U.S. Highway 666
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
United States Highway 666 was a north-south
United States highway. An original
1926 route, its final segment was decommissioned in
2003.
This highway is a very well constructed roadway, travelling through some very beautiful areas of Arizona. However, because of its usage of the number 666, many people were very uncomfortable with using it, with 666 being used in the Bible as the mark of the Beast, as well as other superstitions associated with the number. By 2003, this highway was renamed U.S. Highway 191 in Arizona and U.S. Highway 491 north of Interstate 40 in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.
Historic termini
- When the route was first commissioned in 1926, its northern terminus was in Cortez, Colorado at an intersection with U.S. Highway 450 (modern US 160). It extended south to Gallup, New Mexico, one of the famous stops on the original Route 66, the "parent" of US 666. The north-south route was technically a violation of the numbering convention that even-numbered routes run east-west. But the short route didn't intersect any odd-numbered US routes at the time.
- In 1938, its southern terminus was extended to Douglas, Arizona at the Mexican border. It was co-signed with US 66 for 30 miles before its turn south.
- In 1970, US 160 at Cortez, Colorado was rerouted south to serve the Four Corners Monument. US 666 was extended up the old route of US 160 to Monticello, Utah, at an intersection with U.S. Highway 191 -- an intersection that would help decide the final fate of US 666.
- In 1985, the U.S. Highway 66 designation was eliminated. In 1993, Arizona requested AASHTO to allow the state's segment of US 666 to be redesignated as a southern extension of US 191. This truncated US 666 again at Gallup, New Mexico, now at Interstate 40.
- In January 2003, the Governor of New Mexico declared his intent to change the designation of US 666 due to "infamy brought by the inopportune naming of the road." [1] Officials in Colorado and Utah concurred, choosing "US 393" as the route number. But since the route came nowhere near U.S. Highway 93, AASHTO suggested U.S. Highway 491, noting it as a "branch" of U.S. Highway 191 because the routes meet in Monticello, Utah. US 666 officially ceased to exist on May 31, 2003, though "New 491 - Old 666" signs would be posted for at least a year.
States traversed
The highway passed through the following states:
Related US Routes
Sources and external links
