culbertson, it intersects U.S. Highway 6.

U.S. Route 34 in Illinois

In the U.S. state of Illinois, U.S. Route 34 is an east–west highway that runs from the Iowa state line at Gulfport, west of Galesburg, to Illinois Route 43 and Historic U.S. Route 66 at Harlem Avenue in Berwyn. The entire highway in Illinois is named the "Walter Payton Memorial Highway". The highway is 211.37 miles (340.17 km) long within the state.

The bridge into Iowa over the Mississippi River is called the Great River Bridge.

Between Monmouth and Galesburg, the highway is up to interstate standards with exits at Main Street, Henderson Street, and Seminary Street in Galesburg.

History

In 1934, US 34 absorbed what had been the last remaining section of US 32.

US 34 formerly overlapped US 66 all the way to its endpoint in downtown Chicago, but was truncated to its intersection with US 66 and IL 43 in Berwyn in 1970. When US 66 was subsequently eliminated, the endpoint of US 34 was left at that location—the intersection of Ogden and Harlem Avenues in Berwyn. Due to the elimination of US 66, it is one of the few US Numbered Highways that ends at a state highway. With the re-signing of much of Historic US 66, the history of US 34's eastern endpoint is becoming much more clear.