U.S. Route 550 | |||||||
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Million Dollar Highway | |||||||
Route information | |||||||
Auxiliary route of US 50 | |||||||
Length | 305.104 mi (491.017 km) | ||||||
Existed | 1926 – present | ||||||
Major junctions | |||||||
South end | I-25 / US 85 / NM 165 in Bernalillo, NM | ||||||
US 64 in Bloomfield, NM US 160 in Durango, CO |
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North end | US 50 at Montrose, CO | ||||||
Location | |||||||
States | New Mexico, Colorado | ||||||
Highway system | |||||||
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U.S. Route 550 (US 550) is a spur of U.S. Highway 50 that runs from Bernalillo, New Mexico to Montrose, Colorado in the western United States. The section from Silverton to Ouray is frequently called the Million Dollar Highway.
It is one of the roads on the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways.
U.S. 550 begins just north of Albuquerque at Bernalillo and passes through the towns of San Ysidro, Cuba, Bloomfield and Aztec. All of Highway 550 in New Mexico has been upgraded to four lanes, offering a high-speed (70 mph) connection for Farmington, New Mexico and Durango, Colorado to Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
Most of U.S. 550 in Colorado is two-lane mountainous highway. It is one of only two north–south U.S. Highways in Colorado which runs west of the Continental Divide The other route is US 491. The route travels north through the San Juan Mountains.