Baseline Road (Arizona)
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Baseline Road is a significant arterial road in the Greater Phoenix area in Arizona, United States of America.
[edit] Background
This road is so named because it runs along the length of the primary baseline for Arizona as given under the PLSS. Due to natural obstructions, this road is not continuous. The road is located in Maricopa County and Pinal County. There is also a rural road named Baseline Road in southern La Paz County close to the Colorado River which is located near Arizona's baseline.
[edit] Description of Route
Because of the grid plan used by cities in Arizona, the name for the road is applied for non-contiguous sections and is theoretically reserved for future east-west roads built at the same latitude.
Starting from east, the road begins in Apache Junction in Pinal County, named Baseline Avenue and is a small segment of thoroughfare in a residential neighborhood at the foothills of the Superstition Mountains. The route picks up again and runs due westward, running parallel to US-60. At the Maricopa County border, the road enters Mesa and is named Baseline Road. It becomes a major arterial road as it passes through Gilbert and Tempe. In Tempe, it intersects Loop 101 and then Interstate 10. Continuing, the road runs through south Phoenix and the major arterial segment of the road terminates in the Gila River Indian Community, approximately where the Salt River joins the Gila River.
The road reappears on the other side of the Gila River at an orthogonal junction with Perryville Rd. as CR-85 and continues westward through central Buckeye. From there, it continues through farmland in western Maricopa county in various non-continuous segments. The segment of Baseline Road furthest west in Maricopa County is just past 547th Avenue.
