Highway in Arizona and Utah
This article is about the current US 163. For the road designated as US 163 in the 1930s, see
Iowa Highway 163
.
U.S. Route 163
(also
U.S. Highway 163
,
US 163
) is a 64-mile (103 km)
U.S. Highway
that runs from
US 160
northward to
US 191
in the
U.S. states
of
Arizona
and
Utah
. The southernmost 44 miles (71 km) of its length are within the
Navajo Nation
. The highway forms part of the
Trail of the Ancients
, a
National Scenic Byway
. The highway cuts through the heart of
Monument Valley
and has been featured in numerous movies and commercials.
The highway was designated in 1970, replacing
Arizona State Route 464
and
Utah State Route 47
as well as a portion of the old alignment of
US 160
in Utah. In 1981,
US 191
was routed over the northern section of US 163, effectively truncating the northern terminus to
Bluff, Utah
, from Crescent Junction. The state of Utah briefly had plans for a different routing of US 163 north of Bluff. These plans were rejected, resulting in discrepancies between the signed route and the official designation by the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
that were not resolved until 2008. The route number does not follow the numbering convention for U.S. Highways, as the number 163 would normally be used for a spur of
US 63
;
[4]
however, these two highways have never connected.
Route description
[
edit
]
Arizona
[
edit
]
The southern terminus of US 163 is at a junction with
US 160
south of
Kayenta
in
Navajo County
and
Navajo Nation
. The road continues to the south of this junction as
Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) Route 591. US 163 heads north from US 160 to the west of the
Kayenta Airport
as it passes through the town of
Kayenta
. The highway curves toward the northeast in Kayenta before it curves back toward the north. As it continues north, the highway goes through an
s-curve
, resulting in a northeasterly heading. US 163 continues this heading as it heads toward
Monument Valley
and crosses into Utah.
[5]
The state of Arizona has designated an 18-mile (29 km) stretch of the highway, from approximately 5 miles (8 km) north of the US 160 junction to the Utah border, as a scenic route.
[6]
Utah
[
edit
]
The Utah portion of the highway begins in Monument Valley, in
San Juan County
. Just after it enters Utah, the highway junctions with the Monument Valley Visitors center. The highway proceeds northeast until the town of
Mexican Hat
where the highway both crosses the
San Juan River
and exits the
Navajo Nation
. From Mexican Hat, the highway travels east crossing the
Comb Ridge
toward its terminus in
Bluff
. A significant portion of the Utah portion of the route north of the Navajo Nation is inside the boundaries of the
Bears Ears National Monument
. Formerly, the route continued along what is now signed
US 191
to
I-70
, however the portion north of Bluff was not signed after the creation of US 191 and was formally removed in 2008.
[2]
[7]
[8]
The length of US 163 in Utah has been designated the Bluff to Monument Valley
Scenic Byway
by the
Utah State Legislature
[9]
and forms part of the Trail of the Ancients
National Scenic Byway
.
[10]
All highways in Utah are codified in law; US 163 is defined at Utah Code §72-4-122(3).
[11]
While Monument Valley and US 163 have been featured in numerous
western movies
, a specific view area near Utah mile marker 13 has recently been given the nickname
Forrest Gump hill
, as a location from the movie
Forrest Gump
. It has become common for fans of the film to re-create the scene where the title character ends a cross country jogging along this point on US 163.
[12]
History
[
edit
]
The modern routing of US 163 in Utah was initially designated as State Route 47, in 1910. SR 47 extended to
Monticello
at a junction with then
U.S. Route 160
.
[13]
In Arizona, the road appeared on maps as early as 1935, but it was an unimproved dirt road.
[14]
The Arizona portion was added to the state highway system in 1960 when it was designated as State Route 464.
[15]
In 1970, US 163 was designated along SR 464 in Arizona and SR 47 in Utah as part of a re-alignment of U.S. highways in the
Four Corners
region.
[3]
With the re-alignment, US 160 was re-routed into Arizona instead of Utah.
[16]
US 163 also absorbed the former route of US 160 to its former terminus at
Interstate 70
at Crescent Junction. In 1981,
AASHTO
approved a new iteration of
U.S. Route 191
that absorbed much of the alignment of US 163.
[17]
Utah truncated US 163 at
Bluff
. The truncation was made without approval from AASHTO, as the AASHTO logs placed the northern terminus of US 163 at I-70 at Crescent Junction.
[17]
The state of Utah signed a joint intent with the
Navajo Nation
and
San Juan County
in 1986 to construct a new highway to connect
Bluff
with
Montezuma Creek
. Businesses in Monument Valley asked the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to request extensions of US 163 and
US 666
using this new road.
[18]
The proposal would have US 163 run from
Cedar City
to
US 160
near
Cortez, Colorado
along the routes of
State Route 14
,
U.S. Route 89
,
Arizona State Route 98
,
U.S. Route 160
, the current US 163, the new road from Bluff to Montezuma Creek, and
Colorado State Highway 41
. The proposal for US 666 would extend to
Richfield
via upgrades to
State Route 95
and
State Route 24
.
[18]
UDOT submitted the proposal for US 666 to AASHTO, which was rejected. AASHTO cited that the route was not direct, and SR-24 was not built to U.S. Highway standards.
[18]
UDOT did not pursue the extension of US 163, even though the Utah state legislature had approved the new road from Bluff to Montezuma creek as route 163.
[17]
With this extension, the Utah definition of US 163 conflicted with the AASHTO definition. UDOT resolved this discrepancy by signing the extended portion as State Route 163. In 2004, the plan to extend US 163 was abandoned, and the extension was renumbered
SR-162
to "make the state route numbers run synonymous with the U.S. route designation."
[17]
Although the state changed the definition of US 163 back to match the national definition in 2004, the portion north of Bluff remained unsigned.
[17]
[19]
In October 2008, UDOT requested and obtained approval to truncate US 163 to the junction with US 191 resolving the discrepancy.
[7]
The highway corridor became controversial in 2016 with the designation of
Bears Ears National Monument
. The area near where US 163 crosses the
Comb Ridge
was included in some versions of the monument proposal, but excluded as a concession to local concerns in other versions. The proclamation signed by
President Obama
in 2016 did not include the Comb Ridge area,
[20]
however, was included with subsequent boundary changes by succeeding presidents.
[21]
Junction list
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Arizona Department of Transportation
.
"2006 ADOT Highway Log"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on June 25, 2008
. Retrieved
April 30,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Highway Reference Online - US-163"
.
maps.udot.utah.gov
.
Utah Department of Transportation
. Retrieved
February 3,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
"Arizona DOT Right-of-Way Resolutions"
. Arizona Department of Transportation
. Retrieved
March 30,
2008
.
- ^
"FreightWaves Classics: National Highway System helps commerce move from coast-to-coast"
. Freightwaves Inc. February 23, 2021
. Retrieved
June 18,
2021
.
- ^
Google
(April 30, 2008).
"overview map of US 163 in Arizona"
(Map).
Google Maps
. Google
. Retrieved
April 30,
2008
.
- ^
Arizona Department of Transportation
.
"ADOT Right-of-Way Resolution 1996-06-A-031"
. Retrieved
May 1,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering (October 17, 2008).
"Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering Meeting Minutes"
(Report). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Archived from
the original
(DOC)
on October 16, 2017
. Retrieved
October 30,
2008
.
- ^
"US Route 163 Utah- Application for truncation"
.
AASHTO
. 2008
. Retrieved
April 10,
2023
.
- ^
"Utah Office of Tourism"
. Retrieved
August 29,
2007
.
- ^
"Trail of the Ancients"
.
U.S. Department of Transportation
National Scenic Byway program
. Retrieved
November 21,
2007
.
- ^
"Utah Code Annotated § 72-4-122(3)"
. State of Utah. Archived from
the original
on July 11, 2008
. Retrieved
March 20,
2008
.
- ^
MacArthur, Ron (October 17, 2019).
"A must see: Forrest Gump's famous scene in Monument Valley"
.
Cape Gazette
. Retrieved
April 10,
2023
.
- ^
"State Road Resolutions SR-47.pdf"
.
Utah Department of Transportation
. Retrieved
February 7,
2008
.
- ^
Road Map of Arizona
(Map). Arizona State Highway Department. 1935
. Retrieved
May 1,
2008
.
- ^
Arizona Department of Transportation
.
"ADOT Right-of-Way Resolution 1961-041"
. Retrieved
April 30,
2008
.
- ^
Rookhuyzen, David (January 20, 2020).
"Highway History: From Navajo Route 1 to US 160"
. Arizona Department of Transportation
. Retrieved
January 25,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"State Road Resolutions SR-163.pdf"
.
Utah Department of Transportation
. Retrieved
February 7,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
"State Road Resolutions SR-666.pdf"
.
Utah Department of Transportation
. Retrieved
February 7,
2008
.
- ^
Dale Sanderson.
"Images of current and historical signs at junction of US 163, US 191, US 6, US 50 and I-70 at Crescent Junction"
. Archived from
the original
on November 22, 2010
. Retrieved
May 1,
2008
.
- ^
Thompson, Jonathan (December 29, 2016).
"Bears Ears a go ? but here's where Obama drew the line: The designation's concessions are unlikely to appease ardent opponents"
.
High Country News
. Paonia, Colorado: Paul Larmer
. Retrieved
December 30,
2016
.
- ^
"A Proclamation on Bears Ears National Monument"
.
The White House
. October 8, 2021
. Retrieved
October 21,
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]
KML is from Wikidata
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Routes in
italics
are no longer a part of the system. Highlighted routes are considered main routes of the system.
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