U.S. Route 491

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U.S. Route 491
Devil's Highway
Length:	193.930 mi[1] (312 km)
Formed:	2003 (1926 as US 666)[2]
South end:	I-40/NM 602 in Gallup, NM
Major junctions:	US 64 in Shiprock, NM US 160 in Cortez, CO
North end:	US 191 in Monticello, UT
United States Numbered Highways Spur of US 91 List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 491 (US 491) is a north-south United States highway. One of the newest additions to the U.S. Highway system, it was commissioned in 2003 as a renumbering of U.S. Route 666. With the 666 designation, this route was given the nickname "Devil's Highway" because of the common Christian belief that 666 is the Number of the Beast.^[2] This satanic connotation, combined with a high fatality rate along the New Mexico portion, convinced some people the highway was cursed. The problem was compounded with chronic sign theft. These factors lead to two efforts to renumber the highway, the first led by Arizona, the second by New Mexico. Since renumbering fatality rates on the highway have gone down, however, the renumbering was intentionally timed with the start of construction of major safety improvements to the highway.

The highway serves the Four Corners region of the United States. Portions of the highway are routed through sovereign Indian tribal nations, the Navajo Nation and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The highway passes an extinct volcanic core named Shiprock and serves the self proclaimed "pinto bean capital of the world".

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 New Mexico 1.2 Colorado 1.3 Utah 2 History 2.1 U.S. Route 666 2.2 Extensions into Arizona and Utah 2.3 Elimination and renumbering of US 666 2.4 Post renumbering 3 Depictions in media 4 Major intersections 5 See also 5.1 Related routes 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Route description

Major towns
Gallup, NM
Shiprock, NM
Cortez, CO
Dove Creek, CO
Monticello, UT

The route serves the states of New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Prior to 1992, the highway also entered Arizona. The Arizona portion was renumbered separately and is now part of U.S. Route 191.^[3] This made then-US 666 the only highway to have served all of the Four Corners states at the same time.^[4] However, the road does not come near the Four Corners Monument, which is accessed via U.S. Route 160. At several points along US 491 mountain ranges in all of the Four Corners states are visible from a single location. The alignment of the highway is mostly north-south, however the Utah portion is signed east-west.^[5]

[edit] New Mexico

U.S. Route 491 begins at Gallup, New Mexico at a junction with Interstate 40 and is currently routed north along Muñoz Drive.^[6] This is a re-route bypassing the downtown area. The original routing used 9th street and started at Historic Highway 66.^[7] US-491 leaves Gallup and passes north through the eastern half of the Navajo Nation.^[8] Along the way the road passes through many small communities, trading posts, and schools. The Navajo tribal capital at Window Rock, Arizona is just west of the highway corridor, accessed by State Road 264. The largest city served by US 491 in the Navajo Nation is Shiprock which takes its name from one of several extinct volcano cores visible from the road. Shiprock is also where the US 491 crosses the San Juan River and has a brief concurrency with U.S. Route 64. After passing Shiprock the route continues north to the Colorado state line. The New Mexico portion has been designated the John Pinto Highway by the New Mexico state legislature.^[9]

[edit] Colorado

The New Mexico–Colorado state line is also where the highway passes from the Navajo Nation to Ute Mountain Ute tribal lands. In Colorado US 491 proceeds diagonally to the northwest in the extreme southwestern corner of Colorado.^[10] The highway exits tribal lands near Cortez and Mesa Verde National Park. After leaving Cortez the road gradually gains elevation until reaching 7000 ft (2000 m). During the ascent US 491 passes through large Pinto bean farming regions, including Dove Creek which bills itself as the Pinto Bean Capital of the World.^[11] A portion of the highway in Colorado has been designated the Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway.^[12]

[edit] Utah

In Utah US 491 travels west to the farming town of Monticello at the base of the Abajo Mountains (Blue Mountains). Here the road terminates at the corner of Main and Central. The Utah section of US 491 is defined at Utah Code Annotated §72-4-137(11).^[5]

[edit] History

[edit] U.S. Route 666

The route was first commissioned in 1926 as U.S. Route 666. This number was appropriate per the numbering guidelines for U.S. Highways as the sixth spur along the highway's parent, U.S. Route 66, branching off at Gallup, New Mexico. The number was assigned by the governing body that co-ordinates the activities of the department of transportation for each state, currently known as the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials or AASHTO.^[2] At that time the northern terminus of the route was in Cortez, Colorado at an intersection with then U.S. Route 450 (modern U.S. Route 160). ^[13]

The route was given the nickname "The Devil's Highway", a reference to the Number of the Beast. This nickname and association made some people uncomfortable,^[14] as well as making the signs targets for theft.^[15] Because of the highway's number, accidents and other phenomena became repeated as legend. These legends convinced some people the highway was cursed.^[16] One unnamed highway patrol officer was quoted in USA Today as stating that a drunk-driving suspect told him that, "Triple 6 is evil. Everyone dies on that highway".^[2] Skeptics point out that the highway has a lower than average fatality rate in Utah and Colorado,^[17] only the New Mexico portion was statistically a dangerous highway.^[16] Skeptics further state the high fatality rate in New Mexico can be explained by an inadequate design for the traffic loads at the time. Several people suggested the highway improvements started at the same time as the renumbering would have done more to reduce fatalities than the renumbering itself.^[16]

[edit] Extensions into Arizona and Utah

By 1942, the southern terminus of the route was extended to Douglas, Arizona at the Mexican border.^[3] It was co-signed with U.S. Route 66 for 30 miles (48.3 km) before its turn south.^[2] The Arizona portion of the highway is known as the Coronado Trail Scenic Byway as it approximated the path of the Spanish explorer, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado.^[18] The Arizona portion is noted for hairpin turns and steep grades in mountainous terrain that reaches an altitude of over 9,000 feet (2,700 m). The curves force a speed limit of 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) in spots.^[2]

In 1970, several U.S. highways in the Four Corners region were re-aligned. As part of this change, US 160 was rerouted west of Cortez to serve the Four Corners Monument and enter Arizona instead of Utah. US 666 was extended up part of the old route of US 160 to Monticello, Utah, at an intersection with then U.S. Route 163 (now U.S. Route 191).^[19]

In 1985, the Utah Department of Transportation petitioned to extend US 666 northwest to Richfield, but the proposal was rejected. The proposed extension followed State Route 95, State Route 24, and State Route 119. A concurrency with US 191 would have been routed through Blanding and Monticello to connect to the rest of the route. One of the reasons cited for rejecting the proposal was that portions of SR 24 were not built to standards desired for additions to the U.S. Highway system.^[20]

[edit] Elimination and renumbering of US 666

In 1985, the U.S. Route 66 designation was eliminated, leaving US 666 (and others) as orphans. This fact would be used as a supporting factor in later petitions to renumber the highway. In 1992, the part in Arizona was renumbered as an extension of US 191. This truncated US 666 again at Gallup, New Mexico; now at Interstate 40.^[3]

The route in the other three states became U.S. Route 491 in 2003, mainly through efforts of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. He requested the change due to the "infamy brought by the inopportune naming of the road".^[2] Although sign theft has always been a problem along this highway, thefts reached epidemic proportions when the pending number change was announced. Within days of the announcement that US 666 would be renumbered, virtually every sign on the highway had been stolen, some for sale on eBay.^[21] Officials in Utah reported that five entire sign assemblies had been cut at the base with a chainsaw and stolen, while New Mexico officials reported that even signs welded to metal posts (to prevent thefts) had been stolen. New Mexico officials speculated from one scene that someone had intentionally crashed their car into the sign post to break the welds.^[15]

In New Mexico's motion to renumber the highway they selected U.S. Route 393. Since the route came nowhere near U.S. Route 93, AASHTO instead suggested US 491, noting it as a branch of US 191 at Monticello, Utah. Although the next 3-digit "child" of U.S. Route 91 would have been U.S. Route 291, both the 291 and 391 designations were already in use as state route numbers in at least one of the affected states. US 666 officially ceased to exist on 2003-05-31^[2] though temporary "New 491 – Old 666" signs were posted after the change to aid travelers until maps could be revised to show the new number.^[16] When a New Mexico spokesperson heard the news that the motion had passed, she stated "The devil's out of here, and we say goodbye and good riddance." Another spokesperson referring to the motion passing with a different number from what New Mexico requested stated, "As long as it's not 666 and it's nothing satanic, that's OK."^[2]

The dedication of the "new" highway was postponed until 2003-07-30, to coincide with the start of construction projects to improve safety on the highway.^[16][22] At the dedication George Blue Horse, a Navajo medicine man, performed a ceremony to remove the curse from the highway.^[22] In his blessing given in the Navajo language, he stated, "The road itself never ends. It goes on generation to generation. The new number is a good one. The new road will be a medicine." ^[16]

Multiple newspapers and television stations interviewed people along the route about their opinion on the changing of the highway's number. Even some people who believed in the 666 curse disagreed with the change. One went on record as stating highway officials "are messing with the wrong guy. They're making the devil mad. They should have left the 666 alone."^[22] Others were more sarcastic. One Monticello resident stated, "We'll really miss all the potheads stopping and taking pictures of the Route 666 sign."^[22] Most residents took pride in living along the Devil's Highway and opposed the change. Some commented that no matter the number they would still call the road the Devil's Highway.^[22]

[edit] Post renumbering

Since the renumbering in 2003, portions of US 491 in New Mexico have been upgraded to a four lane divided highway with grade separations at the busiest interchanges. With these upgrades fatality rates have gone down. The New Mexico Department of Transportation has noted that as sections are upgraded fatality rates improve on the four lane portions but remain high on the two lane portions. As construction has proceeded the most dangerous portions of the highway have moved to points where the four lane portion ends and traffic merges to two lanes. This has caused the department to coordinate the phases of the upgrades to minimize the number of two lane/four lane transitions.^[23] The final phase of the upgrade is scheduled for construction in 2008.^[9]

[edit] Depictions in media

The curse of US 666 is discussed in the book "Copper Crucible" by Jonathan D. Rosenblum. The book is about the Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983 which occurred at a copper mine along the highway near Morenci, Arizona.^[24] The highway was used as a plot element in the movies Route 666 and Natural Born Killers.^[2] The highway was also the basis for the Married With Children two-part episode "Route 666". None of these movies or television series used the highway corridor as a filming location.

[edit] Major intersections

Note:Utah Mileposts are reversed in this table to maintain continuity.

County	Location	Mile[6][25][26]	Junction	Notes
McKinley	Gallup	0.000	I-40 / NM 602 south – Albuquerque, Zuni, Flagstaff
		7.002	NM 264 – Window Rock
San Juan	Sheep Springs	47.25	NM 134 west – Crystal
	Shiprock	91.186	US 64 west – Teec Nos Pos
		92.038	US 64 east – Farmington
		107.308 (NM)/0.000 (CO)	Colorado/New Mexico state line
Montezuma		6.422	US 160 west – Four Corners
	Cortez	26.371	US 160 east – Durango
		36.801	SH 184 east – Dolores
		45.131	Hovenweep National Monument
Dolores		63.272	SH 141 north – Egnar, Uravan
		69.602 (CO)/17.020 (UT)	Utah/Colorado State Line
San Juan		0.675	Weigh station/Inspection station
	Monticello	0.000	US-191 – Moab, Blanding

[edit] See also

• British A666 road

[edit] Related routes

• U.S. Route 91
• U.S. Route 191
• U.S. Route 66
• U.S. Route 166
• U.S. Route 266
• U.S. Route 366
• U.S. Route 466
• U.S. Route 566

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Endpoints of U.S. highways - U.S. 491
• Arizona Roads by Alan Hamelton
• Colorado Highways by Matt Salek
• Utah Highways by Dan Stober

Browse numbered routes
< SR-320	UT		US-6 >
< SH 470	CO		US 550 >
< NM 485	NM		NM 494 >