Roadtrip last week on US-93 and the ETH in Nevada and Arizona

[N9JIG]

So I had to drive from Phoenix to Boise last week for a funeral. I left the Phoenix area at 0330 on Saturday and took US-60 to Wickenburg and picked up US-93 there. I took US-93 all the way into Nevada and (I think) stayed on US-93 via it's Interstate concurrences on I-11, I-515 and I-15 thru Las Vegas. I then hopped off I-15 and continued north on US-93 to NV-375 to run thru the Extraterrestrial Highway that skirts past the Nevada Test Range (Area 51 for those that are so inclined). I took NV-375 to Warm Springs and US-6, then east on US-6 to Ely and picked up US-93 again. US-93 then took me to Wells where I stopped for the night. In the morning I then took US-93 north again to US-30 in Idaho, taking that to Bliss and I-84 into Boise.

On the return trip I took I-84 east to US-93, south all the way to I-15 and then US-93 thru Arizona back home.

A couple notes: The road surfaces in Nevada north of I-15 are in much better condition than I recalled the last time I went thru there a couple decades ago, and much better than similar roads in CA, AZ or NM. US-93 in Clark County has been rebuilt in the last few years but even the others were in remarkably good shape, even in the higher elevations with freeze/thaw cycles. Even NV-375 was well maintained.

Traffic on that Saturday was sparse in both AZ and NV except of course thru Las Vegas. There were times I went half an hour with no opposing traffic in NV. On one section north of Wells I felt the car jostled well by a dust devil (Common out here in the SW) and then watched the semi in front of me get tilted over onto the right side tire edges. How that driver managed to not flip over I will never know, but he recovered it. Other than that there was a bit of a breeze here and there but for the most part it was hot, dry and still.

For those who have the opportunity and time, stopping in Rachel at the "Little Ale-Inn" is an interesting diversion. The food is actually pretty good roadside diner fare, the burger was tasty! There is a gift shop that sells alien-themed shirts and stuff and some goofy decorations around the place. Other than that there is little else to indicate anything else to do there. It only added an hour and 50 miles to my trip so it was worth it to me. It isn't the kind of thing I would make a special trip out of but I was in the area.

In Arizona they seem to be neglecting much of US-93, probably waiting on I-11 to be built. There was some work around Wickenburg to widen it and a couple paving projects near Wickieup but much of the 4-lane portion both north and south of I-40 is very rutted in the right lane so I spent most of the drive in the left.

The construction in the Kingman area on I-40 continues.

My nav system shows the posted speed limits and is much more accurate than I thought it would be. They even got the speed limits in the construction zones right in several spots, so kudos to Garmin for that. It did seem to have a glitch where they showed the speed limit as 85 in a couple spots, like US-93 north of I-40 and on US-6 in Ely. Probably some sort of database error.

I debated taking NV-318/US-6 between Ely and Crystal Springs, it looks a little shorter but I wonder if some of the grades are more severe. I decided to just take US-93.

US-30 from US-93 to I-84 out of Twin Falls is absolutely spectacular. I really enjoyed that part of the trip, probably the most scenic of the whole journey. It follows the Snake River valley and the cliffs and bluffs are gorgeous.

Being an Illinois native and having lived in Arizona for almost a decade now, I have a great appreciation for well-designed route markers. I like Nevada's and Idaho's with their state outlines but I think Arizona has done a better job as the state outline better allows for larger digits that NV and ID does. Either way it sure beats the boring marker Illinois uses.

I spoke in another thread of the Nevada county-based mile markers. I think the new ones are easy to read but the traveling public would be better served by not restarting the mileage in each county. I know the public is not the intended audience but still...

I noticed an almost total lack of route reassurance markers on US-6/50/93 out of Ely to the split OITMON. The mile markers identified it as US-6, the Nav system had it as US-93, no one seemed to care about US-50.

The speed limit on the majority of the state and US routes in rural NV was 70, Idaho and Arizona was 65. Idaho has I-84 at 80, AZ and NV Interstates are limited to 75. Idaho does however restrict trucks to 70 on the interstate, I get it but I still think it is safer to have the same limits for cars and trucks, it eliminates a lot of passing and speed variation issues.

All in all it was a pretty nice trip. I could have done the entire 950 miles each way in a day but the wife wanted me to stop and rest so I followed orders, Wells NV on the way up and Kingman on the way back. That left only a 3 or 4 hour drive in the morning.

[US 89]

The speed limit on the majority of the state and US routes in rural NV was 70, Idaho and Arizona was 65. Idaho has I-84 at 80, AZ and NV Interstates are limited to 75. Idaho does however restrict trucks to 70 on the interstate, I get it but I still think it is safer to have the same limits for cars and trucks, it eliminates a lot of passing and speed variation issues.

Nevada does have some 80 mph Interstate limits, but they are a bit more conservative with where they post them compared to some other states. There's a lot of 75 mph mileage in Nevada that would easily be 80 in neighboring Idaho or Utah.

[Max Rockatansky]

US 93 is concurrent with I-515/US 95 in the Las Vegas-Henderson area.  I can second that US 93 between the Colorado River and Kingman is in atrocious shape given I was on it in June.

[N9JIG]

The speed limit on the majority of the state and US routes in rural NV was 70, Idaho and Arizona was 65. Idaho has I-84 at 80, AZ and NV Interstates are limited to 75. Idaho does however restrict trucks to 70 on the interstate, I get it but I still think it is safer to have the same limits for cars and trucks, it eliminates a lot of passing and speed variation issues.

Nevada does have some 80 mph Interstate limits, but they are a bit more conservative with where they post them compared to some other states. There's a lot of 75 mph mileage in Nevada that would easily be 80 in neighboring Idaho or Utah.

The only Interstate mileage I logged on this trip was in Vegas, I imagine I-80 up north is likely 80 MPH.

[US 89]

The speed limit on the majority of the state and US routes in rural NV was 70, Idaho and Arizona was 65. Idaho has I-84 at 80, AZ and NV Interstates are limited to 75. Idaho does however restrict trucks to 70 on the interstate, I get it but I still think it is safer to have the same limits for cars and trucks, it eliminates a lot of passing and speed variation issues.

Nevada does have some 80 mph Interstate limits, but they are a bit more conservative with where they post them compared to some other states. There's a lot of 75 mph mileage in Nevada that would easily be 80 in neighboring Idaho or Utah.

The only Interstate mileage I logged on this trip was in Vegas, I imagine I-80 up north is likely 80 MPH.

Parts of it are. Several sections you'd think would be 80 after spending a lot of time in ID or UT but are actually 75. I've never been on I-15 south of Mesquite myself but it doesn't surprise me that there are no 80 segments between 93 and Vegas.

[roadfro]

A couple notes: The road surfaces in Nevada north of I-15 are in much better condition than I recalled the last time I went thru there a couple decades ago, and much better than similar roads in CA, AZ or NM. US-93 in Clark County has been rebuilt in the last few years but even the others were in remarkably good shape, even in the higher elevations with freeze/thaw cycles. Even NV-375 was well maintained.

Nevada tends to be at the bottom of many "best of" lists, but road and bridge conditions isn't one of them. NDOT has managed its pavement preservation program pretty well. You were on US highways and first tier state highways for the most part, so these tend to get a bit more priority than some of the routes in the 700/800 ranges.

I did SR 375 about 10-12 years ago. IIRC, at the time, the pavement was older and had sealant cracks in many places, but it was still decent ride quality and perfectly fine for a route that has typically has an AADT of around 100.

For those who have the opportunity and time, stopping in Rachel at the "Little Ale-Inn" is an interesting diversion. The food is actually pretty good roadside diner fare, the burger was tasty! There is a gift shop that sells alien-themed shirts and stuff and some goofy decorations around the place. Other than that there is little else to indicate anything else to do there. It only added an hour and 50 miles to my trip so it was worth it to me. It isn't the kind of thing I would make a special trip out of but I was in the area.

I agree. The burger I had was surprisingly good also. Seems like the kind of place that would get a lot more business if it were in a more populated area less out of the way. The T-shirt I bought (alien themed with an ET highway sign) I still wear all these years later.

I debated taking NV-318/US-6 between Ely and Crystal Springs, it looks a little shorter but I wonder if some of the grades are more severe. I decided to just take US-93.

I haven't driven either yet, but SR 318 & US 6 is the way most people go because it is shorter–the difference is about 40 miles. NDOT has the SR 318 & US 6 routing between these two points on the National Highway System, and not mainline US 93.

I wouldn't expect severe grades going the other way, at least not along most of SR 318. SR 318 is the Silver State Classic Challenge Highway, and a significant chunk of it is closed a couple times a year to have open road speed races.

I noticed an almost total lack of route reassurance markers on US-6/50/93 out of Ely to the split OITMON. The mile markers identified it as US-6, the Nav system had it as US-93, no one seemed to care about US-50.

NDOT doesn't seem to do a whole lot of recurring reassurance signage in the rural areas. Typically after a junction with another major highway or leaving a town is it (and you don't always get it leaving a town).

NDOT mileposting always goes with the lowest numbered route on a concurrency, so US 6 gets more love on the multiplex from that perspective–the same with the US 6 & 95 multiplex west of Tonopah...which is interesting because virtually nobody is following US 6 for either multiplex.

The speed limit on the majority of the state and US routes in rural NV was 70, Idaho and Arizona was 65. Idaho has I-84 at 80, AZ and NV Interstates are limited to 75. Idaho does however restrict trucks to 70 on the interstate, I get it but I still think it is safer to have the same limits for cars and trucks, it eliminates a lot of passing and speed variation issues.

NDOT's highest speed limits is 70 on rural two-lane highways, common for the US routes and many (but not all) state routes. For rural interstates, the top is 75 in most cases, but I-80 does have some stretches of 80 in the central and eastern parts of the state (I don't think any of I-15 is marked higher than 75, and I-580 between Reno and Carson City I think is 70). NDOT did some speed studies back when state law was changed to allow 80 speed limits, and ended up not posting 80 mph in some of the more mountainous areas of I-80. I think they have since reevaluated the initial studies and extended some of the 80 zones, but there are some parts that NDOT is currently hesitant to post higher due to some of the grades, the higher mix of truck traffic and the resulting speed differentials. I think also there's a few parts of I-80 that NDOT is looking to build some climbing lanes, which could change things down the road.

[jdbx]

US 93 is concurrent with I-515/US 95 in the Las Vegas-Henderson area.  I can second that US 93 between the Colorado River and Kingman is in atrocious shape given I was on it in June.

I just traveled this stretch of US-93 between Las Vegas and Wickenburg on Tuesday, and I am in agreement:  the condition was appalling. Any distance traveled in the right lanes was miserable, and the insult added to injury of the remaining 2-lane stretches between Kingman and Wickenburg just made it more unpleasant. I was traveling mid-day on a Tuesday and the volume of traffic seemed like more than plenty to justify a 4-lane highway for the entire distance within Arizona.  To bring this back on-topic to Pacific Southwest, during my drive in to Las Vegas on Monday from California, I got to witness the epic southbound traffic jam firsthand at that lane drop, and it wasn't even a weekend. This was the first time I had driven I-15 to/from Vegas in about 20 years and the need for 6 lanes to Barstow was obvious. I can only imagine how much worse it is on a Sunday.