Former State Routes in Arizona - State Route 93

State Route 93 was a state highway in Arizona that existed from 1946 to 1985. The route was cosigned with other highways along nearly all of its route from Kingman to the border at Nogales. State Route 93 was the original designation for the highway from Kingman to Wickenburg, which was built in 1946. At some point prior to 1964 the northern terminus of the state route was moved south to the unnamed desert junction with U.S. 89 just north of Wickenburg, and the southern terminus of U.S. 93 was moved route south to the U.S. 89 junction. At that junction a driver would pass from U.S. 93 onto State Route 93. When U.S. 89 was reduced to state highway status in the 1990s, U.S. 93's southern terminus was moved south a few miles to U.S. 60 in Wickenburg. For some unknown reason, the Arizona Highway Department either never sought, or was never granted, U.S. Highway status for Route 93 across the rest of the state.

At its original northern terminus in Kingman, Arizona 93 branched off of U.S. 66 (Andy Devine Avenue) at Louise Avenue, which is several miles east of where U.S. Route 93 and U.S. Route 466 branched northwest to Boulder City and Las Vegas. The old two-lane State Route 93 headed east, south of and parallel to the new alignment of Interstate 40 until it came to the new section of Route 93 built to connect with the new freeway at DW Ranch Rd. (I-40 exit 59). The old road turnoff from the current U.S. 93 alignment is still apparent 4.9 miles (7.9 km) south of the I-40/93 interchange.

From Wickenburg to the southeast, State Route 93 was co-signed with U.S. Route 60, U.S. Route 70 and U.S. Route 89 to Phoenix, via Grand Avenue. At Grand Avenue's terminus at Van Buren and Seventh avenues (Five Points), the quartet of highways picked up U.S. Route 80 from San Diego. The 93 emblem was at the bottom of the routes 60-70-80-89-93 totem pole for years (along with Business Loop 10 in the 1970s and '80s) for a short time ending in 1965) through Phoenix on Van Buren Street. The co-signing continued through Tempe on Mill Avenue and Apache Trail, and Mesa's Main Street (but without B-10, which went south from Phoenix on 48th Street to join the freeway at Broadway Road.).

At downtown Mesa's Country Club Drive, State Route 93 made a south turn and was co-signed with State Route 87. About five miles (8 km) south of Chandler, State Route 87 forked off to the southeast and State Route 93 had its own unshared road south about 30 miles (48 km) to Casa Grande. The middle section of this road was abandoned when it was overlapped by the adjacent Interstate 10 freeway in 1970. The old road continues a bit south of I-10's Casa Blanca Road interchange as a Gila Indian route, but dead ends at a new canal. The rest of the road to its former junction near the Interstate 10 interchange with State Route 587 is abandoned. You can see the old road from images on Google Earth or other satellite images. When State Route 93 was delisted, the road to Chandler from the south became State Route 587 to connect State Route 87 south of Chandler with Interstate 10 at Casa Blanca Road. The southern stub, from Interstate 10 to downtown Casa Grande, was posted State Route 387.

Southeast from Casa Grande, State Route 93 overlapped State Route 84 to Tucson. When the Interstate was built from Picacho to Tucson in 1961, State Route 84 was truncated at the Picacho traffic interchange (as was State Route 87 coming in from Coolidge, which to this day terminates there). State Route 84 now terminates in Casa Grande.

After 1962, State Route 93 remained cosigned with Interstate 10 from Picacho to Miracle Mile in Tucson, and then was cosigned with Business Loop 10 on Miracle Mile West (formerly State Route 84A, now the southern-most leg of State Route 77), and then cosigned again with U.S. 80 and U.S. Route 89 (and State Route 789, a strange little highway) down Oracle Road/Miracle Mile/Oracle Road to Drachman Street. (State Route 789 was delisted about 1966, U.S. 80 was truncated at Benson in about 1977.)

In Tucson, the highways zigged three blocks east on Drachman Street to Stone Avenue and then headed south to downtown Tucson. The creation of a one-way northbound Sixth Avenue in the late 1960s, paired with a one-way southbound Stone Avenue from the railroad tracks south to Tucson's Five Points at 17th Street and 6th Avenue, shifted the north and westbound highways to Sixth, and they jagged west on Drachman. This put all the northbound highways on what then and now are residential streets. This one-way couplet was being removed by Tucson engineers at this writing, March 2008.

From 17th Street, both directions of U.S. 80/89 and State Route 93/789 extended south on 6th Avenue through South Tucson to the old South Tucson interchange. This was Arizona's first cloverleaf, although the ramp curves were basically 50-foot (15 m) radius U-turns to the right onto a frontage road. It was streamlined into a diamond interchange by 1964. Old pictures exist of the signs marking U.S. 80 to the north on 6th Avenue and east on Benson Highway, State Route 84 to the west on the new bypass (which then and now was simply named "Freeway," with addresses for roadside motels given as 400 N. Freeway), and State Route 86 to the south (to Ajo Way, then west to Why) and east (to the Willcox cutoff), as well as U.S. 89 and State Route 93 going over the freeway on 6th Avenue.

South to Mexico, U.S. 89 and State Route 93 and 789 were co-signed to the Grand Avenue border gate in Nogales. Interstate 19 first appeared in a 5-mile (8.0 km) stub between Interstate 10 and Valencia Road in about 1963, and a one-mile (1.6 km) orphan in Green Valley at the same time. The 1960-era highway exists nearly unchanged from Tucson to Green Valley, east of the new Interstate 19 in Tubac and Amado, and in Nogales.