Turnpike Tangle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Turnpike Tangle [1] is an informal name for a closely spaced group of freeway interchanges with overlapping ramps, located north of Denver near Welby, Colorado, in southwestern Adams County, Colorado, USA. It includes the following nodes:
- A. The interchange of I-25, US 36, and I-270
- B. The interchange of I-25 and I-76, about one half mile south of node A.
- C. The partial interchange of I-76 and I-270, about one mile east of node A and one mile northeast of node B.
- D. The 70th Avenue (Colorado Highway 224) ramps to and from the High-Occupancy Vehicle and Toll lanes (HOT Lanes) in the median of I-25, about one quarter mile south of node A and one quarter mile north of node B.
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[edit] Map
A map of the "Turnpike Tangle" can be found here
[edit] History and Origin of Name
The name "Turnpike Tangle" was coined by Matthew Salek. [2] This entity is named for the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, [3] a toll road from 1952 to 1967. The toll was lifted in 1967 and the Turnpike became part of US 36, but the name Denver-Boulder Turnpike still persists in common parlance today.
The eastern terminus of the Denver-Boulder Turnpike was located two miles west of Turnpike Tangle node A. The Turnpike was directly extended via freeway two miles east to I-25 at node A in the late 1950s. Thus, node A has been commonly known as the "Boulder Turnoff" for over 45 years, and this is where the Turnpike begins in the popular understanding.
[edit] Recent Improvements
Traffic flow through the Turnpike Tangle was eased somewhat when the last segment of I-270 (linking nodes A and C) was completed in August 2003. [4] Before that time, eastbound traffic from US 36 to I-270 and westbound traffic from I-270 to US 36 had to detour to the south along I-76 and I-25.
[edit] Geographical Place Name Identification -- Welby
The geographical place name associated with the Turnpike Tangle is best rendered as Welby, Colorado, which is a census designated place but not an incorporated city or town. Nodes A, B, and D are on I-25, which is the western boundary of Welby according to the United States Census Bureau. Node C is located entirely within Welby.
Other place names that are sometimes associated with the area of the Turnpike Tangle include Western Hills, Twin Lakes, Sherrelwood, and Denver, but all of these names are ambiguous or misleading. In particular, the Turnpike Tangle is located about two miles outside the city limits of Denver, although the United States Postal Service uses Denver, Colorado zip code 80221 for postal addresses in the vicinity.
