History
US 60 was extended into Arizona in 1932, from its original western terminus at US 66 in Springfield, MO. US 60 through Arizona has had far fewer major changes than some other U.S. routes, but one notable example is being replaced by Interstate 10 between Los Angeles, CA and the highway's current terminus near Quartzsite. US 60 is now the only US Route to serve Phoenix. US 70 (decom. 1969), US 80 (decom. 1977) & US 89 (decom. 1992) have all been truncated outside of Phoenix. The only other major change was being realigned from an "In-Town" route along city arterials through Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix to the old SR 360 alignment a few miles south and merging with I-10 and I-17 into Downtown Phoenix.
In 1949, the Pinto Creek Bridge won an Annual Award of Merit for being the "most beautiful steel bridge", given by the American Institute of Steel Construction.
In 1952, the Claypool Tunnel was bypassed by the Queen Creek Tunnel, upgrading from a simple 'hole in the rock' type tunnel to a more modern tunnel.
In recent years, Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has been working to widen and improve US 60 through the Metropolitan Phoenix Area, as it is one of the area's principal freeways. Along the Superstition Freeway segment in the East Valley between I-10 and Loop 202, ADOT has completed its project of adding additional general purpose lanes (6 total plus an HOV in each direction), adding auxiliary lanes between exits, improving sound barriers, replacing signs, improving lighting conditions, adding rubberized asphalt to reduce noise, adding variable message signs, installing cameras, and adding traffic sensors.
Along the Grand Avenue segment in Phoenix, ADOT has been widening portions of Grand Avenue in addition to constructing additional overpasses and underpasses at six former six-way intersections to improve traffic flow along US 60 in the Northwest Valley. ADOT is currently in the study phase of adding additional lanes between Loop 101 and Loop 303 in the far West Valley.
The portion of old US 60 in Mesa between Sossaman Road and Meridian Drive is known as unsigned U.S. Route 60x by ADOT.
Read more about this topic: Grand Avenue (Phoenix)
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