Why Certain Colorado Roads Have Fractions + Some Don’t

Whoever named the roads around western Colorado must have failed remedial math. Allow me to explain.

One of Western Colorado's road naming schemes is the use of numbers or letters. For the most part, the number of roads represents the distance in miles from the Utah border.

Read More: These are the Most Beautiful Roads to Drive in Colorado

For instance, 25 Road is 25 miles from Utah.

Grand Junction, Colorado's Fraction Road Naming Convention

This naming convention is used in other states and cities with a similar theme. In Detroit, there are the "Mile" roads, these roads represent the miles from Detroit's city center. You may remember rapper Eminem's movie 8 Mile. This is based on 8 Mile Road, which you guessed it, it's 8 miles from Detroit.

In western Colorado, we add fractions to our roads, like 25 1/2 Road or C 3/4 Road. I'm sure you get that's just a half mile or three-quarters mile between roads.

Simple enough, right?!

Grand Junction, Colorado's Fraction Road Ain't Mathin'

But there's a simple mathematical issue with some of the fractions. A rule that most people learn in the 4th or 5th grade isn't being followed -- reducing the fraction to its lowest terms.

You remember this rule, right? Let's say we have 2/4. We know or should know, that this is really 1/2. What about 6/8? That would be 3/4.

So why, pray tell, do we have roads with names like 15 5/10 Road or A 2/10 Road? Wouldn't those really be 15 1/2 Road and A 1/5 Road?

There's also 9 8/10 Road (9 4/5) and J 6/10 (J 3/5).

Grand Junction, Colorado's Odd Fraction Roads Explained

The reason behind the improper fractions has to do with a vehicle's odometer. On most models of cars and trucks, the last digit on the trip odometer is 1/10th of a mile.

After learning this, it totally makes sense to see roads that are 8/10ths, or 6/10ths and not round those fractions to the lowest common denominator.