Colorado State Highway 7

State Highway 7
	290x172px Map of northern Colorado with SH 7 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by CDOT
Length:	81.64 mi (131.39 km)
Major junctions
West end:	US 36 in Estes Park
East end:	I-76 in Brighton
Location
Counties:	Larimer, Boulder, Weld, Broomfield, Adams
Highway system

File:CO SH 7 St Vrain.jpg

State Highway 7 in South St. Vrain Canyon near Lyons.

State Highway 7 in the U.S. state of Colorado is a state highway. Approximately 83 miles (134 km) long, it is located in the north-central portion of the state, traversing the mountains on the east of the continental divide south of Estes Park as well as portions of the Colorado Piedmont north of Denver. The northwestern segment of the highway is part of the Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway and furnishes an access route to Estes Park, Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. In its southeast portion it skirts the northern end of the Denver Metropolitan Area, providing an access route connecting Boulder, Lafayette and Brighton with Interstate 25 and Interstate 76.

The western terminus is at the junction of U.S. Highway 36 at N. St. Vrain and S. St. Vrain avenues in Estes Park. The eastern terminus is at Interstate 76 exit 25 in Brighton. The portion between Lyons and Boulder, where it is concurrent with US 36, is unsigned. The highway is two lanes along the entire route except for portions in the cities and towns.

Route description

From Estes Park, Route 7 climbs into the mountains of southwest Larimer County and skirts the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park, providing the closest vehicle approach to the popular trailhead to the summit of Longs Peak. Near the community of Raymond it intersects State Highway 72, which takes the Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway designation with it to the south, while Route 7 turns to the east and follows South St. Vrain Creek downstream onto the piedmont at Lyons, where it intersects U.S. Highway 36. South of Lyons it is concurrent with U.S. 36 along the base of the foothills to Boulder. (This section is signed only as U.S. 36.) It is also concurrent with State Highway 119 on 28th Street within Boulder. It runs straight east from Boulder as the extension of Arapahoe Avenue to U.S. Highway 287 north of Lafayette, jogging one mile (1.6 km) to the south while concurrent with U.S. 287, then going due east again, as Baseline Road, to Interstate 25. East of I-25 it jogs one mile (1.6 km) south, then due east as 160th Avenue (part of the Greater Denver street numbering system) through Brighton to Interstate 76 in the eastern part of Brighton.

History

The route was established in the 1920s. It began at Estes Park and traveled south to Lyons south to Boulder. It then continued to its terminus at U.S. Highway 87 in Lafayette. The route was paved from Boulder to Lafayette in 1932 and from Estes Park to Lyons in 1936. In 1939, the route was extended southward to Brighton, where it met U.S. Highway 6; this extension was paved by 1946. In 2006, the section on Broadway between US 36 and Canyon Boulevard in Boulder was turned back to the City of Boulder, and Route 7 was rerouted to be concurrent (unsigned) with US 36 on 28th Street through Boulder.^[2]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[3]	km	Destinations	Notes
Larimer	Estes Park	0.000	0.000	US 36	Western terminus
Boulder	Allenspark	14.910	23.995	SH 7 Bus. Loop
		16.080	25.878	SH 7 Bus. Loop
		19.24	30.96	SH 72
	Lyons	32.99	53.09	US 36	West end of US 36 overlap
	Boulder	50.89	81.90	SH 119	West end of SH 119 overlap
		52.29	84.15	SH 119	East end of SH 119 overlap
		52.48	84.46	US 36	East end of US 36 overlap
		53.45	86.02	SH 157 (Foothills Parkway)
	Lafayette	59.29	95.42	SH 42
		60.68	97.65	US 287	West end of US 287 overlap
		61.87	99.57	US 287	East end of US 287 overlap
Broomfield		68.38	110.05	I-25 / US 87
Adams	Brighton	76.98	123.89	US 85
		77.29	124.39	SH 2
		81.64	131.39	I-76 / US 6	Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus