US 191, Historic US 666 North - The Devil's Highway - Safford to Clifton & Morenci, AZ

Now that we've completed US 66 in California, lets go back to it's former child route: US 666! Today we traverse US 191 from Safford where we left off at the T- junction with US 70 - Safford's main thoroughfare - to it's split east of town, where US 70 heads further east to Lordsburg and US 191 turns north to reach Clifton. We also get to see the terminus of some of US 666's old routings, as well as US 70s and even US 180 before it.
US 191 gets it's nickname from it's predecessor: US 666. US 666 was originally a minor 135-mile highway running from Gallup, NM to Cortez, CO, established in 1926 with the initial signing of US Highways. It became the 6th child route of infamous US 66, which served as it's southern terminus in Gallup. It was given this number since all the odd-numbered (indicative of a N/S routing) child routes that would have fit in the system were taken.
US 666 saw it's first of two extensions in 1938, when it was extended south and west into Arizona, co-routing with it's parent to the town of Sanders, where it dipped south. This road remained dirt when it met and joined existing SR 61 to continue south to Saint Johns where SR 61 ended and US 666 met US 260. They continued south together, meeting with and joining US 60 itself just before Springerville. Just past Springerville, US 60 spilt off to head east into New Mexico while US 260 and US 666 continued to south to Alpine where US 260 split as well to head towards Silver City, NM. US 666 then followed the Coronado Trail, one of the most scenic and beautiful routes in western America.
It passed through Morenci and Clifton, ultimately coming to a T-junction with US 70 just east of Safford. From there, US 666 co-routed with US 70 into Safford, then split off to head south where it met SR 86 between Bowie and Wilcox. It again co-routed, this time with SR 86, to the town of Cochise. There, SR 86 split to head to Benson where it met with US 80 and US 666 continued on a slightly meandering path to end at then US 80 immediately west of Douglas.
The route from Springerville/Eager to Safford was originally SR 71, established in 1927. The segment from Safford to Douglas was originally SR 81, established the same year. In 1936, SR 71 was deleted and SR 81 was rerouted up to Springerville, ultimately extending along SR 61 to Sanders. Two years later this was transferred to US 666.
In the 1960s, as mining activity continued to expand at Morenci, Freeport McMoRan approached the state with an offer. Since the new mine extension would swallow the road, and ADOT had been wanting to realign US 666, they would set up a new temporary alignment by connecting a bunch of old mine roads to serve in the interim while the new road was built. This new alignment would have moved US 666 much further east, roughly following the San Francisco and Blue Rivers before cutting diagonally to met the current alignment near Milepost 195, just south of Four Bar Mesa. ADOT began construction on the 'first' 8 miles in 1968, most of which was just compressed dirt. Arizona ran into budgetary issues in the late 60s and 70s, plus the rough terrain of the new alignment made them go back to the drawing board. This caused a pause in construction that lasted until 1997 when the plan was finally dropped. This route took Zorrilla St to Frisco Ave (this presumably would've been changed as the project neared completion), Frisco Ave to the bridge over the San Francisco, where the dirt road picks up as San Francisco River Rd until its abrupt end.
Part of the original road through Morenci exists. Before the switch back from Clifton to Morenci, a road starts snaking up to the mine as an access road. This is old US 666, as pointed out in the video. This road was officially closed in 1972, given to the mining company.
In 1992 Arizona requested a new number for US 666 in the state, asking for it to become part of US 191 for continuity and partly because the signs were very commonly stolen. At this time, US 191 was relatively new to the state having just been extended 11 years prior from Yosemite National Park as part of making US 191 into a 'National Parks Highway'. It was brought south to Chambers, AZ where it ended at I-40. The proposal was to have it multiplex I-40 to Sanders, then replace US 666 from Sanders to Douglas. The request was approved and US 666 was dealt it's first blow. In 2003, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, asked for a similar change, proposing that US 666 be deleted in it's entirety in favor of US 491. This was approved as well, making US 666 the most recent decommissioned US highway in America.
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[@dannypipewrench533]

I did not know about the mine when I first went out there. That was a pleasant surprise.

[@dannypipewrench533]

1:36 I drove the whole way from Safford to Springerville. Yep, hard road, but great view. Actually, this video was posted about a year before I would do that trip.

[@ForgottenHwy]

I was planning to do the full drive to Springerville on this trip but between Tucson and Wilcox I noticed my engine temp was fluctuating which it had never really done before. I decided to pull over in Safford and found that my coolant overflow tank had broken and the only coolant I had was in the system. I knew it was going to be a long trip with no service so I packed about every tool known to man for replacing tires and basic parts so I was able to get it out. I called around to try and source a replacement (even as far as New Mexico!) but the only part I could find wasn’t guaranteed to work. Intuition told me to bring duct tape and that, surprisingly, held. After running to Walmart for water and coolant I made the trek to Morenci but the issue was still persisting as the car “burped” it’s cooling system. I decided not to risk it and called off the trip. I was already 2 hours or so behind schedule which would have gotten me in to Springerville past sunset. I planned this trip with very little room for error. I have become very particular about when I film, how I film, etc etc. There was a purpose for filming it as late in a year as possible before snow, to the point where I was studying snowfall maps for Springerville going back a decade to pinpoint the latest I could go. Just so happened the day I picked was exactly 2 days before a winter storm. There was a 30% chance of snow the night I would be leaving Springerville and 100% chance the following day. So there was no room in the schedule to move it a day. Luckily this repair held me until I got home. I took US 70 and 60 back to Phoenix to avoid the high speed traffic on I-10, and the system didn’t end up settling down until I reached Globe (the video I filmed for the Coolidge Dam was this same trip, when I pulled off to take pictures you could still hear the car burping itself). I wish I could have done the trip but I don’t regret my decision. I was planning to try again in 2020 but, well, COVID. In 2021 I went back to college and most likely won’t be able to go out again this year because of that. It’s still a bucket list trip for sure.

[@dannypipewrench533]

@@ForgottenHwy It truly is a beautiful drive. I did not know how treacherous it would be until I was on the road. I kind of just picked a number on a map, and thought, "Yeah, that will be a good trip." I was not wrong, but I should have done more research. I went in May of 2021. Nothing went wrong, but I really was not prepared for "special circumstances." Sure, all the basic stuff, like replacing a tire, but nothing like "what to do in case I have to back-up down one of the worst mountain roads in Arizona." It sounds like thou hast a dedication to quality, and that is important. Good videos are nice. I sometimes think about weird things regarding this road. What if I did the drive with manual transmission. I would hate to stall on that road. Or what about at night? Sure, the only reason to drive this road is the view, but what about at night? That just might be the most terrifying experience. And avoiding the snow is definitely a good idea. I would hate to be going up that road, with those turns, and then it starts snowing.