Fort Collins, Co

greg121 wrote:
Heading south toward I25 from Laramie, looking at taking 287 toward Fort Collins instead of going I80 via Cheyenne. Does that really save time after you go through a good bit of metro Fort Collins following the most direct marked route (287 to CO 14 which isn't all that direct)?

I was looking at cutting over on Vine St which looks like its more on the outskirts but darned if I can see an easy way to get back on I25 south once I get to the frontage road.

US 287 from Laramie to Fort Collins is a shortcut, one that truckers use all the time. It does save time. Getting through Fort Collins can be a challenge, there's no easy way. Depending on what sort of rig you have, these recommendations can be useful or more of a challenge.

It's flat from Laramie to Tie Siding WY. There you'll do a gradual climb up and over the Laramie Ridge, with a climb lane available. You'll be fine from there to the state line; once you cross into Colorado you'll have a few ups and downs on the highway, but nothing significant and in several places there's a climb lane, around the Virginia Dale area and further south. You'll have several long straight spots as well. And keep in mind that, for the most part you'll be going down hill and if there's wind it could be a tail wind! You'll have more down hill than up hill.

When you reach the intersection with CO 14 west for the Poudre Canyon, you'll have a 4 and 3 lane road, a bypass around Laporte. That bypass end will end at a traffic light, and US 287 heads east into Fort Collins. From that point on, it becomes more built up, and once you reach the traffic light for CO 1 to Wellington, you'll actually be in Fort Collins, in the city limits. US 287 is known as College Ave in the city, and you'll be on N College Ave coming in to town. N College Ave takes you to E Vine St, and on to the downtown (Old Town) of Fort Collins.

You can definitely do the route you've found, turning left onto E Vine St, but with a caveat. E Vine St parallels a railroad track, and making a right turn onto either N Lemay Ave or N Timberline Rd, could be tight. E Vine St is a 2 lane road, is heavily travelled, and the 2 intersections that would get you back to E Mulberry (CO 14), are also heavily used. There could also be train delays, but that's going to be true for ANY route that's available to you through Fort Collins.

To avoid E Vine St, just stay on the truck route through town. That means that, when you approach E Vine, you need to be in the LEFT lane. Get into the left lane when you see Jax Outdoor Gear at the intersection with Conifer St. You'll go past E Vine, and cross a series of railroad tracks, one at Cherry/Willow intersection, and another just south of that one (it a curve in the tracks). Stay in the left lane and turn left onto Jefferson St, which becomes Riverside Ave a few blocks past the downtown area. Stay on Riverside, again paralleling a railroad track (they are everywhere on that end of town!), until you get to E Mulberry St (CO 14). You'll want to stay in the left lane with the truckers from Jefferson to Riverside.

If you decide to take E Vine, there's a Ranchway Feeds Store there on the SE corner. You have several options from there. Go east 1 mile to N Lemay Ave. You can turn right there, and go south to the 3rd traffic light (you'll see a WalMart and a Home Depot, it's the next light past the light for the entry to both), which will be E Mulberry (CO 14). Turn left and head on out to I-25.

Alternatively, on E Vine you can go an additional ~1.5 miles PAST Lemay Ave and go to N Timberline Rd. Turn right there and go south to the intersection with E Mulberry (CO14); again E Mulberry will take you out to I-25.

There's really no easy way to get around the congested area of Fort Collins. It's going to be congested and built up from the north end of town at the Hwy 1 light, all the way to I-25. There's no real way to avoid that. That's been a major, political issue here for a LONG time. Also keep in mind that lots of maps don't show the built up areas of Fort Collins, particularly on the north side of town. Even Google Earth is not completely up to date for that area. It's been undergoing a retail and cosmetic renovation, the city has spent a lot of time and money on upgrading that part of town to attract new businesses and residential areas. It's worked.