End of US highway 666

(Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical road atlases, much of the info on this page is based on the research of Robert Droz; click here to view his site.)

US 666 was an original 1926 route, at the time running from US 66 at Gallup NM to US 160 at Cortez CO. Despite its east/west number, it's always been a north/south route. If you have (or could obtain) a photo of current or historic signage at any of these places, please let me know! (The original south terminus in Gallup was not the same as the current terminus there; see map below.)

In 1938, the south end was extended west of Gallup, into Arizona along what is now I-40, and then south on the road that is now designated US 191, all the way to the Mexico border at Douglas. The photos below are from Jeff Jensen, 2002. This first one is looking south on US 191 at its junction with AZ hwy. 80 (which is historic US 80). Note the "End" sign.

Downtown Douglas is about a mile to the left; I don't have proof, but it's likely that US 666 was co-signed with US 80 that direction. Jeff reports that, if you turn that way today, you begin seeing signs for "Business US 191". These signs continue all the way to the border crossing, shown below.

That's looking south on Pan American Avenue at 5th Street. So - although it's a bit unconventional - it would appear that this is the south end of Business 191, and the former south end of US 666.

In 1970 the US 160 designation was changed to go southwest out of Cortez into Arizona (instead of northwest to Utah). At that time, the north end of US 666 was extended along former US 160 to end at US 191 in Monticello UT. The photo below is from Jeff Jensen, 2002.

At its north terminus US 666 does run east/west, so its number seems appropriate here, anyway. This is looking west on Center Street; US 191 is routed across the intersection at the light, Main Street. Those are the Abajo Mountains in the distance.

In 1992, Arizona removed the US 666 designation from their state, and replaced it with a southern extension of US 191. I think US 191 is a more appropriate number - and AZ probably has a lot fewer roadsign thefts now! This left a dangling segment of US 666 from Gallup to the AZ line, but by the end of the year NM had truncated the designation in their state to its current terminus in Gallup. Looking at most maps, you'd think that 666 would end at its interchange with I-40, and that the road south of that interchange is NM hwy. 602. However, the reality is that 666 ends where it technically should: at its junction with historic US 66 (which is now NM 118/Business Loop I-40).

(basemap courtesy of Dennis McClendon)

The original US 666 came into Gallup from the north on what is now NM 608 (9th Street). My guess is it was routed east on Maloney Avenue and then south to US 66 on 2nd Street. When the bypass (Munoz Drive) was built around Gallup, it was not possible to build an at-grade intersection of the new US 666 and old route 66 (because of the nearby river and railyards). Instead, the two highways connect via a couple side roads. The progression of photos below, courtesy of Alan Hamilton, tells the story nicely.

The shot above is looking east (towards downtown Gallup) on old US 66. The overpass is US 666, and you get to it by turning right here. So technically, the white pickup above has just reached the south end of US 666 (even though he's facing north). If the black car turns right, it will be on the south beginning of US 666. After turning right, the driver would see the sign shown below.

The "To" sign is a mistake. Turning to the left (east) from here, we reach the actual intersection with the bypass, shown below. US 666 goes left, over old US 66, and north to Shiprock.

After turning north, we see the sign below. In case you can't make it out, straight ahead is westbound I-40 (Flagstaff) and northbound US 666 (Shiprock). The sign pointing right is for eastbound I-40 to Gallup and Grants.

The backside of the sign above is shown in the photo below.

A right turn puts you on the connector to old US 66/BL I-40. It should be a US 666 marker pointing right - or else it should say "To BL I-40". But all you can count on when traveling NM highways is inconsistency.