Skip to main content

Former Arizona State Route 153

By


Arizona State Route 153 was a 2.12-mile State Highway located in the city of Phoenix along the eastern outskirts of Sky Harbor International Airport.  Arizona State Route 153 was largely a limited access facility known as the Sky Harbor Expressway which began at University Drive and terminated to the north at Washington Street.  Arizona State Route 153 was commissioned during 1985, had a major planned alignment change in 1989 and opened to traffic in 1992.  Arizona State Route 153 was originally planned to continue south of University Drive to Interstate 10, but low traffic counts on the corridor never saw it come to fruition.  Arizona State Route 153 was relinquished by the Arizona Department of Transportation to the city of Phoenix during 2007. 

The map below depicting Arizona State Route 153 was sourced from Wikipedia.  




Part 1; the history of Arizona State Route 153

Arizona State Route 153 and the Sky Harbor Expressway were commissioned as part of the Phoenix Regional Freeway System on April 26, 1985. Arizona State Route 153 was also added to the planned 2005 Maricopa County Regional Transportation Plan. Arizona State Route 153 was originally intended to terminate at Arizona Loop 202 east of what is now Arizona State Route 143. During 1989 the alignment of Arizona State Route 153 north of Sky Harbor Airport to Washington Street was swapped with Arizona State Route 143.

The new planned alignments of Arizona State Route 153, Arizona State Route 143 and Arizona State Route 202 Spur can be seen on an Arizona Department of Transportation document dated April 21, 1989. The planning map depicts Arizona State Route 153 continuing south of University Drive to Interstate 10.


Arizona State Route 153 between University Drive and Washington Street opened as freeway facility during 1992. The original intended terminus of Arizona State Route 153 to Arizona Loop 202 would open as the unsigned Arizona Loop 202 Spur in 1993. The continuation of Arizona State Route 153 to reach Interstate 10 was never pursued due to traffic counts on the corridor being too low.

An Arizona State Route 153 shield can be seen in a 1999 photo from arizonaroads.com.


On May 23, 2007, Arizona State Route 153 was removed from the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Transportation Plan.


Arizona State Route 153 was relinquished to the city of Phoenix during 2007 and signage was changed to indicate it as part of 44th Street. The October 19, 2007, Resolution of Abandonment of Arizona State Route 153 by the Arizona Department of Transportation can be seen below.











Part 2; a drive on former Arizona State Route 153

Former Arizona State Route 153 northbound begins from University Drive.  A westbound University Drive overhead gantry features a greened-out Arizona State Route 153 shield along with signage directing traffic to Sky Harbor International Airport.  



Former Arizona State Route 153 is now signed from University Drive as 44th Street.  


Former Arizona State Route 153 begins as a limited access road headed northbound.  Despite largely being a limited access facility Former Arizona State Route 153 is signed with an unusually low 40 Mile Per Hour Speed Limit.  Former Arizona State Route 153 crosses the Salt River within view of Papago Park and Camelback Mountain.  









Former Arizona State Route 153 north of the Salt River intersects the unsigned Arizona State Route 202 Spur (Sky Harbor Boulevard). 



Former Arizona State Route 153 continues north of Arizona State Route 202 Spur and becomes a surface road at Madison Street.








The routing of Former Arizona State Route 153 terminated at Washington Street.  



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more