Denver Major Streets and Roadways

The city of Denver has a simple grid pattern of street planning. However, there are two forms of the grids, an older one (27 named and 44 numbered roads on this grid) that was built parallel to the joining of the South Platte River and the Cherry Creek and the newer simpler grid. This system of grid planning makes it easy to navigate and find locations.

In the grid system there are blocks and streets / avenues. The Blocks are generally identified as "00" (hundreds). All the roads in the older downtown grid are streets. There are roads that travel outside the grid system and those that travel to the east/ west are suffixed with "Avenue". Those that run north / south are suffixed with "Street". Bigger streets are suffixed with "Boulevard" and smaller streets are suffixed with "Drives". All the streets are clearly labeled.

The city has been planned taking into account the climatic conditions like snow and sunlight. The direction of the streets owes their credit to Henry Brown who devised this planning in a NE-SW direction so that they get the sunlight in the morning to melt the snow.

Denver is linked to the other cities by the interstate freeways and some of these have been recently expanded with wider highways, even light railway line incorporation and better drainage systems.

Major Freeways, Highways, and Streets

  • I-25 - Traverses city N to S
  • I-70 - Traverses city W to E
  • I-76 - Branches from center of city to NE
  • 470 - Circles city
  • I-225 - Connects I-70 to I-25