Everything about United States Highway 91 totally explained
|direction_a=South
|direction_b=North
|from=
I-15/
I-84/BUS I-15/BUS I-84 at
Brigham City, UT
|junction=
US 89 at
Logan, UT US 30 at
McCammon, ID I-86 at
Pocatello, ID
|to=
BUS I-15/
U.S. 26 at
Idaho Falls, ID
}}
U.S. Route 91 is a north-south
United States highway. The highway currently serves as a connection between the
Cache Valley area of Utah and Idaho to the
Salt Lake and
Pocatello population centers. Prior the mid-1970s, U.S. 91 was a long haul route from
Long Beach, California to the
Canadian border north of
Sweetgrass, Montana. The route has been largely replaced by
Interstate 15.
Idaho
U.S. 91 continues serving the Idaho portion of the Cache Valley with
Preston as the largest city. The highway passes by the
Bear River Massacre Site, a
National Historic Landmark, near
Preston. The U.S. 91 corridor in Cache Valley Idaho was the primary filming location for the movie
Napoleon Dynamite.
After leaving Cache Valley, the highway then crosses back to rejoin the path of Interstate 15. The remainder of the route is only a short distance from the freeway. U.S. 91 eventually becomes Yellowstone Avenue in
Pocatello, but rejoins the I-15 corridor after leaving Pocatello.
History
At its peak, from 1947 to 1965, U.S. 91 extended from the
Pacific Ocean at
Long Beach, California to
Coutts, Alberta. North of
Riverside, California, U.S. 91 mostly paralleled modern I-15. There are some parts where U.S. 91/I-15 had divergent paths. The first is from
Littlefield, Arizona to
Saint George, Utah where the two routes took different paths through the
Arizona Strip. The second is the surviving portion of U.S. 91 from Brigham City to Downey, where Interstate 15 follows an old route of
U.S. Route 191.
Utah first submitted a petition to
AASHTO to have the U.S. 91 designation truncated in 1971. This petition was approved on
June 21,
1971. However, the state didn't take action until 1974. Utah officials co-ordinated a second petition with the transportation departments of California, Nevada and Arizona. In this unified petition officials in Utah proposed the number changeover take place in 1974. Nevada requested postponing the deletion of U.S. 91 as Nevada expected to complete the last piece of
I-15 in 1975. Nevada officials suggested
U.S. Route 40 be similarly truncated, as this highway largely duplicated
Interstate 80 in the same states. Despite Nevada's request, the petition was submitted and approved in 1974.
Retracing the path of historic U.S. Route 91 is possible but difficult. In most cities the route of U.S. 91 is still in use as a local street or highway. In many rural areas, I-15 was literally built on top of the former U.S. 91.
The highway passed through the following states:
California (until 1974)
Nevada (until 1974)
Arizona (10 miles (16 km) in the Arizona Strip, until 1974)
Utah
Idaho
Montana (until 1980)
California
U.S. 91's original southern terminus was at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue (historically SR 15) and East Pacific Coast Highway (SR 1) in Long Beach. This intersection also marked the historic western terminus of US 6, which proceeded west from that intersection. East of the intersection, U.S. 91 proceeded east along East Pacific Coast Highway to Los Alamitos Circle.
The portions in California were replaced with:
State Route 1 (from Lakewood Blvd to the center of Long Beach)
State Route 19 (Lakewood Blvd),
State Route 214 (deleted --Lincoln Avenue in Orange County and Carson Blvd in Los Angeles County)
State Route 91
Interstate 215
Interstate 15
Nevada
The route of U.S. 91 in Nevada was replaced with I-15.
In Las Vegas U.S. 91 was better known as Las Vegas Boulevard (NV 604). The intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street is the historic intersection with U.S. 93 and U.S. 95. Here, U.S. 466 left U.S. 91 and headed south on Fremont Street with U.S. 93 and 95. At this intersection, U.S. 93 and 95 left Fremont Street and turned north onto Las Vegas Boulevard, heading north with U.S. 91. One block further up, at Bonanza Road, U.S. 95 turned west until it hit Rancho Drive, then continued north. U.S. 91/93 stayed aligned with Las Vegas Boulevard.
Leaving Las Vegas, U.S. 91 followed I-15 to exit 112 (NV 170) to Mesquite (NV 144) and then to Hillside Drive into Arizona, where the road became Fairview Avenue.
Arizona
U.S. 91 entered Arizona from Nevada on Fairview Avenue and followed it northeast to Littlefield. Once Fairview Avenue crosses I-15, it became Cane Beds Road through downtown Beaver Dam and into Utah, where the road continued as Old Highway 91.
Utah
From the State Line to Saint George U.S. 91 followed a semi-circular route that's now simply called Old Highway 91. Old Highway 91 continues to Santa Clara and what is now UT 18 to St. George.
From St. George to Springville U.S. 91 is in the shadows of I-15. At places the old pavement is visible off to the side of the freeway; at others I-15 was paved over the old U.S. 91.
U.S. 91 first joined U.S. Route 89 in Springville at one of the oldest grade-separated interchanges in Utah (this portion is now Utah State Route 51).
Montana
In Montana the highway's alignment slightly changed with the construction of the Clark Canyon State Recreation Area. In Dillon the former route of the highway is now known as Atlantic Street and Montana Street.. North of Dillon I-15 was built on a new alignment. The highway formerly joined with U.S. Route 10 in Butte and formed the main street of Boulder. The highway was routed through Helena along what is now Montana Secondary Highway 518 and Montana Secondary Highway 229.
Major intersections
Further Information
Get more info on 'United States Highway 91'.
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