U.S. Route 93 in Arizona

U.S. Route 93
Route information
Maintained by ADOT
Length:	200.13 mi[1] (322.08 km) Includes I-40 overlap of 22.83 miles (36.74 km)
Existed:	1935: (As US 466) 1951: extended to Kingman; 1965 Extended to US 89 at Congress Junction; 1992: Extended to Wickenburg – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 60 in Wickenburg
	I-40 in Kingman
North end:	US 93 at Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Bannered Divided Replaced Arizona Highways Interstate U.S. State Unconstructed Former ← SR 92 SR 93 →

In the U.S. state of Arizona, U.S. Route 93 is a U.S. Highway that begins in Wickenburg and heads north to the Nevada border at the Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

As part of a proposal by municipal leaders in Nevada and Arizona, the highway could be replaced by Interstate 11.

Route description

Joshua Tree Forest Parkway in Yavapai County northwest of Wickenburg

Looking north above old US 93 as it crosses over Hoover Dam into Nevada

The following narrative runs in the descending reference post direction. Arizona has always signed this particular route with its zero mile point located at the Nevada border. Until October 19, 2010, that point was on the crest of Hoover Dam, but ever since has been at the state line along the new Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

The southern terminus of US 93 is located at a junction (rebuilt and relocated between February 2008 and February 2010) with US 60 in Wickenburg, a small town about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Phoenix. It heads towards the northwest from this junction to an intersection with SR 89 (the former US 89) across the Maricopa – Yavapai county line just northwest of town. SR 89 heads northeast to Prescott while US 93 continues its northwesterly heading, as a mainly two-lane highway with passing lanes every few miles. US 93 continues to the northwest to a junction with SR 71 at a diamond interchange southwest of Congress. As it continues to the northwest through this scenic but remote rural area, the highway is known as the Joshua Tree Forest Parkway.

The highway widens to four lanes at the Santa Maria River and continues towards the northwest past a junction with SR 97 on its way to the town of Wikieup. Before reaching that town, it passes the tiny settlement of Nothing (just across the Yavapai – Mohave county line) and crosses Burro Creek over dual steel arch bridges about 400 feet over the creek.

After passing through Wikieup, US 93 curves north to follow the western edge of the Big Sandy River and one of its tributaries, Knight Creek, on its way toward Interstate 40.

At I-40's exit 71, US 93 merges with the Interstate freeway and share the same alignment heading west until they reach Kingman. The two split in Kingman with I-40 heading towards the south to skirt the southern end of the Black Mountains before curving west and into California and US 93 heading northwest towards Las Vegas. A project is currently underway to design and build a free-flowing connection between I-40 and US 93 in western section of Kingman, to avoid the current diamond interchange (exit 48) at Beale Street and the approximately one mile section of congested, undivided roadway that US 93 motorists must navigate before the road widens back into a four-lane divided facility.

Northwest of Kingman and just over Coyote Pass, US 93 has an interchange with SR 68 (exit 67). Highway 68 heads west over the Black Mountains to Davis Dam, Laughlin, and Bullhead City (the latter via SR 95), while US 93 continues as a four-lane divided route towards the northwest. Running through the long Detrital Valley, with the Black Mountains to the west and the Cerbat Mountains and then the White Hills to the east, US 93 passes several small settlements in this mostly remote area. As it nears the Nevada border, it enters the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and climbs over Householder Pass, before crossing into Nevada via the Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge over Black Canyon just downstream from Hoover Dam.

US 93 continues into Nevada to the cities of Boulder City, Henderson and Las Vegas.^[1][2]

History

The route between Kingman and Hoover Dam first became part of the state highway system in 1934 when it was designated as SR 69.^[3] At the time, Hoover Dam was still under construction and the highway did not link to Nevada. The dam was completed the following year in 1935 enabling traffic to cross over the top of the dam.^[4] In that year, US 466 was designated over SR 69 from Kingman to Hoover Dam. US 93 was extended south from (then) US 91 at Glendale, Nevada in 1951. ^[5]

Directional colored shields found on US 93 during the 1950s.

In 1935, Arizona proposed for an extension of US 93 from Kingman to Ash Fork, overlapping US 66, and then south to Phoenix. This proposal was protested by the towns of Aguila and Wickenburg that argued that US 93 should pass through their towns rather than the proposed alignment to the east. The town of Wickenburg contested that a direct routing between Phoenix and Kingman would be 100 miles (161 km) shorter than the routing through Ash Fork and that it would provide a necessary connection between Phoenix, the state capital, and the northwestern part of the state. Until 1937, the original proposed extension overlapping US 66 stayed in planning as US 93T. A child route, US 193, was also planned, travelling from Phoenix through Sacaton and Casa Grande before terminating in Picacho. US 193 was briefly reworked under the designation US 93A before the proposal was abandoned in 1937.^[5]

On March 23, 1946, what would become the southern leg of US 93 past Kingman was added to the State Highway System as State Route 93.^[6]Between 1942 and 1958, the highway was rebuilt and reworked into a suitable highway for an eventual extension of US 93.^[7][5] Though the state wanted US 93 to be extended over all of SR 93 through Phoenix, Casa Grande and Tucson to the Mexican border in Nogales, a southern extension was only accepted by the AASHTO to US 89 north of Wickenburg in 1965.^[5] The rest of SR 93 kept its state route designation until 1984.^[8]

Until 1992, US 93 ended a short distance north of Wickenburg, Arizona at a junction with U.S. Route 89. When US 89 was decommissioned in the area, the US 93 designation was carried on into Wickenburg.

Between 2006 and 2012, there were several widening projects completed on the section between Wickenburg and Interstate 40.

New bypass bridge

US 93 (with US 60 to the southeast of Wickenburg) is the shortest route between the fast-growing cities of Las Vegas and Phoenix, two of the largest cities in the Southwest (and is an officially designated portion of the CANAMEX Corridor). Upgrades of US 60 and US 93 to four-lane expressway status are scheduled between Las Vegas and Phoenix; as of the fall of 2009, most sections north of the Santa Maria River are already at four-lane expressway status (with some of the newest portions presumably built to Interstate standards) with construction ongoing. This routing is part of a proposed Interstate 11 which could potentially connect Interstate 10 west of Phoenix with Interstate 515 southeast of Las Vegas.

A segment of this new highway consists of a new route across the Colorado River called the Hoover Dam Bypass. The new crossing is the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, the first so-called concrete-steel composite arch bridge built in the United States. The bridge is 1,900 feet (579 m) with a 1,080-foot (329 m) main span. The roadway is 840 feet (256 m) above the river.

The bypass replaced the old section of U.S. 93 that approached and crossed directly over Hoover Dam, which was inadequate by modern standards, because there was one narrow lane in each direction, including several hairpin turns, many dangerous curves, and poor sight distances. Also, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, truck traffic over the Hoover Dam had been diverted south to a river crossing near Laughlin, Nevada, in an effort to safeguard the dam from hazardous spills or explosions.

Junction list

County	Location[1]	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Maricopa	Wickenburg	0.00	0.00		US 60 (Wickenburg Way) – Phoenix, Wickenburg, Los Angeles	Traffic circle; Southern terminus
Yavapai	​	6.04	9.72		SR 89 north – Congress, Prescott
	​	16.75	26.96		SR 71 – Prescott, Los Angeles	Interchange
	​	44.44	71.52		SR 97 – Bagdad, Hillside
Mohave	​	59.03	95.00	Burro Creek Bridge over Burro Creek
	​	106.80	171.88	71	I-40 east – Flagstaff	South end of I-40 overlap
	​			66	Blake Ranch Road
	​			59	DW Ranch Road
	Kingman			53	SR 66 east (Andy Devine Avenue) – Kingman Airport
				51	Stockton Hill Road
		129.65	208.65	48	I-40 west / Beale Street – Los Angeles	North end of I-40 overlap
	​	133.68	215.14	67	SR 68 west – Bullhead City, Laughlin
	​			2	Kingman Wash Access Road – Hoover Dam	Former US 93 north
Colorado River		200.13	322.08	Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
Clark	Lake Mead NRA				US 93 north – Las Vegas	Continuation beyond the Nevada state line
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

U.S. Route 93
Previous state: Terminus	Arizona	Next state: Nevada