U.S. Route 491

Old and new route number posted near the terminus in Monticello

U.S. Route 491 is a north-south United States highway. One of the newest additions to the U.S. Highway system, it was commissioned in 2003 as a renumbering of U.S. Route 666 (an original 1926 route). Although the next 3-digit "child" of U.S. Route 91 would have been U.S. Route 291, both the 291 and 391 designations were already in use as state route numbers ^[1].

The old U.S. Route 666 is a well-constructed roadway, travelling through some scenic areas of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. With the 666 designation, this route was given the nickname, "The Devil's Highway" despite the fact that large portions of the highway passed over territories largely populated by American Indians, including many traditionals, who did not have the Christian association of the number with the biblical Number of the Beast. This made some people uncomfortable, as well as making the signs targets for theft. In 1993, the part in Arizona was renamed as an extension of U.S. Route 191; the rest became U.S. Route 491 in 2003, mainly through efforts of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

U.S. Route 491 passes through the heart of the Navajo Indian Reservation passing many small communities, trading posts, and schools, including the major complex of Shiprock, and then crosses into the Ute Mountain Ute in the extreme southwestern corner of Colorado, passing between Mesa Verde and Ute Mountain and joining with U.S. Route 160 at Cortez, Colorado to continue north and west through the bean-farming lands of Montezuma County, Colorado and Dolores County, Colorado into San Juan County, Utah where it terminates at Monticello, Utah at the base of the Abajo Mountains (Blue Mountains).

Termini

As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is in Monitcello, Utah at an intersection with U.S. Route 191. This intersection is the basis for this route's x91 number. Its southern terminus is in Gallup, New Mexico at an intersection with Interstate 40 (historic U.S. Route 66).

Historic termini

When the route was first commissioned in 1926, its northern terminus was in Cortez, Colorado at an intersection with U.S. Route 450 (modern U.S. Route 160). It extended south to Gallup, New Mexico, one of the famous stops on the original U.S. Route 66, the "parent" of U.S. Route 666. The north-south route was technically a violation of the numbering convention that even-numbered routes run east-west. But the short route didn't intersect any odd-numbered U.S. routes at the time.

In 1938, its southern terminus was extended to Douglas, Arizona at the Mexican border. It was co-signed with U.S. Route 66 for 30 miles (48.3 km) before its turn south.

In 1970, U.S. Route 160 at Cortez, Colorado was rerouted south to serve the Four Corners Monument. U.S. Route 666 was extended up part of the old route of U.S. 160 to Monticello, Utah, at an intersection with then U.S. Route 163 (now U.S. Route 191) which took over the route northerly from there to the intersection with U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 50. (U.S. Route 163 went south from there to the redesignated U.S. 160 in Arizona.) These redesignations of U.S. Route 160 as a U.S. Route 666 extension and U.S. 163 creation would foreshadow the final fate of U.S. 666.

In 1985, the U.S. Route 66 designation was eliminated. In 1993, Arizona requested AASHTO to allow the state's segment of U.S. Route 666 to be redesignated as a southern extension of U.S. Route 191. This truncated U.S. Route 666 again at Gallup, New Mexico, now at Interstate 40. U.S. Route 191 was extended from its truncated former southern end, through Yellowstone National Park, replacing U.S. Route 189 in Wyoming, over previous state routes in Wyoming and Utah, then taking over most of U.S. Route 163 and then heading over new roadway and previous state routes to the Arizona U.S. Route 666 segments.

On January 21, 2003, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico declared his intent to change the designation of U.S. 666 due to "infamy brought by the inopportune naming of the road." ^[1] Officials in Colorado and Utah concurred, choosing "U.S. Route 393" as the route number. But since the route came nowhere near U.S. Route 93, AASHTO suggested U.S. Route 491, noting it as a "branch" of U.S. Route 191 because the routes meet in Monticello, Utah. U.S. Route 666 officially ceased to exist on May 31, 2003, though "New 491 - Old 666" signs would be posted for at least a year.

States traversed

The highway passes through the following states:

Related U.S. routes

External links

References

^ ^a ^b U.S. 666: "Beast of a Highway"? by Richard F. Weingroff (USDOT - FHWA)

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[beastofahighway-1] U.S. 666: "Beast of a Highway"? by Richard F. Weingroff (USDOT - FHWA)

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