Austin – Battle Mountain Road | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by NDOT | ||||
Length | 87.717 mi [1] (141.167 km) | |||
Existed | 1976–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | US 50 in Austin | |||
I-80 in Battle Mountain | ||||
North end | SR 304 / I-80 BL in Battle Mountain | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Nevada | |||
Highway system | ||||
| ||||
|
State Route 305 (SR 305) is a state highway in Lander County, Nevada. It is the only state highway to connect the southern and northern areas of the county. It runs north from U.S. Route 50 at Austin to Battle Mountain, where it crosses Interstate 80 and ends at State Route 304.
State Route 305 begins just northwest of the town limits of Austin, Nevada. [2] From there, the route heads in a northerly direction through the Reese River Valley, generally paralleling the Reese River. The highway passes near many ranches and mining sites. After about 20 miles (32 km), SR 305 curves slightly more westward, crossing through the Shoshone Range. [3] The route continues northward, passing the Valley of the Moon along the trek through Reese River Valley. [4] 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. [5] 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). [6]
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), [7] 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. [8] It is very slightly downhill, with an average slope of less than 2/3 of one percent, per IHPVA rules. [9]
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. [10] 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. [11] The entire highway was paved by 1953, [12] and the SR 8A designation was moved onto the newer section near Battle Mountain by 1954. [13]
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. [14] The route has remained relatively unchanged since then.
The entire route is in Lander County.
Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austin | 0.000 | 0.000 | US 50 – Fallon, Eureka | Southern terminus | |
Battle Mountain | I-80 – Lovelock, Elko | ||||
87.717 | 141.167 | SR 304 (Front Street) / I-80 BL | Northern terminus | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
Other segments of former State Route 8A:
State Route 299 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the northern part of the state. At 305.777 miles (492.100 km), it is the third longest California state route, after Route 1 and Route 99, and the longest east-west route. Route 299's western terminus is at US 101 at the northern edge of Arcata, and its eastern terminus is at the Nevada state line at a point east of Cedarville. Between Arcata and Redding, Route 299 intersects with State Route 96, and is briefly co-signed with State Route 3. In Redding, it intersects with State Route 273, State Route 44, and Interstate 5. East of Redding, it intersects with State Route 89, and a section is co-signed with State Route 139 before reaching Alturas. It is then co-signed with U.S. Route 395 northeast of Alturas, and then runs east through Cedarville and to the border with Nevada. A ghost town, Vya, Nevada, can be reached via this route, which after the border becomes a dirt road, which was formerly Nevada State Route 8A. The segment of SR 299 between Arcata and Redding is the Trinity Scenic Byway, a National Forest Scenic Byway.
State Route 165 is a state highway near the southern end of the U.S. state of Nevada. The road connects the town of Nelson to U.S. Route 95. The road originated in the 1940s and was one section of former State Route 60 until the 1970s.
State Route 377 is a 6.6-mile (10.6 km) state highway in Nye County, Nevada, United States. The route connects the town of Manhattan to State Route 376. The highway previously existed as State Route 69.
State Route 207 (SR 207) is an 11.082-mile (17.835 km) state highway in western Douglas County, Nevada, United States. Commonly known as the Kingsbury Grade, it is one of three Nevada highways that connect the western edge of the state to the Lake Tahoe region through the Carson Range. The route was part of State Route 19 prior to 1976.
State Route 168 is an east-west state highway in the U.S. state of California that is separated into two distinct segments by the Sierra Nevada. The western segment runs from State Routes 41 and 180 in Fresno east to Huntington Lake along the western slope of the Sierra. The eastern segment connects Lake Sabrina in the Eastern Sierra to State Route 266 in the community of Oasis, just to the west of the Nevada border. The eastern segment of SR 168 also forms a concurrency with U.S. Route 395 between Bishop and Big Pine.
State Route 140 is a two-lane state highway in Humboldt County, Nevada. It serves a sparsely populated section of the state, connecting northwestern Nevada to southern Oregon. Most of the highway was originally part of State Route 8A, and was later improved through an effort to provide an all-weather highway linking northern Nevada to the Pacific Northwest.
Interstate 80 (I-80) traverses the northern portion of the US state of Nevada. The freeway serves the Reno metropolitan area and passes through the towns of Fernley, Lovelock, Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Carlin, Elko, Wells, and West Wendover on its way through the state.
State Route 278 is a state highway in Nevada. It runs from U.S. Route 50 near Eureka north to Interstate 80 (I-80) in Carlin.
State Route 292 is a short state highway on the northern edge of Humboldt County, Nevada, United States, that serves the community of Denio.
State Route 304 is a state highway in Lander County, Nevada, United States. The road is the main street through the town of Battle Mountain, and is also designated Interstate 80 Business. The highway was part of SR 1 and U.S. Route 40 prior to the mid-1970s.
State Route 306 is a 30.631-mile (49.296 km) state highway in Lander and Eureka counties in northern Nevada, United States. It connects the mining area of Gold Acres in Lander County to Interstate 80 (I-80) at the Beowawe Interchange near Beowawe in Eureka County via Crescent Valley. The road has been a state highway since the 1920s, having been established as part of a much longer State Route 21 by 1929.
State Route 338 is a state highway in Lyon County, Nevada, United States. It connects the towns of Smith and Wellington to the California state line north of Bridgeport, California. Much of the route has served as a road through this section of Nevada since at least 1919, and was known as State Route 22 from the 1920s until the late 1970s.
U.S. Route 50 (US 50) is a transcontinental United States Numbered Highway, stretching from West Sacramento, California, in the west to Ocean City, Maryland, in the east. The California portion of US 50 runs east from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento to the Nevada state line in South Lake Tahoe. A portion in Sacramento also has the unsigned designation of Interstate 305. The western half of the highway in California is a four-or-more-lane divided highway, mostly built to freeway standards, and known as the El Dorado Freeway outside of downtown Sacramento. US 50 continues as an undivided highway with one eastbound lane and two westbound lanes until the route reaches the canyon of the South Fork American River at Riverton. The remainder of the highway, which climbs along and out of the canyon, then over the Sierra Nevada at Echo Summit and into the Lake Tahoe Basin, is primarily a two-lane road.
State Route 376 is a 100-mile (160 km) state highway in Nye and Lander counties in central Nevada, United States. It connects U.S. Route 6 near Tonopah north to U.S. Route 50 near Austin. The Tonopah–Austin Road existed as early as 1919, and was designated the southernmost segment of State Route 8A before being renumbered to SR 376 in 1976.
State Route 579 is a state highway in Clark County, Nevada. It follows a portion of Bonanza Road near the downtown area of Las Vegas. The route encompasses a small portion of former State Route 5 and the entirety of former State Route 5A, and also carried U.S. Route 95 before it was relocated to its present freeway alignment.
Former State Route 8A was a two-part state highway in the U.S. state of Nevada, running from California State Route 299 in a general easterly and southeasterly direction via Vya and Denio to US 95 north of Winnemucca, and south from US 40 at Battle Mountain via Austin to US 6 near Tonopah. It was a branch of State Route 8, which followed US 95 north from US 40 at Winnemucca to Oregon. The part northwest from US 95 towards the Oregon state line later became State Route 140, part of the Winnemucca to the Sea Highway. In the late 1970s renumbering, the north–south portion became State Route 305 and State Route 376, but the portion from SR 140 west to California did not remain in the state highway system. However, signs remain on that segment, and so SR 8A still de facto connects SR 140 with California.
U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a United States Numbered Highway, stretching from Hesperia, California to the Canadian border in Laurier, Washington. The California portion of US 395 is a 557-mile (896 km) route which traverses from Interstate 15 (I-15) in Hesperia, north to the Oregon state line in Modoc County near Goose Lake. The route clips into Nevada, serving the cities Carson City and Reno, before returning to California.
State Route 806 is a short state highway in Lander County, Nevada connecting the town of Battle Mountain to North Battle Mountain. Prior to 1976, the route was part of a longer State Route 18A.