US 70 end-to-end, day 15
Alan Hamilton
9/7/2000
Sorry for the long delay in posting this. While on the trip, I had
nothing else to do in the evenings. Back at home, though, I had a ton
of things to catch up on.
For those that asked, I didn't do any reports for 9/2 through 9/4
because I was staying with friends over the labor day weekend, and not
travelling.
I forgot to mention that in western Texas and eastern New Mexico there
are ranch driveways that connect directly to I-40, without an
interchange. The Texas ones are not marked, but New Mexico does have
a "Driveways Ahead" and T-intersection signs. The T signs are marked
"TEMPORARY", but they look fairly old.
The traffic wasn't bad through Albuquerque's "Big I" construction
project at I-40 and I-25.
At the Arizona line, I checked out Arizona's one and only Welcome
Center. They give out free maps, but they aren't much to talk about.
These are prepared by an ad agency for the Department of Tourism, not
by ADOT or Arizona Highways. ADOT used to produce a map, but that was
eliminated in budget cuts in the 80s.
Indian Route 12 has a shield on the big green signs at exit 357, which
I believe is the only such one in Arizona.
The only other thing to note for today was that I stopped to explore
Canyon Diablo a bit. Between Winslow and Flagstaff, the mesa is cut
by the narrow but steep canyon. This caused a lot of problems for
wagon trains in the 19th century. A bridge for US 66 was built in the
30s, which was bypassed by another in 1964. This became the westbound
bridge for I-40, with an eastbound bridge being built in 1975. Along
the old route of US 66 here there are several abandoned tourist traps,
including an old stone building proclaiming "MOUNTAIN LIONS". The
area (including the old US 66 bridge) is fenced in and posted with "No
trespassing" signs. Unfortunately, so close to the interstate,
illegal dumping and vandalism is a problem. On the north side of the
interstate at the Two Guns exit, there's a big illegal tire dump.
A dirt trail goes several miles north to the BNSF rail crossing at
Canyon Diablo. I'm not sure when it was originally bridged. The
original bridge is gone, leaving just a few footings. The current
crossing is a two-track bridge. Long ago this was a train stop, and
there are still the shells of a few stone buildings here.
From there, I drove pretty much straight through to I-17 and down to
Phoenix, just stopping in Camp Verde for dinner.
Whew. It was a long drive, but I certainly did enjoy myself. The
only problems I had were the overeager deputy in Howard Count, AR, the
terrible traffic in North Carolina, and the flat in Tucumcari, NM.
Everything else went very smoothly.
Today I drove 633 miles, for a grand total of 5668 miles.
--
/
/ * / Alan Hamilton
* * al...@primenet.com
--
/
/ * / Alan Hamilton
* * al...@primenet.com
Arizona Roads -- http://www.arizonaroads.com
No ads, popups or watermarks ever
John David Galt
> At the Arizona line, I checked out Arizona's one and only Welcome
> Center. They give out free maps, but they aren't much to talk about.
I believe there is one near Lake Havasu as well.
Eric
been there at least 15 years. I remember seeing it when we drove to Phoenix
from Kansas City in the mid 80's. I'd guess that US 66 used to connect to
that driveway maybe 20 or 25 years ago. If I recall correctly they were
still building I-40 near Albuquerque at that time. So the sign is probably
that age.
Maybe at one time the state considered extending the frontage road past Rio
Puerco and posted the TEMPORARY DRIVEWAY sign until that work was done.
Since then there may have been little interest in building the road
I didn't notice the driveways in Texas but I wasn't really looking for them
and unmarked I'd easily miss them. This particular one near Albuquerque may
be marked because it is pretty close to town, just pass Rio Puerco.
-Eric
"Alan Hamilton" <al...@primenet.com> wrote in message
news:8q3uks$25v$1...@nnrp1.phx.gblx.net...
> US 70, Day 15: Santa Rosa, NM - Phoenix, AZ
> 9/7/2000
>
> Sorry for the long delay in posting this. While on the trip, I had
> nothing else to do in the evenings. Back at home, though, I had a ton
> of things to catch up on.
>
> For those that asked, I didn't do any reports for 9/2 through 9/4
> because I was staying with friends over the labor day weekend, and not
> travelling.
>
> I forgot to mention that in western Texas and eastern New Mexico there
> are ranch driveways that connect directly to I-40, without an
> interchange. The Texas ones are not marked, but New Mexico does have
> a "Driveways Ahead" and T-intersection signs. The T signs are marked
> "TEMPORARY", but they look fairly old.
>
> The traffic wasn't bad through Albuquerque's "Big I" construction
> project at I-40 and I-25.
>
> At the Arizona line, I checked out Arizona's one and only Welcome
> Center. They give out free maps, but they aren't much to talk about.