Endpoints of US highway 138 in Sterling CO

Photo credits: me. Some field observations reported by David Backlin.

First, a little overview on how Sterling is laid out. The South Platte River flows from the southwest to the northeast through here. People have always followed the river when moving through this part of the country, so it's no surprise that the original main highway runs at that same angle. Through Sterling, this main highway was originally routed along 4th Street - but now it is split into one-way streets, with 4th serving westbound traffic and 3rd as its eastbound counterpart. It works out that the end of US 138 falls right in the middle of town, where the highway is split into this one-way couplet. The map below illustrates this:

So, it may be a little confusing, but there are really two intersections in Sterling that can be considered termini of US 138. Heading southwest into Sterling, US 138 splits into one-way streets on the north edge of downtown - southwestbound traffic uses 4th Street, which was the original route for both directions of US 138. The photo below shows the last westbound marker:

me, Mar. 2006

That's just a few blocks from the west terminus, which is marked by the signs visible in the background. Those are shown close-up in the photo below:

me, Mar. 2006 (in 2007 the Business 76 shield was removed. The sign bridge remained the same, except Atwood's arrow was changed to the same size as the one for Ft. Collins)

Note that the control point used here for I-76 is "Brush" - more on that below. The light ahead is at Chestnut Street. There, US 138 ends at its junction with historic US 38 (now US 6). There is no "End" assembly, but the signage on the signal masts on opposite sides of 4th make it pretty clear that we begin following new numbers here:

me, Mar. 2006 (in 2007 both Business 76 shields were removed. "East Business 76" was replaced with "East I-76", which is misleading, because if you wanted to go west on I-76, you would still turn left.)

The junction with CO hwy. 14 is two blocks ahead. But if you were to turn left onto Chestnut, you'd come to the west beginning of US 138 at 3rd Street:

me, Mar. 2006 (in 2007 this assembly was rearranged, with "TO I-76" placed between 138 and 6)

Neat old button copy sign. Of course I-76 does provide the quickest access to Denver, but I find this scene a little ironic, since it's westbound US 6 that leads to Denver, not eastbound. That assembly is fairly recent; here's what it looked like eight years before:

me, July 1998

Ahead, the Chestnut Street viaduct spans the railyards. Then US 6 crosses the South Platte River, and in about two miles reaches I-76 at interchange 125.

If you come into Sterling from the opposite direction (west on US 6), you see this sign at the top of the viaduct:

me, Mar. 2006

After that, you're bombarded with an array of information, culminating with the signs visible in the scene below:

me, Mar. 2006 (in 2007, these assemblies were combined onto a single signpost. Same arrangement, but "East US 138" now says "TO US 138", which doesn't make sense)

See the green sign right about in the center of that photo? It says "Brush", and indicates that you should turn south at the next block ahead. But remember the reference to "Brush" above? That's the same intersection where southbound traffic is directed to turn east! So what's the recommended route to Brush? I-76 or US 6? (For what it's worth, here's my opinion: Brush is about 35 miles away. If you like scenic two-laners and you have time, you can certainly use US 6 to get there. But it's much faster to use I-76. I think "Atwood" is a more appropriate control point for southwestbound traffic. And I think the 50-mile-long so-called "Business Loop I-76" that used to be signed through here was a gross mis-application of the concept... but I digress.)

Anyway: today the west beginning of US 138 is to the right on 3rd. The signage is enlarged below:

me, Mar. 2006 (in 2007 the Business 76 sign in the background was removed)

The sign assembly in the distance is at 4th. Before these streets were converted to one-ways, US 38 took a left turn there, and the west beginning of US 138 was to the right on 4th.

The photo below was taken looking southeast on Main Street at 3rd:

me, Mar. 2006

Turning left, in two blocks one encounters this sign at the Chestnut intersection:

me, Mar. 2006

US 6 traffic is routed out of town to the southeast (right), while straight ahead is the west beginning of US 138. The green sign in the distance is shown close-up in the older photo below...

me, July 1998

...and you can also see that the sign tree has now been remounted and moved back from its previous location. Although there are no control destinations pointing straight ahead, it should be noted that Julesburg is also served by US 138 (but you can get there more quickly by using I-76). Continuing ahead from there, the first eastbound confirming assembly is posted in the next block:

me, Mar. 2006 (in 2007 this assembly was replaced. The "East" tab now has a larger initial capital)

If you continue that way for a mere 70 miles or so, you'll be at the east end of US 138 in Big Springs NE - you can view photos from there on my main US 138 page.