U.S. ROUTE 80

'U.S. Route 80' is an east-west United States highway. As the "0" in the route number indicates, it was originally a cross-country route, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. However, the entire segment west of Dallas, Texas, has been decommissioned in favor of various Interstate highways and state highways.

Contents

Termini

Original route

California

Arizona

New Mexico

Texas

Legal Definition

Historical significance

Cities traversed

Related U.S. Routes

See also

References

External links

Termini

As of 2006, the highway's eastern terminus is in Tybee Island, Georgia at the Atlantic Ocean. Its western terminus is at the border of Dallas and Mesquite, Texas at an intersection with Interstate 30^[2]

Original route

California

US 80 originally had its western terminus in San Diego, California. It was decommissioned in 1964 when Interstate 8 through San Diego and Imperial Counties was completed. US 80 crossed into California after passing over the 1914 Ocean to Ocean Highway Bridge in Yuma, Arizona. After passing through Winterhaven, US 80 traveled through the Colorado Desert and the Algodones Dunes until it reached the former shoreline of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla. The path through the dunes replaced the Old Plank Road originally built in 1915. 80 then passed into the farmland of the Imperial Valley at Holtville. US 80 traveled parallel to the Holton Interurban Railway into El Centro. From this point to Ocotillo, the road has now been designated Imperial County Route S80, and carries the name ''Evan Hewes Highway''. In El Centro, the original alignment went right through the middle of town on Main Street, but this was later bypassed in favor of a route along 4th Street and Adams Avenue. The old road then passed through Seeley, the gypsum plant at Plaster City, and into Coyote Wells near present day Ocotillo. From Coyote Wells, US 80 ascended the In-Ko-Pah Gorge to Jacumba near the Mexican border. Old 1917 period concrete sections of highway can be seen in and around Jacumba. US 80 became a mountain highway as it entered the Jacumba and Laguna Mountains, and passed through the towns of Bankhead Springs, Boulevard, Live Oak Springs, La Posta, Pine Valley, Guatay, and Descanso Junction. More old sections of roadway are found east of Boulevard, west of Guatay, and on the long Wildwood Glen section west of Descanso Junction. Old US 80 is cut by the Interstate here but resumes soon afterwards and passes through the Viejas Indian Reservation. The highway traveled through Alpine on more than one path, passed through Flinn Springs and along the main streets of El Cajon, La Mesa, and the former town of East San Diego. Once in San Diego, US 80 had multiple alignments into the downtown area. These included: University Ave to Hillcrest and down 4th/5th Ave to Horton Plaza; a later alignment down Park Blvd to Broadway (US 101); then El Cajon Blvd to Park Blvd and a terminus at Market Street (US 101); an extension to the new routing of US 101 on Harbor Blvd; a new connection from El Cajon Blvd along Washington Street to the Cabrillo Freeway (current California 163) and into downtown; and finally a routing down the Alvarado Freeway (current Interstate 8) to end at the US 101 freeway that is now Interstate 5.

Arizona

Starts at the Colorado River crossing on the Coast-to-Coast Highway bridge, near Yuma. East of Yuma, the old route splits off Interstate 8 and parallels it to Gila Bend, it then heads to the north, crossing the Gila River near Gilpsie Dam, and heads east through towns of Buckeye, Goodyear and Avondale before reaching the city ofPhoenix. The currently historic alignment is present day Buckeye Rd or MC 85. It heads north on 17th Ave to Van Buren St. After passing through downtown Phoenix, it then heads east on Van Buren to Tempe, along Mill Ave to Apache Blvd. After passing through 'Tempe, Arizona', it continues heading east into Mesa and Apache Junction on Apache Trail. East of Apache Junction it travels on current U.S. Route 60 to Florence Junction. It turns south at the junction to Florence and continues south to Oracle Jct, north of Tucson. This stretch coincides Interstate 10, which it intersects in Tucson. East of Tucson at Benson, it cuts south and travels through Tombstone, Bisbee, and Douglas. At Douglas, which is on the Mexican border, it cuts northeast towards the New Mexico border.
In Tucson there are over 85 extant Historic Motels along the original route 80 alignment. A historic inventory is currently underway to determine National Register eligibility for these properties.

New Mexico

East of Douglas, Arizona, old US-80 almost heads due north to Interstate 10, following a path close to the Arizona border. It ultimately hits Interstate 10 west of Lordsburg, New Mexico and from there, generally follows Interstate 10 all the way to Texas.

Texas

From the New Mexico border, Interstate Highway 10 now follows the old US 80 route to the current junction with Interstate Highway 20, where IH 10 breaks off southeast towards San Antonio. IH 20 (which begins there) then follows former US 80 all the way to Fort Worth, bypassing many old sections of US 80 on the way. They are as follows:

★ State Highway 20 from New Mexico via El Paso to IH 10 near McNary, bypassed 1969^[3]

★ Business Interstate Highway 10-C through Sierra Blanca (originally Loop 416 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1965^[4]

★ Business Interstate Highway 10-D through Van Horn (originally Loop 51 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1975^[5]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-B through Pecos and Barstow, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation^[6]

★ Spur 57 through Pyote and Wickett, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation^[7]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-D through Monahans, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation^[8]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-E through Odessa and Midland, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation^[9]

★
★ Spur 268 and State Highway 158 through downtown Midland (originally Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed in 1953^[10]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-F through Stanton (originally Loop 214), part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation^[11]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-G through Big Spring (originally Loop 402 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1965^[12]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-H through Westbrook (originally Loop 333), bypassed 1958^[13]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-J through Colorado City (originally Loop 377 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1963^[14]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-K through Loraine (originally Loop 316), bypassed 1957^[15]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-L through Roscoe (originally Loop 237), bypassed 1959^[16]

★ Loop 170 past Sweetwater Municipal Airport, bypassed 1946^[17]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-M through Sweetwater (originally Loop 432 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1966^[18]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-N through Trent (originally Loop 319), bypassed 1957^[19]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-P through Merkel (originally Loop 39), bypassed 1959^[20]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-Q through Tye (originally Loop 320), bypassed 1957^[21]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-R through Abilene (originally Loop 355 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1961^[22]

★ Business Interstate Highway 20-T through Baird (originally Loop 425), bypassed 1966^[23]

★ Farm to Market Road 2945 west of Cisco, bypassed 1964^[24]

★ State Highway 206, State Highway 6 and State Highway 112 through Cisco and Eastland, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation^[25][26]

★ Farm to Market Road 3363 through Olden, bypassed 1976^[27]

★ Loop 254 through Ranger, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation^[28]

★ Spur 312 and U.S. Highway 180 through Weatherford, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation^[29]
In Fort Worth, IH 20 breaks off the old US 80 route at Interstate Highway 30's junction with IH 20, which is also IH 30's western terminus. Just east of the junction, IH 30 leaves the pre-1991^[30] route of US 80, now Spur 580. Old US 80 travels due east on Spur 580 to U.S. Highway 377 (Camp Bowie Boulevard), where it heads northeast to the junction with IH 30. At IH 30, US 377 and former US 80 join the freeway into downtown Fort Worth; the old route - along Camp Bowie Boulevard and Lancaster Avenue - was once Business U.S. Highway 80.^[31]
Just east of downtown Fort Worth, US 80 split from IH 30 onto present State Highway 180 until 1991.^[32] Approaching downtown Dallas, the older route of US 80 used Fort Worth Avenue and Commerce Street, designated Loop 260 and Business U.S. Highway 80 in 1952.^[33] (US 80 had bypassed that route by 1939, but it was State Highway 1 until 1952.^[34]) The later US 80 continued east on Davis Street, turning north at Zang Boulevard (Loop 354 until 1991), shifting to a route via SH 180 to Interstate Highway 35E after 1961.^[35] Through and east of downtown, the route before it was rerouted onto present Interstate Highway 30 used Commerce Street, Parry Avenue, Haskell Avenue, Grand Avenue and Samuell Boulevard.^[36] (This was not assigned a number or a business route designation when it was bypassed.) In eastern Dallas, the old route merges with the present freeway at Town East Boulevard, shortly after present US 80 begins at the split from IH 30.
Farm to Market Road 688 is the old alignment through Forney, bypassed in 1959 by the present freeway. Most of this route was a spur of Farm to Market Road 740 until 1960.^[37]
In western Terrell, US 80 leaves the freeway, which continues southeast as Spur 557 to Interstate Highway 20. It runs east through a number of small towns and cities, including Terrell, Mineola, Longview and Marshall, before merging with IH 20 east of Marshall.Via mile 628 It splits again in Waskom before crossing into Louisiana.

Legal Definition

The Mississippi section of U.S. 80 is defined in Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3.

Historical significance

As a member of the inaugural class of US highways commissioned in 1926, US 80 was the first all-weather coast-to-coast route available to auto travelers. For a time known as the "Broadway of America", its legendary history is second only to Route 66 in American highway folklore, as several significant historical events have occurred on or near Highway 80. Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed approximately four miles south of US80 in Gibsland, Louisiana. Lee Harvey Oswald was captured at the Texas Theatre on Jefferson Street in Oak Cliff, which at the time was a business spur of Highway 80.
A section of U.S. 80 through central Alabama was made famous by its use in the Selma to Montgomery marches.

Cities traversed

The highway passes through the following notable cities:

★ Savannah, Georgia

★ Macon, Georgia

★ Columbus, Georgia

★ Montgomery, Alabama

★ Selma, Alabama

★ Demopolis, Alabama

★ Meridian, Mississippi

★ Jackson, Mississippi

★ Vicksburg, Mississippi

★ Monroe, Louisiana

★ Ruston, Louisiana

★ Bossier City, Louisiana

★ Shreveport, Louisiana

★ Waskom, Texas

★ Hallsville, Texas

★ Marshall, Texas

★ Longview, Texas

★ White Oak, Texas

★ Gladewater, Texas

★ Grand Saline, Texas

★ Wills Point, Texas

★ Terrell, Texas

★ Mesquite, Texas

★ Dallas, Texas
Originally it also passed through Texas west of Dallas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Related U.S. Routes

★ U.S. Highway 180

★ U.S. Highway 280

★ U.S. Highway 380

See also

★ Bankhead Highway

References

1. Droz, Robert V. U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US 830). URL accessed 02:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC).
2. [1] Endpoints of U.S. Highways. URL accessed 4 July 2006.
3. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway 20
4. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 416
5. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 519
6. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - Business Interstate Highway 20-B
7. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Spur 57
8. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - Business Interstate Highway 20-D
9. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - Business Interstate Highway 20-E
10. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Spur 268
11. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 214
12. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 402
13. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 333
14. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 377
15. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 316
16. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 237
17. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 170
18. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 432
19. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 319
20. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 39
21. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 320
22. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 355
23. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 425
24. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - Farm to Market Road 2945
25. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway 206
26. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - State Highway 69
27. Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File - Farm to Market Road 3363
28. Texas Department of Transportation, - State Highway Loop 254
29. Texas Department of Transportation, - State Highway Spur 312
30. Texas Department of Transportation, - State Highway Spur 580
31. 1967 Texaco map of Texas
32. Texas Department of Transportation, - State Highway 180
33. Texas Department of Transportation, - State Highway Loop 260
34. Texas Department of Transportation, - State Highway 1
35. Texas Department of Transportation, - State Highway Loop 354
36. 1954 TXDOT map
37. Texas Department of Transportation, - Farm to Market Road 740

External links

★ United States Route 80: The Dixie Overland Highway - Federal Highway Administration

★ Highway 80 - The Broadway of America

★ Historic California Highway 80 Corporation

★ Selma to Montgomery National Voting Rights Trail - a U.S. National Historic Trail