Arizona State Route 87

State Route 87 marker

State Route 87
Route information
Maintained by ADOT, City of Chandler, City of Mesa
Length: 272.66 mi[1] (438.80 km)
Existed: 1927 – present
Major junctions
South end: I-10 near Picacho
  Loop 202 in Chandler
US 60 in Mesa
Loop 202 in Mesa
SR 260 from Payson to near Strawberry
I-40 in Winslow
North end: SR 264 near Second Mesa
Highway system
  • State Routes in Arizona
← SR 86SR 88 →
← SR 64US 66 →
Driving south on AZ 87, from Winslow to Strawberry.

State Route 87 (SR 87) is a north–south road that travels from I-10 near Picacho, Arizona northward to SR 264 near Second Mesa.

Route description

The Picacho post office, near the present southern terminus of AZ 87

The road that becomes Route 87 begins at Second Mesa, Arizona. It becomes a state route when it crosses the reservation boundary line and it ends at Interstate 10 exit 211, just south of Eloy, Arizona in the unincorporated town of Picacho.

Route 87 is known as the Beeline Highway from Payson through Fountain Hills to its terminus at McDowell Road, just north of Mesa. All of this portion of Route 87 is a four-lane highway. There is a stretch of road where the highway splits, taking different canyons through the Mazatzal Mountains south of Payson, near the junction with SR 188. The old alignment is currently the southbound lanes, while a new alignment was built for the northbound lanes. There is a stretch where the roads cross-over each other because of the difference in elevations of the two canyons.

Once it gets to Mesa, Route 87 is known as Country Club Drive, a major-arterial street, six lanes wide in most sections. It then enters Chandler where it becomes Arizona Avenue. The Chandler section of SR 87 is discontinuous, with most of Arizona Avenue being owned and maintained by the city except in the area surrounding Loop 202 (SanTan Freeway) and the stretch 1/4 mile south of Riggs Road to the southern city limits at Hunt Highway, where Route 87 resumes and proceeds southeasterly as a two-lane rural road through the Gila River Indian Community until it reaches Coolidge.

In Coolidge, Route 87 is known as Arizona Blvd. It finally ends 16 miles (26 km) south of Coolidge, near the unincorporated town of Picacho, Arizona. The original southern terminus was 1/2 mile to the north of I-10 at its junction with State Route 84 until 2004 when Route 87 was extended to serve the 1/2 mile decertified SR 84 stretch.

Route 87 is part of the National Highway System between I-10 and Payson. ADOT is currently studying a stretch of I-10 to widen and improve interchanges along its stretch from Tucson to Casa Grande, including the interchange with Route 87.[2] Stretches of this road were formerly numbered as State Route 65 and State Route 166.

Notable destinations along Route 87 include the Mogollon Rim and Tonto Natural Bridge.

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Pinal  I-10 – Tucson, Phoenix
  SR 84 west
  SR 287 west – Casa GrandeSouth end of SR 287 concurrency
Coolidge SR 287 east – FlorenceNorth end of SR 287 concurrency
  SR 387 west to I-10
  SR 187 south to I-10 – Casa Grande
Maricopa–Pinal
county line		  SR 587 south to I-10
MaricopaChandler Loop 202 (Santan Freeway)1
Mesa US 60 – Globe, Phoenix1
Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway)1
Gila  SR 188 – Roosevelt, Globe
Payson SR 260 east – Heber, Show LowSouth end of SR 260 concurrency
Coconino  SR 260 west – Camp VerdeNorth end of SR 260 concurrency
NavajoWinslow SR 99 eastSouth end of SR 99 concurrency
SR 99 west – FlagstaffNorth end of SR 99 concurrency
I-40 – Flagstaff, Albuquerque
  SR 264 – Tuba City, Keams Canyon
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Notes

  1. SR 87 is discontinuous throughout much of Chandler and Mesa, with most of Arizona Avenue being owned and maintained by the respective cities. The only portions where SR 87 exists in Chandler (under ADOT ownership) are from Hunt Highway to 1/4 mile south of Riggs Road, and the area surrounding Loop 202.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Arizona Department of Transportation. "2012 ADOT Highway Log" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  2. ↑ Arizona Department of Transportation Interstate 10 Corridor Study: Jct. I-8 to Tangerine Road. ADOT Interstate 10 Tucson District. Retrieved on:2012-03-10.

External links