Historic US Highway ends
in Cortez, CO

I shot the photos below in July 2004; this first one is heading west on US 160:

Originally that would've been west on US 450. The direct highway route between Cortez and Dove Creek (today's US 491) hadn't yet been built, so westbound US 450 continued by turning right here, on what is now CO hwy. 145. It skirted the town of Dolores and then followed a stairstep path over to Dove Creek. So straight ahead was the original north beginning of US 666, which went through downtown Cortez and then down to Shiprock NM. The shot below is from the opposite direction (east on US 160):

This would've been northbound US 666, and the intersection ahead (where the RV is) was where the route terminated. Eastbound US 450 was straight ahead, and westbound was to the left on today's CO 145. One more view - this is looking south on CO 145:

Originally that was eastbound US 450, which continued to the left at the light. To the right was the north beginning of US 666. You can see the North Rim of Mesa Verde in the background.

By 1934, US 450 had been replaced by US 160, but back then 160 still went northwest out of Cortez (through Dove Creek), instead of southwest (as it does today). Then in about 1938, today's more direct route between Cortez and Dove Creek was built. So the north end of US 666 shifted about two miles west, to the three-way junction just west of downtown Cortez. This first shot is looking north on US 491/east on US 160:

This used to be the north end of US 666. The gentle curve to the right was eastbound US 160, and the left turn led to westbound US 160. The signage in the median is shown close-up below...

...but here's what it looked like before US 666 was renumbered:

That's courtesy of Oscar Voss, 1998.

Now: also in 1938 (coincidentally), the US 84 designation was extended westward through New Mexico. For just a few years, it was co-signed with US 666 north from Shiprock, and it ended here at the same junction (CDoT maps between 1939-1941 show this). And then,1966 was the year that the highway through the Navajo Reservation in northeast Arizona (today's US 160) was commissioned as a US route. It was originally assigned as US 164, and it ran from Flagstaff to Cortez. So this junction also marked the east end of US 164 from 1966-1970.

Below we're looking the opposite direction (south on US 491):

Ahead, eastbound US 160 is directed to the left on Pinon Drive, but straight ahead at various times has been the north beginning of US 666, the west beginning of US 84, and the east beginning of US 164. The signage at the turn is shown close-up below:

Although that's signed as US 160, it's technically "Spur US 491". I found Pinon to be a strange road: it keeps bending further east, but at Linden Street it turns back due south to a stop sign at Main Street (US 160). There I observed no guide signage whatsoever for US 160 traffic. And I'm surprised it was just a stop sign instead of a stop light: traffic on Main can be really heavy, especially during tourist season (the entrance to Mesa Verde is just 10 miles up the road). The photo below is looking west on Main, approaching Linden:

Pinon (to the right) is actually "Spur 491"; it connects with mainline 491 after about three blocks. It's one-way from here to Linden; traffic coming the opposite direction stays on Linden, which is the intersection behind the pedestrian sign. But it used to be US 160 that went right - straight ahead (and then bending to the left) was the west beginning of US 84 from 1938-1940, the north beginning of US 666 from 1938 to 1970, and the east beginning of US 164 from 1966 to 1970.

US 84 was out of Cortez by about 1940. In 1970, US 160 was redefined to follow its current route southwest out of Cortez and through the Navajo lands. That eliminated the need for US 164. US 666 was then extended northward out of Cortez along the former route of US 160, so since then no US routes terminate in Cortez. US 666 was renumbered to US 491 in 2003.