Nevada State Route 163

Last updated

Nevada 163.svg
State Route 163
Colorado River Highway (formerly Laughlin Highway)
Nevada 163 map.svg
Nevada State Route 163, highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NDOT
Length19.207 mi [1]  (30.911 km)
ExistedJuly 1, 1976–present
HistorySR 77 by 1942
Major junctions
West endUS 95.svg US 95 in Palm Gardens
East endArizona 95.svg SR 95 in Bullhead City
Location
Country United States
State Nevada
County Clark
Highway system
  • Nevada State Highway System
Nevada 161.svg SR 161 Nevada 164.svg SR 164

State Route 163 (SR 163), officially referred to as the Colorado River Highway and formerly Laughlin Highway, is a state highway in southern Clark County, Nevada. The route connects the town of Laughlin to the rest of the state via U.S. Route 95 (US 95).

Contents

SR 163 and Arizona State Route 95 provide the next closest public Colorado River crossing to Hoover Dam. Due to the restriction of commercial vehicles over the dam following the September 11 attacks, SR 163 comprised part of the required detour for truck traffic traveling between the Las Vegas and Phoenix metropolitan areas from September 11, 2001 to October 19, 2010, when the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge just downstream from the dam was opened to traffic.

Prior to the renumbering of Nevada state routes on July 1, 1976, SR 163 previously comprised the northern part of State Route 76 and all of State Route 77.

Route description

View from the west end of SR 163 looking eastbound in 2015 2015-11-03 14 21 02 View east from the west end of Nevada State Route 163 (Laughlin Highway) in Clark County, Nevada.jpg
View from the west end of SR 163 looking eastbound in 2015
SR 163 (in the foreground) descending towards Laughlin and the Colorado River in 2006 Laughlin Nevada from Spirit Mountain 2.jpg
SR 163 (in the foreground) descending towards Laughlin and the Colorado River in 2006

State Route 163 begins as a four-lane divided highway at its junction with US 95 in Palm Gardens just north of the California state line. From there, the highway negotiates some fairly steep mountain grades as it loses elevation heading east toward Laughlin. Just outside Laughlin, the divided highway comes together and intersects Casino Drive before crossing the Colorado River and entering Bullhead City, Arizona on Arizona State Route 95.

History

State Route 77 first appeared on Nevada state maps in 1942 as an unimproved road. At that time, SR 77 had an eastern terminus near the Bulls Head Dam (later Davis Dam) site and a western terminus at former State Route 76 (now an unnumbered road), which connected to US 95 north of the current US 95/SR 163 junction. [2] By 1947, the west end of SR 76 was realigned and paved; along with a paved SR 77, this new pavement would eventually form the majority of SR 163. [3] As of 1973, the southern part of SR 76 was removed from the state highway system and SR 77 was extended to US 95 along the paved alignment of the former SR 76. [4]

On July 1, 1976, Nevada's highway department began a project to renumber the state highway system. SR 77 was reassigned to State Route 163 during this process; this change was reflected on official state maps in 1978. [5]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Clark County.

Locationmi [1] kmDestinationsNotes
Palm Gardens 0.000.00US 95.svg US 95  Needles, Las Vegas Wye intersection; western terminus
Colorado River 19.2130.92 Donald J. Laughlin Memorial Bridge; NevadaArizona line
South plate.svg
Arizona 95.svg
To plate.svg
East plate.svg
Arizona 68.svg
SR 95 south to SR 68 east Kingman, Bullhead City
Continuation into Arizona
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

Template:Attached KML/Nevada State Route 163
KML is not from Wikidata
  1. 1 2 Nevada Department of Transportation (January 2017). "State Maintained Highways of Nevada: Descriptions and Maps" . Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  2. Official Road Map of the State of Nevada (Map). Nevada Department of Highways. 1942. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  3. Official Road Map of the State of Nevada (Map). Nevada Department of Highways. 1947. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  4. Official Highway Map of Nevada (Map). Nevada Department of Highways. 1973. § G5-G6. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  5. Official Highway Map of Nevada (Map). Nevada Department of Highways. 1978–1979. § G5-G6. Retrieved February 18, 2018.