Skip to main content

Paper Highways: Proposed US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas, Nevada

By

During February 1956 the State of Nevada in concurrence with the States of California and Arizona submitted a request to the American Association of State Highway Officials to establish US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas.  The proposed US Route 66 Alternate would have originated from mainline US Route 66 in Kingman Arizona and followed a multiplex of US Routes 93-466 to Las Vegas, Nevada.  From Las Vegas, Nevada the proposed US Route 66 Alternate would have multiplexed US Routes 91-466 back to mainline US Route 66 in Barstow, California.  The request to establish US Route 66 Alternate was denied during June 1956 due to it being completely multiplexed with other US Routes.  This blog will examine the timeline of the US Route 66 Alternate proposal to Las Vegas, Nevada.


The history of the proposed US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas, Nevada

On February 15, 1956, the Nevada State Highway Engineer in a letter to the American Association of State Highways Officials (AASHO) advising that six copies of an application to establish US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas had been submitted.  The Nevada State Highway Engineer noted the State of California agreed to sign US Route 66 Alternate if approved and they were anticipated to submit their own like request to the AASHO Executive Committee.  



The actual submission to by the Nevada State Highway Engineer was made on February 27, 1956.  As noted in the intro, the proposed US Route 66 Alternate would have originated from mainline US Route 66 in Kingman Arizona and followed a multiplex of US Routes 93-466 to Las Vegas, Nevada.  From Las Vegas, Nevada the proposed US Route 66 Alternate would have multiplexed US Routes 91-466 back to mainline US Route 66 in Barstow, California.  The rationale for US Route 66 Alternate being established was that it was desired by the communities along the prospective highway to obtain access to an alternative alignment of US Route 66.  





Below the proposed routing of US Route 66 Alternate can be seen on a sketch map. 


Below a description of proposed US Route 66 Alternate can be observed.  Proposed US Route 66 Alternate is stated to be 259 miles long. 


The Arizona State Highway Engineer affirmed concurrent agreement with the US Route 66 Alternate proposal to the AASHO Executive Secretary in an undated Western Union telegram.  



The AASHO Executive Commitee considered US Route 66 Alternate during the June 27, 1956, meeting and ultimately denied the request.  The AASHO Executive Committee noted the rationale for not approving US Route 66 Alternate was that it was completely concurrent with existing US Routes.  It is unclear if truncation of US Route 466 in favor of US Route 66 Alternate would have swayed the AASHO Executive Committee given it already served function being sought by California, Nevada and Arizona.  The AASHTO would abolish the adoption of split alignments US Route alignments in 1996. 

Labels:

Comments

unclevito said…
Barstow, Arizona? You mean Barstow,CA
10:16 AM
Challenger Tom said…
Yes, California. I miss the typo on the proof read, but it’s corrected now.
10:41 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chowchilla Mountain Road to Yosemite National Park

By
Chowchilla Mountain Road of Mariposa County is one of the oldest roadways servicing Yosemite National Park.  As presently configured this fourteen-mile highway begins at California State Route 49 near Elliot Corner and terminates at the Wawona Road in Yosemite National Park.  Chowchilla Mountain Road was constructed as a franchise toll road over Battalion Pass circa 1869-1870.  The highway was built at behest of Galen Clark to connect the town of Mariposa to his property near the South Fork Merced River at what is now Wawona.   In late 1874 the highway along with Clark’s Station would be purchased by the Washburn Brothers.  The Washburn Brothers would continue to toll Chowchilla Mountain Road as part of their Yosemite Stage Route lines.  The highway would ultimately become a Mariposa County public highway in 1917.  Mariposa would later be more directly linked with Yosemite Valley in 1926 following the completion of the Yosemite All-Year Highwa...
2 comments
Read more

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

By
At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...
1 comment
Read more