Historic south endpoints of US highway 93

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Chris Elbert; Andy Field; Alan Hamilton; James Schecter; me

US 93 was an original 1926 route - although at the time it ran from the Canada line at Roosville only to US 50 in Wells NV. The photo below shows the spot...

Elbert, July 2005

...or at least the modern equivalent: that's looking south on US 93. I-80's interchange 352 is visible in the middleground, and you can see part of the East Humboldt Range in the distance. The pickup is travelling west on 6th Street, or historic US 40. However, it seems more likely that US 93 traffic would've been routed into town (rather than along this bypass, which probably didn't exist back then). I have no evidence to back up any of this, but at this point my best guess would be that US 93 used 10th Street along the north side of the railroad tracks, and then turned south on Lake Avenue. That intersects 6th about a half-mile to the west (right) of the intersection shown above. The photo below is looking south on Lake at 6th:

Elbert, Mar. 2006

That's probably where original US 93 intersected US 40 and ended.

At any rate, it was only six years later that US 93 was extended south to US 91 in Glendale NV:

NV DoT,1937

US 93 no longer directly serves Glendale; it's been rerouted to join I-15 southwest of there (roughly where "Dry Lake" is shown at lower left on the map above). Its old route is now designated NV hwy. 168. The photo below shows the south end of 168 at I-15's interchange 90:

me, July 2004

My best guess is that the road running across the foreground used to be US 91, so this spot would've marked the south end of US 93.

In 1936 (probably coinciding with the completion of Hoover Dam and the road on its crest), another southern extension brought US 93 to Kingman AZ; you can view photos from there on this page.

Then US 93 was once again extended southward, this time to US 89 at Congress Jct AZ, just outside Wickenburg. The photo below is looking southeast on US 93 at its former south end:

Elbert, Apr. 2008

Until 1992, southbound US 89 came in from the left, and then continued straight ahead. The shot below shows the former south beginning of US 93, as seen from the junction with today's AZ hwy. 89:

Hamilton, June 2001

Northbound US 89 took a right here, and northbound US 93 began straight ahead. The photo below was taken from what was once southbound US 89:

Elbert, Apr. 2008

...which continued to the left. To the right was the south beginning of US 93.

In 1992, when US 89 was decommissioned in Arizona, US 93 was extended along its former route to meet US 60 in Wickenburg. So it appears US 93 grows southward on an average of every 16 years or so. In the late 1990s I suggested (somewhat jokingly) that we might see it in Gila Bend or Lukeville by 2008. But now it seems like more of a possibility that US 93 might be extended to Phoenix, replacing the current US 60 designation. This would create better route continuity between Phoenix and Las Vegas, which is a segment of the developing Canamex Corridor.

When my wife and I last visited Phoenix, wouldn't you know it: they received their first snowfall in eight years! It was actually quite comical; we had a great time anyway. Plus - since we couldn't hang out by the pool - I had a chance to do some driving around. I took this photo in Wickenburg, which is about an hour northwest of Phoenix:

me, Dec. 1998

In Wickenburg, US 93 used to be routed on Tegner Street. The designation ended at its junction with US 60 - or Wickenburg Way, which is the cross street in this photo (that's melting snow on the roads). The photos below show more of the green directional signage visible in the background:

Elbert, Apr. 2008

The photo on the left also shows some of the signs for traffic heading east on US 60; the shot below shows another perspective from that direction:

Elbert, Apr. 2008

Below we're looking the opposite direction (west on US 60, or Wickenburg Wy):

Field, Oct. 2003

At the time, US 93 began to the right on Tegner. But here's what signage on that traffic signal looks like now:

Schecter, Aug. 2010

As of 2010, US 93 traffic has been routed off Tegner and onto a new roadway skirting the Hassayampa River. The intersection (actually a rotary) marking the current south terminus of US 93 is now about five blocks behind the camera, and the new highway rejoins US 93's old alignment a ways to the right. You can view photos and get more info on my main US 93 page.