Jonesin' for a Roadtrip 2
I wake up and the first thing I think of is "I have to get out of the Springs for a while!" Sounds like a roadtrip to me. Grab the camera, fill up the car, and let's get going. On my last trip north, I noticed some great things to get pics of but ran out of daylight. That won't be a problem this time! The pics for this trip start up right where that last trip left off.
I'm hoping the skies clear soon so my camera is happier.
Let's continue our photo tour of the Greeley, CO area, shall we? I used to go to college here and had many life-changing experiences here, so this town holds a soft spot in my heart. My nose, however has lost its immunity to the feed lots and pig farms. At least it's not as bad as it once was here.
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Good to know. What's with the reflectors on the pole, though? Was there a special at the local hardware store?
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Greeley has spruced up its main drag to UNC since I used to live here.
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Anybody seen a rogue set of borders?
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This is Mc Cowen Hall, one of the many residence halls on the UNC Campus. Back in 1998, there was a hostage situation in one of these rooms. After about 3 hours, the gunman was killed by a police sharpshooter who was positioned about 1/3 mile behind where this picture was taken. The darker brick facade on the front is new since I lived up here in 1999.
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Here's a distance shot of Gunter Hall, one of the more majestic buildings on the Central Campus part of UNC.
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A shot of the ol' homestead of yours truly. They don't seem like much, but to a college student, the apartments were just the right size and in the budget range.
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How Greeley signs its bus stops. Complete with striped curbing.
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Old Safeway complete with one of the original Parking signs.
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So by now you've probably noticed that Greeley uses numbered streets and avenues. So what happens when the town grows north beyond 1st street? Lettered Streets.
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The entrance to Island Grove Regional Park, home of the Greeley Stampede, a world-renowned rodeo and independence celebration.
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11th Ave (the road we're on right now) has experienced quite a boom in traffic. This used to be a tiny two lane bridge. Not anymore. Greeley got snazzy with the arcitecture here, too.
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Headed north on 11th Ave, we get a sharp curve to the right where 11th intersects US 85.
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Obviously the big signs and blinking lights aren't enough. Look closely: that arrow sign is on a temporary holder. Probably something to do with the skid marks.
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Headed back south on 85 towards Greeley, we encounter the split for the business and bypass routes. O Street was bisected by this interchange. It's a standard T intersection for accessing points east on O, but...
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... it's an exit off of the exit ramp for points west. There's signage directing eastbound traffic to use 11th Ave. northbound as we did to access eastbound O.
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Hand-stenciled height warning on the bridge carrying the bypass-85 traffic.
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Older guardrail installation in remarkably good shape.
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Interesting traffic signal mast arms.
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Darker picture of the END! of SH 263. There's no advanced notice about this route nor is it signed at the intersection when heading south. There's one sign when heading north.
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A shot down SH 263. You can kinda make out the first reassuarance shield in the background.
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Now we're on WB Bus 34. It takes a turning route through downtown Greeley, but finally ends up on a one-way configuration utilizing 10th and 9th Streets. This is the intersection of 9th St. and 11th Ave. Interesting spot for a distance sign.
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A typical shot of what the one-way configuration looks like.
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At 23rd Ave, the two directions if Bus 34 meet again. Because of this, we have to lose a lane.
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Old signal installation in front of a new signal installation. The old installations are seen throughout Greeley, but are slowly being phased out as the intersections get redesigned.
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Now this is a scenic roadgeek shot here.
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Bus 34 drops down to two lanes on the outer fringes of Greeley. This needs to be widened sooner than later: the traffic is huge here.
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I lived in Greeley from 1995 to 1999. In that time, development really never went west of 49th Ave. Now look at it. And the homes going up are the perfect example of sprawl: close together, same design, small lots. Nothing like the older parts of Greeley. Bleaugh!
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This used to be where Spur SH 257 met up with Bus 34. I loved taking that road. It was a straight shot to 257, then you could drive past Windsor and hit Fort Collins via county roads. It was a lot quicker than US 34 to I-25. Now, you have to go up to the 257 interchange and fight suburban traffic on all those county roads. *sigh*
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The interchange with SH 257. Bus 34 widens out to a four lane highway for this interchange...
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...just to lose tha lane again in preparation for its merge onto US 34.
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And now we're headed west out of Greeley. Hope you enjoyed that mini-tour!
- Where to next?
- Page 2
- This trip's Index
- Page 4
Section Links
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of the orginizations listed within this site. I'm just a bored roadgeek with way too much time on his hands. All of the picts in this page are mine and mine alone unless otherwise noted. Remember, kids: stealing is bad, mmmm-k? I get quite pissy if things are taken without telling me. I don't like to be pissy. You won't like it either. If you want to link to this page, that's fine. Please shoot me an email beforehand so I can link to your page as well. K? Thanks. --Ryan
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