Colorado State Highway 83

SH 86 (lower left corner to top) and SH 83 (left to right) in Franktown

SH 83 begins in far northeastern Colorado Springs, at the intersection of CO 21 and Interquest Parkway. From there it becomes a 60 mph rural highway, continuing northward through rural countryside for 30 miles to Franktown, through a tree heavy and hilly portion of Douglas County, and passing the eastern border of Castlewood Canyon State Park, then intersecting SH 86. The route becomes a six lane divided expressway at Bayou Gulch Road with a 55 mph speed limit. The route continues on and enters the City of Parker and the southeastern portion of the Denver Metropolitan Area, where it interchanges with E-470. After, it enters Arapahoe County just north of E-470 and descends into Centennial where it interchanges with Arapahoe Road, which recently was upgraded to a grade-separated interchange. SH 83 continues as a 55 mph expressway as it enters Aurora, intersecting Hampden Avenue and Interstate 225. The route enters suburban Aurora, and it becomes more of a city street, dropping to a 45 mph speed limit and narrowing to 4 lanes. It soon enters the Cherry Creek district of Denver and ends at Colorado Boulevard/SH 2.

The first 21 miles, originally extending from SH 115 to SH 21, was relinquished to and is now maintained by the city of Colorado Springs; with signage being inconsistent within the city limits. The highway began in southern Colorado Springs at the intersection of SH 115 and the terminus of SH 83 which is called South Academy Blvd. It ran east then north through the center of the city, where it turned into North Academy Blvd after the intersection with Pikes Peak Avenue, the north-south demarcation point for the city. Several city intersections were upgraded with overpasses (at Proby Parkway, US 24 and Woodmen Road) to avoid making this just another city street. The highway continued north then northwest through the city, and then just before connecting to I-25 it turned directly north and the speed limit increases to 55 mph. After paralleling I-25 for several miles, it turned east as it overlays Interquest Parkway to an interchange with SH 21.

End of SH 21 at SH 83 in Colorado Springs

All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	mi[2]	km	Destinations	Notes
El Paso	Colorado Springs	0.0	0.0	SH 21 south (Powers Boulevard)	Southern terminus; road continues south as Interquest Parkway; northern terminus of SH 21
	Black Forest	7.5	12.1	SH 105 west – Monument	Eastern terminus of SH 105
Douglas	Franktown	30.0	48.3	SH 86 – Castle Rock, Elizabeth
	Parker	41.0	66.0	E-470 to I-25 / I-70 – Limon, Denver International Airport, Colorado Springs	South end of freeway; E-470 exit 5
Arapahoe	Aurora–Centennial– Foxfield tripoint	44.5	71.6	SH 88 (Arapahoe Road)	Interchange; Eastern Terminus of SH-88
	Aurora	49.0	78.9	Hampden Avenue east
		49.5	79.7	Vaughn Way / Dam Road
		50.0	80.5	I-225 – Greenwood Village, Aurora	North end of freeway; I-225 exit 4
Arapahoe–Denver county line	Aurora–Denver line	51.5	82.9	SH 30 (Havana Street)
City and County of Denver		56.5	90.9	SH 2 (Colorado Boulevard)	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Electronic toll collection       Route transition