The genesis of US 466

[usends]

Revealed in the AASHTO archive: In 1933, what CA, AZ, NM (and even NC!) really wanted was to extend US 64 west from Santa Fe along US 66 all the way to Barstow, and then diverge to a western terminus at the Pacific coast (Morro Bay).  Although AASHO was willing to do something similar to that with US 70 (since it was an x0 route), they were not willing with US 64.  Instead they authorized the US 466 designation only along the segment that was distinct from US 66 (i.e. Barstow to Morro).  Initially California was not thrilled about this alteration to their request, but eventually they accepted the proposal.  So far I have not found any documentation explaining why AASHO ultimately decided on an eastern terminus at Kingman (rather than Barstow), but I assume it had something to do with Arizona being in the process of constructing/upgrading their highway between Kingman and Las Vegas.  Full article with snips from AASHO documents

[Max Rockatansky]

A lot of things about US 466 didn't make sense.  Creston-Rocky Canyon to Atascadero and Morro Bay always seemed strange to me over Paso Robles  The dirt portion through Rocky Canyon even persisted as part of 466 until 1958.

There was an attempt to get the Barstow-Kingman corridor swapped to US 66A but it wasn't approved.  US 93 would have been a way better fit for the first US Route over Hoover Dam.

[KeithE4Phx]

There was an attempt to get the Barstow-Kingman corridor swapped to US 66A but it wasn't approved.  US 93 would have been a way better fit for the first US Route over Hoover Dam.

IIRC, the Vegas-to-Kingman corridor was dual-signed as US 93/466 from Day One when Hoover Dam opened in 1936.  The Arizona side was signed AZ 69 from Kingman to the dam site during construction.

Sounds to me like there was never a real need for US 466 to be signed anywhere.  I'm surprised it took until 1969 for Arizona to finally drop the number.

[Max Rockatansky]

There was an attempt to get the Barstow-Kingman corridor swapped to US 66A but it wasn't approved.  US 93 would have been a way better fit for the first US Route over Hoover Dam.

IIRC, the Vegas-to-Kingman corridor was dual-signed as US 93/466 from Day One when Hoover Dam opened in 1936.  The Arizona side was signed AZ 69 from Kingman to the dam site during construction.

Sounds to me like there was never a real need for US 466 to be signed anywhere.  I'm surprised it took until 1969 for Arizona to finally drop the number.

I would disagree for Barstow-Shandon, that corridor was certainly US Route worthy.  Given the standards of the time Barstow-Paso Robles would have been a perfectly acceptable three digit US Route corridor.

[Alps]

I think the idea of routing US 466 to Kingman instead of Barstow was so that you would still have the US 466 sign in Vegas (:

[Max Rockatansky]

I think the idea of routing US 466 to Kingman instead of Barstow was so that you would still have the US 466 sign in Vegas (:

I actually liked the US 66A concept to Las Vegas.  After the casinos started taking off post Hoover Dam it actually would have some sense. 

[roadfro]

There was an attempt to get the Barstow-Kingman corridor swapped to US 66A but it wasn't approved.  US 93 would have been a way better fit for the first US Route over Hoover Dam.

IIRC, the Vegas-to-Kingman corridor was dual-signed as US 93/466 from Day One when Hoover Dam opened in 1936.  The Arizona side was signed AZ 69 from Kingman to the dam site during construction.

Sounds to me like there was never a real need for US 466 to be signed anywhere.  I'm surprised it took until 1969 for Arizona to finally drop the number.

My recollection from old NDOT maps was that US 466 predated US 93 over Hoover Dam by a few years.

Had US 93 been extended south from Glendale, NV into Arizona a few years earlier, it's debatable that US 466 would've been needed at all, since it would have been entirely concurrent with other routes.

EDIT: The AASHO approval to extend US 93 south came in 1935, but the extension didn't appear on NDOT official maps until the 1939 edition (they were published yearly at the time).

[Max Rockatansky]

There was an attempt to get the Barstow-Kingman corridor swapped to US 66A but it wasn't approved.  US 93 would have been a way better fit for the first US Route over Hoover Dam.

IIRC, the Vegas-to-Kingman corridor was dual-signed as US 93/466 from Day One when Hoover Dam opened in 1936.  The Arizona side was signed AZ 69 from Kingman to the dam site during construction.

Sounds to me like there was never a real need for US 466 to be signed anywhere.  I'm surprised it took until 1969 for Arizona to finally drop the number.

My recollection from old NDOT maps was that US 466 predated US 93 over Hoover Dam by a few years.

Had US 93 been extended south from Glendale, NV into Arizona a few years earlier, it's debatable that US 466 would've been needed at all, since it would have been entirely concurrent with other routes.

EDIT: The AASHO approval to extend US 93 south came in 1935, but the extension didn't appear on NDOT official maps until the 1939 edition (they were published yearly at the time).

What fascinates me is some of the strange request patterns the state of Nevada had during the 1930s.  The state highway engineer was incredibly pushy trying to get US 95 through the state despite the ION Highway not being ready.  I seem to recall there was talk about extending US 93 through Searchlight for some reason and the AASHO Executive Secretary pointed out how obvious the corridor of the Hoover Dam was.

[pderocco]

My recollection from old NDOT maps was that US 466 predated US 93 over Hoover Dam by a few years.

Had US 93 been extended south from Glendale, NV into Arizona a few years earlier, it's debatable that US 466 would've been needed at all, since it would have been entirely concurrent with other routes.

EDIT: The AASHO approval to extend US 93 south came in 1935, but the extension didn't appear on NDOT official maps until the 1939 edition (they were published yearly at the time).

California official maps show US-91 north of Barstow as early as 1934, so it would likely have gone through Vegas too. US-466 shows up on the official maps west of Barstow in 1936, but isn't shown as multiplexed to Nevada until 1938.

But it's hard to understand why they would have chosen a route number for Vegas to Kingman that required well over a hundred miles of multiplexing, when that road is clearly N/S while US-466 is clearly E/W. On the other hand, maybe they felt obligated to connect it to its parent US-66--it only comes within a mile of it in Barstow.

Interestingly, the California official maps replaced US-466 west of Barstow with SR-58 in 1965, yet maintained the pointless multiplex with US-91 until 1971.

[Max Rockatansky]

My recollection from old NDOT maps was that US 466 predated US 93 over Hoover Dam by a few years.

Had US 93 been extended south from Glendale, NV into Arizona a few years earlier, it's debatable that US 466 would've been needed at all, since it would have been entirely concurrent with other routes.

EDIT: The AASHO approval to extend US 93 south came in 1935, but the extension didn't appear on NDOT official maps until the 1939 edition (they were published yearly at the time).

California official maps show US-91 north of Barstow as early as 1934, so it would likely have gone through Vegas too. US-466 shows up on the official maps west of Barstow in 1936, but isn't shown as multiplexed to Nevada until 1938.

But it's hard to understand why they would have chosen a route number for Vegas to Kingman that required well over a hundred miles of multiplexing, when that road is clearly N/S while US-466 is clearly E/W. On the other hand, maybe they felt obligated to connect it to its parent US-66--it only comes within a mile of it in Barstow.

Interestingly, the California official maps replaced US-466 west of Barstow with SR-58 in 1965, yet maintained the pointless multiplex with US-91 until 1971.

US 91 was one of the original US Routes in California.  Originally it ended at US 66 in Daggett but moved when the Barstow Overhead was built.  US 466 was truncated to CA 127 by June 1964 and was deleted completely by the AASHO during December 1971.

[The Ghostbuster]

US 466 shouldn't have left California. 466 between Las Vegas, Nevada and Kingman, Arizona should have been numbered US 566 [II] from 1933 to 1951, and then renumbered as just US 93 after 1951.

[pderocco]

US 466 shouldn't have left California. 466 between Las Vegas, Nevada and Kingman, Arizona should have been numbered US 566 [II] from 1933 to 1951, and then renumbered as just US 93 after 1951.

Were non-interstate US routes common way back when? I know that US-299 was renumbered as CA-299 (and lengthened) because it wasn't interstate. Was that due to an AASHO policy change?

[Max Rockatansky]

US 466 shouldn't have left California. 466 between Las Vegas, Nevada and Kingman, Arizona should have been numbered US 566 [II] from 1933 to 1951, and then renumbered as just US 93 after 1951.

Were non-interstate US routes common way back when? I know that US-299 was renumbered as CA-299 (and lengthened) because it wasn't interstate. Was that due to an AASHO policy change?

Yes, the rule eventually became 300 miles plus for single state US Routes.  In the early US Route system there was a ton of single state routes.  California had one even with US 48. 

[ClassicHasClass]

US 399, too.

[Max Rockatansky]

Which if I remember right was approved about a year after US 466.  So even by then the AASHO had no problems doing entirely single state routes, even if they were on the shorter side.