U.S. Route 191

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U.S. Route 191

Length:

1905 mi (3066 km)

Formed:

1926

South end:

AZ 80 in Douglas, AZ

Major
junctions:

I-10 in Willcox, AZ

I-40 in Sanders, AZ

I-70/ US 50 in Green River, UT

US 6 in Price, UT

I-80/ US 30 in Rock Springs, WY

US 26 in Jackson, WY

US 16/US 20 in Yellowstone Nat'l. Park

I-90 in Bozeman, MT

US 2 in Malta, MT

North end:

SK 4 at Canadian border near Loring, MT

United States Numbered Highways
Spur of US 91
U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 191 is a spur of U.S. Route 91 that has two branches. The northern branch currently runs for 440 miles (708 km) from Loring, Montana, at the Canadian border to the northern part of Yellowstone National Park. The southern branch currently runs for 1,465 miles (2,358 km) from the southern part of Yellowstone National Park to Douglas, Arizona, on the Mexican border. It passes through the states of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona.

1 Route description
2 History
3 See also

[edit] Route description

[edit] Arizona

US 191 in Arizona between between Springerville and Morenci was designated a National Scenic Byway and given the name of Coronado Trail Scenic Byway, as this approximates the path taken by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado between 1540 and 1542. This is a very dangerous mountain road with many sharp curves and little or no shoulders on steep cliffs. The highway is the primary route to access Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

[edit] Utah

US 191 north of Moab, Utah.

U.S. 191 enters Utah on Navajo Nation land and crosses mostly desolate parts of the state. The Largest cities served by U.S. 191 are Moab, Price and Vernal. The highway nears the 10,000 foot level in 2 places in Utah, over Indian Summit near Price and again while crossing the Uintah Mountains near Vernal. The highway leaves Utah at Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

In Utah U.S. 191 is used to access the following National Parks: Monument Valley, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Hovenweep National Monument, Natural Bridges National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park,Dinosaur National Monument and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

The Utah section of U.S. 191, with the exceptions of multiplexes with Interstate 70 and U.S. 6 and with U.S. 40, is defined at Utah Code Annotated § 72-4-125(1).[1]

[edit] Wyoming

In Wyoming U.S. 191 serves Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

[edit] Montana

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] History

The original route commissioned in 1926 ran from Idaho Falls, Idaho, to West Yellowstone, Montana. Its routing has drastically changed through the years having been extended and shortened several times. West Yellowstone is the only town that has always been served by the highway. At one time US 191 connected to its parent, US 91, twice: at Idaho Falls, Idaho and Brigham City, Utah; today they do not connect. US 191 is now ten times longer than its parent.

By the late 1970s the route was truncated to West Yellowstone and Malta, Montana. Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming lobbied AASHTO to create a single highway that would connect several national parks in the three states to facilitate tourism. It was decided to number this "new" highway an extension of US 191. Most of the southern extension recycled existing U.S. and state highways. However some new sections were constructed. Local and National Forest roads were upgraded to create a more direct route between Flaming Gorge Reservoir and Interstate 80 in Wyoming and a new route was constructed between Bluff, Utah and Mexican Water, Arizona. A section linking Vernal, Utah and Interstate 70 near Cisco, Utah was proposed but not built. By 1982 U.S. 191 reached Interstate 40 in Arizona.

In 1992, Arizona requested a new number for its portion of U.S. Route 666, arguing the road signs on this highway were the most frequently stolen in the state. As a result, US 191 was extended to the Mexican border at Douglas, Arizona. In 1999 it became the latest U.S. highway to run from border to border, with the extension from Malta, Montana to the Canadian border. In 2003 New Mexico asked AASHTO to renumber its portion of US 666. This time all of then US 666 was renumbered U.S. Route 491, the x91 number was decided becaues the road meets US 191 in Monticello, Utah.