U.S. Route 60 in Arizona

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U.S. Route 60
Superstition Freeway
Length: 369.30 mi[1] (594.33 km)
Formed: 1927
West end: I-10 near Quartzsite
Major
junctions:		 US 93 at Wickenburg

I-17 in Phoenix
I-10 in Phoenix
US 70 in Globe
US 180 / US 191 near Springerville, AZ
East end: US 60 near Springerville, AZ
State routes in Arizona
< SR 51 SR 61 >
< SR 347 360 SR 364 >
Unconstructed - Former
View east along Route 60, Phoenix
View east along Route 60, Phoenix

U.S. Route 60 is an east-west United States highway within Arizona. The highway runs for 369 miles from a junction with Interstate 10 near Quartzsite to the New Mexico State Line near Springerville. As it crosses the state, US 60 overlaps at various points: I-17, I-10, SR 77, SR 260, US 191, and US 180.

Contents

[edit] Route description

The western terminus of US 60 is located at an interchange with I-10 east of Quartzite. It heads northeast from this junction to Vicksburg Junction where it curves towards the east. It continues to the east to Hope where it intersects SR 72. East of Hope, the highway briefly curves towards the north-northeast before curving towards the northeast. It continues this heading until it reaches Auguila. The highway heads east to an intersection with SR 71 after passing through Auguila. US 60 continues towards the east until it reaches Wickenburg and an intersection with US 93. From Wickenburg, the highway heads towards the southeast towards Phoenix. It has an intersection with SR 74 in Morristown as it continues towards the southeast. As US 60 enters the Phoenix metropolitan area, it carries the name Grand Avenue and cuts a diagonal path through the northwestern part of the metropolitan area. It intersects Loop 303 in Surprise as it continues to the southeast. It continues to a junction with Loop 101 in Peoria before heading through Glendale. The highway enters the Phoenix city limits and continues towards the southeast until it reaches I-17. At I-17, the highway begins to run concurrently with I-17 towards the south until it reaches the I-10 interchange. US 60 begins to run concurrently towards the east with I-10 after the interchange. The freeway continues to the east to an interchange with SR 51 and Loop 202. At the interchange, I-10 and US 60 continue towards the south. The freeway passes to the west of Sky Harbor International Airport to an interchange at the southern terminus of I-17. I-10 and US 60 continue towards the southeast after the interchange. The freeway passes along the south side of the airport and passes over a bridge over the Salt River. Once over the river, the freeway continues towards the east through Tempe to an interchange with SR 143. The freeway curves back towards the south following the SR 143 interchange. After the curve, I-10 and US 60 part ways with I-10 continuing towards the south and US 60 now heading east along the Superstition Freeway. The freeway continues towards the east to a second interchange with Loop 101. The freeway enters the Mesa city limits after the interchange as it continues towards the east to an interchange with Loop 202. The freeway enters the city limits of Apache Junction in Pinal County as it continues eastbound. The freeway portion of the highway ends in Apache Junction as US 60 curves towards the southeast. The highway continues towards the southeast passing through Gold Canyon to a interchange with SR 79 at Florence Junction. US 60 curves towards the east at this junction as it heads to Superior and an intersection with SR 177. From Superior, the highway begins to head towards the northeast to Miami and Claypool. It continues to a junction with SR 188 before passing through Midland City and turning towards the south towards Globe. US 60 curves back towards the east in Globe and continues to an intersection with US 70 and SR 77. US 60 heads northeast from the intersection concurrent with SR 77. The two highways curve towards the north before curving back towards the northeast as they head towards Show Low. As the highway continues towards the northeast it enters the San Carlos Indian Reservation. Within the reservation, the highway goes through a series of hairpin turns as it enters the Salt River Canyon. After descending into the canyon, the highway passes over the Salt River and enters the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. The highway continues towards the northeast and enters Navajo County before reaching an intersection with SR 73. It continues northeast from this intersection to the city of Show Low. In Show Low, US 60 intersects SR 260 and briefly runs concurrently with SR 260 as it heads northeast through the city. The concurrency with SR 77 also ends in Show Low as SR 77 heads north to Snowflake and US 60 continues towards the east. US 60 leaves the Show Low city limits and heads east to a junction with SR 61 which heads northeast towards Concho. US 60 continues east from this intersection before curving towards the southeast as it heads towards Springerville. As it enters the Springerville city limits, it intersects and begins to run concurrently with US 180 and US 191. The three highways continue along the same alignment through Springerville, passing over the Little Colorado River. As the three highways continue through the city, they eventually split with US 180 and US 191 heading south towards Alpine and US 60 continuing towards the east. US 60 continues towards the east leaving the Springerville city limits and crossing over the state line into New Mexico.[1][2]

[edit] History

US 60 was commissioned in 1927, and was part of the original 1927 Arizona Highway Plan. US 60 through Arizona has had far fewer major changes than some other U.S. routes, but one notable example is being replaced by Interstate 10 between Los Angeles, CA and the highway's current terminus near Quartzsite. The only other major change was being realigned from an "In-Town" route along city arterials through Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix to the old SR 360 alignment a few miles south and merging with I-10 and I-17 into Downtown Phoenix.[3]

In 1949, the Pinto Creek Bridge won an Annual Award of Merit for being the "most beautiful steel bridge", given by the American Institute of Steel Construction.[3]

In 1952, the Claypool Tunnel was bypassed by the Queen Creek Tunnel, upgrading from a simple 'hole in the rock' type tunnel to a more modern tunnel.[3]

In recent years, Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has been working to widen and improve US 60 through the Metropolitan Phoenix Area, as it is one of the area's principal freeways. Along the Superstition Freeway segment in the East Valley between I-10 and Loop 202 , ADOT has completed its project of adding additional general purpose lanes (6 total plus an HOV in each direction), adding auxiliary lanes between exits, improving sound barriers, replacing signs, improving lighting conditions, adding rubberized asphalt to reduce noise, adding variable message signs, installing cameras, and adding traffic sensors.[4]

Along the Grand Avenue segment in Phoenix, ADOT has been widening portions of Grand Avenue in addition to constructing additional overpasses and underpasses at six former six-way intersections to improve traffic flow along US 60 in the Northwest Valley.[5] ADOT is currently in the study phase of adding additional lanes between Loop 101 and Loop 303 in the far West Valley.

[edit] Junction list

Only the Superstition Freeway section of US 60 has exit numbers. All other segments are standard divided or undivided highways with uncontrolled access. [6] The mileposts were not renumbered after the western leg was truncated, so they begin at 31.

County Location Mile[1] # Destination Notes
La Paz 30.89 I-10 – Phoenix, Los Angeles
49.55 SR 72
Maricopa 86.07 SR 71
Wickenburg 110.33 US 93 north
120.11 SR 74 to I-17
Sun City West 138.51 Loop 303
Peoria 148.87 Loop 101
Glendale 157.59 157 43rd Avenue
Phoenix 160.09 160 Thomas Road, 27th Avenue, to I-17
Begin / concurrency
Exit numbers use I-17 exit numbers
201 US 60 (Grand Avenue) / Thomas Road Westbound exit only
200A-B I-10 "Stack Interchange"
199B Adams Street (Northbound) / Jefferson Street (Southbound)
199A MC 85 - Buckeye Road
198 Buckeye Road
197 19th Avenue, Durango Street
196 7th Ave, Central Avenue Eastbound exit only
195B 7th Street, Central Avenue Westbound exit only
195A 16th Street Eastbound exit only
194 I-10 / US 60 east Eastbound exit only
End / concurrency
Begin / concurrency
Exit numbers use I-10 exit numbers
150A I-10 west / I-17 north / US 60 west Westbound exit only
150B 24th Street Westbound exit only
151 University Drive, 32nd Street – University of Phoenix Online, Apollo Group
152 40th Street – University of Phoenix at Hohokam, Rio Salado Community College
Tempe 153A SR 143 North (Broadway Road) Eastbound exit only
154 US 60 east Eastbound exit only
End / concurrency
171 I-10 – Tucson, Phoenix Westbound exit only
172 Priest Drive – Arizona Mills Mall Westbound exit only
173 Mill Avenue – Arizona State University, Downtown Tempe
174 Rural Road
175 McClintock Drive
176 Loop 101
Mesa 177 Dobson Road – Mesa Community College
178 Alma School Road
179 SR 87 (Country Club Drive) – Mesa, Chandler
180 Mesa Drive
181 Stapley Drive
182 Gilbert Road &ndash Gilbert
184 Val Vista Drive
185 Greenfield Road &ndash Mesa Falcon Field
186 Higley Road
187 Superstition Springs Boulevard Eastbound exit only
188 Power Road – Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, ASU Polytechnic
189 Sossaman Road
190 Loop 202
191 Ellsworth Road
192 Crismon Road
193 Signal Butte Road
Pinal Apache Junction 195 Ironwood Drive
196 SR 88 (Idaho Road) – Salt River Lakes, Roosevelt Dam, and Apache Trail Highway
197 Tomahawk Road
198 Goldfield Road
199 E. Old West Road Westbound exit only
Florence Junction 212 SR 79 – Florence
Superior 227 SR 177 – Winkelman
Gila Central Heights 247 SR 188 – Young, Theodore Roosevelt Dam
Globe 252 US 70 / SR 77 – Safford, Winkelman Northerly Cardinal Direction from 3-way intersection - Entrance to Salt River Canyon
Begin / concurrency
Navajo Show Low 340 SR 260 – Heber-Overgaard Temporary Concurancy with US 60/SR 77/SR 260 through Show Low along Deuce of Clubs Avenue
341 SR 73 / SR 260 – Pinetop-Lakeside, Springerville
342 SR 77 – Holbrook
End / concurrency
Apache Bell 343 SR 61 – St. Johns
384 US 180 / US 191 – St. Johns
Begin / / concurrency
Springerville 388 SR 73 / SR 260 – Pinetop-Lakeside, Show Low
389 US 180 / US 191 – Alpine
End / / concurrency
continues into New Mexico

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c 2006 ADOT Highway Log. Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  2. ^ Google Maps. Overview map of US 60 in Arizona [map]. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
  3. ^ a b c Arizona Roads US 60 page
  4. ^ Arizona DOT Project Overview, Superstition Freeway
  5. ^ US 60 (Grand Avenue)
  6. ^ ADOT GIS Database Used for locating the mile marker numbers in rural areas.

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Freeways in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area
Radial
Circumferential
Interchanges and other