Continuing in the celebration of the U.S. Highway System's 100th birthday next year, I wanted to focus on two more desert highways, one of which is a mere shadow of its old self officially. The other one is what I like to call the Avenue of the National Parks. So let's get into it.
U.S. 91 was once more or less a super north-south highway. I say less because it extended from the Canadian border in Montana to the Los Angeles area, so it was not border to border like some other western U.S. highways. Still, at its maximum, it was 1,431 miles long. This was due to the highway taking a diagonal routing through California, Nevada, Arizona, and much of Utah.
Although 91 was decommissioned in California, Nevada, and Arizona in 1974, along with Montana in 1980, many parts still exist and are even drivable, though road surface conditions vary. PLUS, it still exists for 172 miles in northern Utah and southern Idaho.
Probably the best state to see the original 91 is in Nevada, best known as Las Vegas Boulevard. Yes indeed, U.S. 91 was once the home of the famous Las Vegas Strip. Before 91 was decommissioned in 1974, the Strip was considerably more drivable and less skyscraper-lined than it is now. Currently, drivers can access 91 from the Jean exit on I 15 and take it for roughly 52 miles to U.S. 93 where it exits I 15. Granted, it will take a long time to get through the Las Vegas area with all of the traffic lights.
Another good portion of 91 can be accessed from I 15 at exit 112 as NV 170, wrapping around the small burgs of Riverside and Bunkerville, then north to Mesquite where it ends at Mesquite Boulevard, then onto that road until just before I 15, and right on Hillside Drive to almost immediately cross into Arizona. Until Littlefield, 91 acts as a more scenic bypass to I 15. After Littlefield, 91 takes a more straightforward path until Utah and then begins curving eastward to reach St. George. This was the main route for drivers until 1973 when I 15 was opened in the Virgin River Gorge.
From St. George, 91 exists as either frontage roads for I 15 or main streets of communities such as Leeds, Cedar City, Parowan, Beaver, Fillmore, and Nephi. From Spanish Fork, 91 more or less followed U.S. 89 (we're getting there) all throughout the Provo and Salt Lake City metro areas.
In Brigham City, 91 has its official beginnings, running with U.S. 89 to Logan, where they split. 91 headsnorth into Idaho for several miles until it meets 15, then acts pretty much as a frontage road for 15 until ending at U.S. 26 in Idaho Falls.
From there, it goes back to the occasional frontage road or community main street through the rest of Idaho and all of Montana.
U.S. 91 was just one of those routes that got outmoded by the Interstate system. The route was mentioned in the original Ocean's 11 when the group was planning their attack and escape route. Therefore, it has a mark in history as well as a small official piece remaining in the mountain states.
And now we come to the Avenue of the National Parks, or the National Park Broadway, whatever one chooses to call it. U.S. 89 once traveled from border to border uintil...you guessed it, the Interstates made a portion of it obsolete. That said, most of U.S. 89 is intact.
In Arizona, U.S. 89 began in Nogales at the Mexican border, then proceeded to Tucson from where it went north and northwest to Phoenix, continuing northwest to and past Wickenburg. This part of the state is a lot of flat desert, and 89 being replaced mostly by I 10 and I 19 probably did not cause too much fuss. 89 also shared road with U.S. 60 and U.S. 93 to just past Wickenburg where it turned north then northeast to do some mountain winding before entering Prescott. Beyond thatm 89 took a fairly straight path to Ash Fork where it met Route 66 and had an affair all the way to Flagstaff.
From just north of Prescott, there was an offshoot route U.S. 89A which took drivers through more mountainous terrain to Cottonwood, Sedona and finally to Flagstaff where it met its parent.
Flagstaff is where 89 was truncated to the south. From there, it currently heads in a fairly straight course to Page, but not before giving access via AZ 64 to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Also before Page, the CURRENT U.S. 89A, which is the former route of U.S. 89, goes west from 89, crosses the Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River, and goes through some beautiful country, giving access to the Grand Canyon's north rim via AZ 67. From there it heads north into Utah to meet 89 in Kanab.
Meanwhile, the real 89 heads from 89A at its south end through some red rock country and goes through the narrow by fantastic Antelope Pass along the way before entering Page, a town that did not exist until the the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1957, similar to Nevada's Boulder City when the Boulder/Hoover Dam was being buit in the 1930s. In 1959, 89 was rerouted to go through Page.
After the Glen Canyon Dam, 89 enters Utah and heads in a generally westbound path for 72 miles to Kanab where it meets the northern end of 89A. After Kanab, 89 winds north to give access via UT 9 to Zion Canyon National Park and further north, UT 12 to give access to Bryce Canyon National Park. That's 3 so far!
From the 12 junction, 89 continues north to Panguitch and Circileville, then to the Sevier Valley communities, the biggest of which is Richfield. In this region, 89 can be taken as a surface road or along I 70 to quicken the drive to Salina. From Salina, 89 heads into some pretty country and through many mid-Utah communities before junctioning with U.S. 6 to head west to Spanish Fork. From just southeast of Spanish Fork, it goes north through the Provo metro area of Utah County before joining I 15 into Salt Lake County and going on its own in Draper as State Street, shooting straight north to Salt Lake City.
From there, 89 alters between keeping its own road and joining 15 until Farmington, where it remains on its own thorugh the Ogden area. After Ogden, 89 courses into Brigham City where U.S. 91 joins it to beautiful Logan.After Logan, 89 climbs into Logan Canyon before descending to Garden City and to run along the west shore of Bear Lake into Idaho where it runs north through farmland and then east into Montpelier where it forms a brief junction with U.S. 30. before climbing into Montpelier Canyon to enter Wyoming.
Keeping close to Idaho for a while, 89 meets U.S. 26 to cross the Snake River. and then meet U.S. 191. All three stay together for a time, providing access to Grand Tetons National Park (4) before 26 heads east from Moran. At this point, 89 and 191 also pick up U.S. 287 and all three head north to Yellowstone(5). Since no U.S. routes exist OFFICIALLY in any national park, they more or less disappear until the park's northern end, where 89 travels into Montana where it eventually flattens out for a bit before entering Livingston and joining I 90 briefly before jaunting on its own to meet with U.S. 12 into White Sulphur Springs and then head itno some hills to later meet U.S. 87 and ride together to Great Falls, where 89 will ride with I 15 for 12 miles before departing to the west.
A few miles east of 15, 89 cuts north to meet with U.S. 2 just east of Glacier National Park (6) in Browning. After losing 2, 89 cuts west and north to ride through gorgeous mountain country and views to the Canadian border.
Indeed, 89 is the road for national park fanatics, but even with that asset, it still passes through a lot of goregeous western country for 1,252 miles. Also notable is that with the exception of joining I 15 in a few spots in Utah and Montana, U.S. 89 is mostly a regular 2 lane road throughout. I highly recommend this route for any lover of western scenery.
No comments:
Post a Comment