has anyone ever taken the Fort Collins Colorado bypass?

@A Bug thank you for posting this thread. Next time I run from Laramie to Denver I think I will use CR 72. I just used Google Maps and dropped a pin on that road. Indeed it is a NICE dirt road.

I have a fair amount of experience with dirt roads and that's a good one. Well graded, slight red color (probably a bit of iron and clay) and it looks like running it at 30-45 mph would be comfortable.

The traffic through Fort Collins, with lots of traffic lights, a sharp turn, etc make that dirt road look good by comparison. I will use 72 next time.

 

Fort Collins has traffic? A hassle? What?!

You don't understand it's only one meat plant (A really big one) a small group of shops, a medium truckstop and a bunch of homes supporting the plant workers and local police etc. It's really a small town.

Stay on the interstate and be done with it. Don't go running off onto little dirt roads. Come on now. The fuel burn on dirt will erase any advantage you think you might gain.

Sheesh. I cannot decide if this is a troll posting or what. Fort Collins isnt that big and it is really out of the way near the Missile Fields in that part of the USA.

 

Stick to what you know,when people start deviating that's when they get in trouble.

 

Or that's how you find more efficient and safe routes. That's how I discovered the "Hamlin cutoff" between OKC and Midland/Odessa. It saves 20 miles on a paved 2 lane highway with 70 mph speed limits. Sometimes you have to be willing to explore alternatives.

 

I did see a CDOT truck out there and a bunch of people standing around. Not a CMV enforcement DOT truck, the other kind.

Maybe they were planning a bypass... wishful thinking, i know. that was in 2014 or so.

 

Every time I go to Denver . Pulling doubles

 

Not true . I cut a quarter hour every time . And it’s 25 miles

 

It’s a good road. Closed only to Haz-Mat . A few turns at the end but a mix of hard graded dirt and asphalt .

 

I like the way you think. Run the new route and get back to us. I don't get a chance to go that way anymore, but your discovery could help me out in the future.

Running dirt roads isn't that big a deal if you do it routinely. Be considerate of farmer's houses and slow down so you don't cover them with a plume of dust as you go by.