State Route 305 (SR 305) is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
in
Lander County
Lander County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,734. Its county seat is Battle Mountain.
History
Lander County was created in 1862 as the result of a mining boom on the Reese River along the ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
. It is the only state highway to connect the southern and northern areas of the county. It runs north from
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...
at
Austin
Austin refers to:
Common meanings
* Austin, Texas, United States, a city
* Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
to
Battle Mountain, where it crosses
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
and ends at
State Route 304.
Route description
State Route 305 begins just northwest of the town limits of Austin, Nevada.
From there, the route heads in a northerly direction through the
Reese River Valley, generally paralleling the
Reese River
The Reese River is a tributary of the Humboldt River, located in central Nevada in the western United States.
The Reese rises in the southern section of the Toiyabe Range, on the flanks of Arc Dome. In its upper reaches, the Reese River is ...
. The highway passes near many ranches and mining sites. After about , SR 305 curves slightly more westward, crossing through the
Shoshone Range
The Shoshone Range is a mountain range in Lander County, Nevada. The northeast end of the range extends into Eureka County at Shoshone Point on the Humboldt River.''Crescent Valley, Nevada,'' 30x60 Minute Quadrangle, USGS, 1987 (40116-A1-TM-10 ...
.
The route continues northward, passing the Valley of the Moon along the trek through Reese River Valley.
As the route nears the vicinity of the
Battle Mountains, it curves northeast to head to the town of the same name. Along this stretch of highway, near milepost 110, are several dirt roads providing access to numerous mining sites.
Soon afterward, SR 305 enters
Battle Mountain along Broad Street, crossing over Interstate 80 and ending in the middle of the town at an intersection with Front Street (
SR 304/I-80 Business).
A five-mile section of SR 305 is the site of a yearly human-powered vehicle (HPV) speed record competition conducted by the IHPVA (International Human Powered Vehicle Association), with the record set to 89.59 mph (144.18 km/h) on September 17, 2016. During repaving in 2009, special attention was paid to the five mile stretch to make sure it was the flattest and smoothest road in the world. It is very slightly downhill, with an average slope of less than 2/3 of one percent, per IHPVA rules.
History
The road dates to back to at least 1929. At that time, it appeared on state maps one segment of the much longer
State Route 8A. At the time, it was an unimproved road in the state highway system, and the road approached Battle Mountain from a more southerly direction.
The northern end of the current highway alignment southwest of Battle Mountain, serving the present-day mining establishments near the town, was constructed by 1952, although SR 8A continued to follow the previous alignment according to maps.
The entire highway was paved by 1953,
and the SR 8A designation was moved onto the newer section near Battle Mountain by 1954.
On July 1, 1976, Nevada began
renumbering its state highways. In this process, the Austin – Battle Mountain Road segment of SR 8A was reassigned to a new State Route 305. This change was first seen on state maps in 1978.
The route has remained relatively unchanged since then.
Major intersections
The Shoshone Range, as seen from SR 305 near Battle Mountain
See also
Other segments of former
State Route 8A:
*
State Route 140, the northern segment that ran west from
U.S. Route 95
U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland ...
via
Denio to northwestern Nevada.
*
State Route 376, the southern segment that ran from near
Tonopah to near
Austin
Austin refers to:
Common meanings
* Austin, Texas, United States, a city
* Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
.
References
{{Reflist
305
Year 305 ( CCCV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1058 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 305 for thi ...
Transportation in Lander County, Nevada