U.S. Route 466 (US 466) was an east–west

United States highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

. Though it reached a length of around 500 miles (805 km), the route was co-signed with other US routes for much of its length. When

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

deleted most of its U.S. Highways in the mid-1960s, including US 466 in 1964, there was no longer a need for the designation. The general route between Barstow and Kingman is now more directly served by

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

. The route is known for being the highway on which actor James Dean died in a car accident on September 30, 1955, at the intersection of CA 41 near Cholame, California. The intersection has been designated as James Dean Memorial Junction.

Route description

California

US 466 began in

Morro Bay Morro Bay (''Morro'', Spanish for "Hill") is a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast of California, the city's population was 10,757 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,234 at the 2010 ...

, continuing to US 101 before turning north and following the path of today's SR 41 to Shandon in

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra fou ...

. From there, US 466 followed the path of today's SR 46 east. At Famoso, US 466 joined US 99 and ran south to

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

. From Bakersfield, U.S. Route 466 generally followed what is now the alignment of SR 58. Between

Barstow, California Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Located in the Inland Empire region of California, the population was 25,415 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Barstow is an impor ...

and the Nevada line, the route followed the path of today's Interstate 15 and was co-signed with U.S. Route 91.

Nevada

U.S. Route 466 entered Nevada at Primm. It headed north concurrent with U.S. Route 91 to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, where the route followed

Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard is a major road in Clark County, Nevada, Clark County, Nevada, United States, best known for the Las Vegas Strip portion of the road and its casinos. Formerly carrying U.S. Route 91 in Nevada, U.S. Route 91 (US 91), wh ...

. In downtown Las Vegas, US 466 turned east on

Fremont Street Fremont Street is a street in Downtown Las Vegas, downtown Las Vegas, Nevada that is the second-most famous street in both the Las Vegas Valley and in the state of Nevada, after the Las Vegas Strip. It is named in honor of explorer and politicia ...

with U.S. Route 93 (and later,

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 ...

). The two routes followed Fremont Street and Boulder Highway heading southeast through Henderson and Boulder City towards the Arizona state line on

Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...

Arizona

From the Nevada state line on Hoover Dam, U.S. Route 466 remained co-signed with US 93 as it headed southeast. At Grasshopper Junction, US 66 / US 466 served the western terminus of Arizona State Route 62 (SR 62), which was the main route connecting

Chloride The term chloride refers to a compound or molecule that contains either a chlorine anion (), which is a negatively charged chlorine atom, or a non-charged chlorine atom covalently bonded to the rest of the molecule by a single bond (). The pr ...

to the rest of the state highway system. The highway was also the eastern terminus of SR 68 at Coyote Pass, which headed west towards Bullhead City and

Laughlin, Nevada Laughlin () is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States. Laughlin lies south of Las Vegas, in the far southern tip of Nevada. As a resort town, it is known for its gaming and water recreation. As of the 2020 census, t ...

. The highway reached its eastern terminus in Kingman, entering town on Beale Street, where it connected to

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

at Front Street (now Andy Devine Boulevard). US 93 continued past the terminus of US 466, running concurrent with US 66 east out of Kingman.

History

U.S. Route 466 (US 466) was originally commissioned on April 25, 1933, extending from

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Morro Bay, California Morro Bay (''Morro'', Spanish for "Hill") is a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast of California, the city's population was 10,757 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,234 at the 2010 ...

. On October 9, 1933, the

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

(AASHO) approved an extension of US 466 from Barstow to US 66 in

Kingman, Arizona Kingman is a city in and the county seat of Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The population was 32,693 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hi ...

. From Kingman to

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, US 466 replaced the original Arizona State Route 69 (SR 69) and Nevada State Route 26 (SR 26). US 466 would use the Boulder Dam to cross the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

over Boulder Canyon between Nevada and Arizona. Between Las Vegas and

, the route was co-signed with U.S. Route 91. However, the state of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

continued to sign the route between Hoover Dam (formerly Boulder Dam) and Kingman as SR 69, until May 16, 1935. This coincided with the completion of the main dam structure on May 29. On June 17, 1935, US 93 was extended from its southern terminus at US 91 north of Las Vegas to US 66 in Barstow, being co-signed with US 466 from its eastern terminus at Kingman, Arizona to the US 91 junction in Las Vegas, Nevada. This left the

segment of US 466 as the only section of the route not co-signed with another route.

decommissioned its section of US 466 during the 1964 state highway renumbering. The California state legislature re-designated the stand alone section of US 466 between Morro Bay and Barstow as

California State Route 46 State Route 46 (SR 46) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is a major crossing of the Coast Ranges and it is the southernmost crossing of the Diablo Range, connecting SR 1 on the Central Coast near Cam ...

(SR 46), SR 99 and SR 58 respectively.State Highway Routes, Selected Information - 1994 with 1995 Revisions
(

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

) On December 3, 1971, AASHTO approved a request from

and

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 ...

to remove the US 466 entirely from both states, after which, the US 466 designation ceased to exist.

Major intersections

References

* Endpoints of US highways
US 466 (II)

External links

*

{{US 66 66-4 66-4 66-4 66-4 4 66-4