Due to obvious reasons I do not post on the Regional Boards (except for the occasional post in International Highways). However this time I do, since this topic is about a particular area of the USA, the Yellowstone National Park (okay, it touches a bit of Idaho which is Northwest, but that bit is unpopulated and most of Yellowstone is in Wyoming anyway). As we know there are no US routes officially defined inside Yellowstone, but some of us consider they have an implied routing through it. In this thread I attempt to do a history of implied US routes in Yellowstone, which may be fictional but as there is evidence for them I post here instead. Apologies if this has been done before, I couldn't find anything using the Search function.
1926: US routes first commissioned, three US routes serve Yellowstone: US 20, US 87W and US 191. Of these, only US 87W serves two entrances (North and South), so somehow has to traverse the park. Most likely its implied path through the park was North Entrance Rd from North Entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs, then the West side of the Grand Loop Rd to West Thumb and finally South Entrance Rd to South Entrance. US 20 and US 191 only served one entrance each (East and West respectively), so they likely had an implied end at implied US 87W. The path of US 20 would be East Entrance Rd from East Entrance to Lake Village, then Grand Loop Rd to West Thumb. US 191 would simply go on West Entrance Rd from West Yellowstone to Madison, ending at implied US 87W (Ironically this is again part of the implied route of US 191, but with directions reversed: What was then North is now South and vice-versa).
1934: US 191 is removed from Yellowstone and instead rerouted to Bozeman, so West Entrance Rd no longer is an implied part of a US route. That same year US 87W is replaced by an extended US 89 from Spanish Fork UT through the Park to Piegan MT at the Canadian border, with the same implied route. The rest of US 87W is replaced by the newly created US 287 (which continues on what was US 87 and US 285 to Fort Collins CO)... but that route is also extended to the South Entrance. US 287 would probably had an implied ending at West Thumb (the only junction with another implied US route at the time).
1938: US 14 is extended from Cody WY to the East Entrance. Its implied routing matches that of US 20 at the time.
1939: US 12 is extended from Miles City MT to the Northeast Entrance, which until then had not been served by a US route. US 12's implied continuation through the Park is Northeast Entrance Rd to Tower Junction, then Grand Loop Rd to Mammoth Hot Springs, ending at implied US 89.
1940: US 20 is extended out of Yellowstone to Albany OR. For the section to Madison two scenarios are seen:
- Simply extended on Grand Loop Rd
- Rerouted from Lake Village on Grand Loop Rd in the opposite direction to Canyon Village, then Norris-Canyon Rd to Norris and finally Grand Loop Rd again
From Madison it would continue on West Entrance Rd, which becomes an implied US route again after 6 years without being one, to West Yellowstone. At the same time it could be implied US 287 was extended from West Thumb to Madison on Grand Loop Rd, if US 20 is implied to be rerouted.
1959: US 312 is created to replace US 12 West of Forsyth MT to the Northeast Entrance. Its implied routing in Yellowstone is the same as US 12.
1961: US 212 is rerouted from Broadus MT to the Northeast Entrance, replacing US 312 West of Billings. Again, its implied routing in Yellowstone is the same as US 312.
1965: US 16 is extended from Worland WY to the East Entrance. Again, two scenarios can be seen.
- Same implied route as US 14, ending at implied US 89/US 287 at West Thumb
- This is the most fantastical theory. If US 20 is in Norris Canyon Rd, then US 16 could be implied as traveling up the only remaining road that wasn't an implied US route at the time, Grand Loop Rd between Canyon Village and Tower Jct, ending there at implied US 212.
Also in the same year US 287 is extended out of Yellowstone to Choteau MT. Thus, inside Yellowstone is impliedly extended on the same route as implied US 20.
1982: US 191 is again rerouted from West Yellowstone through the Park and all the way to Chambers AZ. It may have had an implied ending at Madison again (This time the Southern terminus, it was the Northern when first commissioned). Its implied route through the Park matches that of US 287. No changes have been made since then.
Any thoughts or corrections? Also, could this be my first moved topic?
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Topic: Implied history of implied US Routes through Yellowstone (Read 3603 times)