State Route 260 in Arizona
| SR-260 | |||
| Get started | cottonwood | ||
| End | eagar | ||
| Length | 218 mi | ||
| Length | 350 km | ||
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State Route 260 is a state route in the U.S. state of Arizona. The road forms a fairly long east-west link between Cottonwood and Eagar, via Payson and Show Low. State Route 260 is 350 kilometers long.
- WATCHTUTORIALS.ORG: Features why Arizona has the nickname as Grand Canyon State and its economy, history and geography.
Travel directions
State Route 260 between Cottonwood and Camp Verde.
Intersection of SR-87 and SR-260 in Payson.
State Route 260 begins in Cottonwood on State Route 89A and is a five-lane road with center turn lane through Cottonwood. After that, the road is single-lane and leads through the Verde Valley, a desert at an altitude of 1,000 meters. Just before Camp Verde you cross Interstate 17. East of Camp Verde, State Route 260 is more of a secondary nature and leads through remote wilderness. The road ascends via the Mogollon Rim to the plateau at 1,800 meters and enters a wooded area further east.
North of Payson, State Route 260 is a fairly long stretch with State Route 87 numbered double, all the way to Payson. The road descends here again over the Mogollon Rim. Payson is located at an altitude of 1,500 meters. The road heads east from Payson through sparsely populated areas, but it does have a fairly long stretch of 2×2 lanes east of Payson. Just before the third crossing of the Mogollon Rim, the road narrows again to single carriageway. The road then leads over a wooded plateau at 2,300 meters altitude.
The road gradually descends across the plateau of northern Arizona and leads through very sparsely populated area to the village of Show Low, a regional intersection of roads including State Route 77 throughput. Between Show Low and Eagar, State Route 260 crosses a flattened ridge at a maximum elevation of 2,800 meters, making it one of the highest roads in Arizona. One then descends to Eagar, which is at an altitude of more than 2,100 meters. In the town of Eagar, State Route 260 ends at US 60 and US 180.
- acronymmonster.com: Provides state overview of Arizona and its alternative name as The Grand Canyon State
History
State Route 260 was created in 1970. However, it is not a renumbering of former US 260, which ran from Eagar to Holbrook, more or less in the same region as the eastern portion of State Route 260. US 260 was renumbered US 180 in 1962.
The Cottonwood section was widened from two to five lanes in the 1990s. The section between Cottonwood and Camp Verde is a feeder to Interstate 17 toward Phoenix. In 2017-2018, this section was widened to 2×2 lanes for $62 million. Around 2011, a section of State Route 260 east of Payson was widened to a 2×2 divided highway to avoid collisions with large game. Several ecoducts have also been constructed on this route.
Traffic intensities
Every day, 28,000 vehicles drive into Cottonwood, dropping to 13,000 until I-17. East of Camp Verde, 1,100 to 2,600 vehicles drive a day, descending to the east. From Payson to the east, 19,000 vehicles drive up to Star Valley and 6,000 vehicles on the 2×2 section towards the Mogollon Rim. This drops to 3,500 vehicles until Show Low. 1,200 vehicles per day drive over the upland section between Show Low and Eagar.
State Route 261 in Arizona
| SR-261 | |||
| Get started | Crescent Lake | ||
| End | eagar | ||
| Length | 18 mi | ||
| Length | 29 km | ||
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State Route 261 is a state route in the U.S. state of Arizona. The road forms a north-south route southwest of Eagar in the east of the state and is 29 kilometers long.
Travel directions
The road begins at 2,800 feet at an intersection with State Route 273 at small Crescent Lake, in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The road heads north over a plateau and remains at 2,800 meters for half of the route, before a descent starts to curve to Eagar, which is 2,100 meters. West of Eagar, the road ends at State Route 260.
History
State Route 261 was created in 1991 with a renumbering of State Route 273. The road is mainly important for tourism in the White Mountains, there are no places on the route.
Traffic intensities
Every day, 250 to 350 vehicles use State Route 261.
State Route 264 in Arizona
| SR-264 | |||
| Begin | Tuba City | ||
| End | Window Rock | ||
| Length | 154 mi | ||
| Length | 248 km | ||
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State Route 264 is a state route in the U.S. state of Arizona. The road forms a fairly long east-west route in the northeast of the state, from Tuba City to the New Mexico state border at Window Rock. State Route 264 is 150 miles long.
Travel directions
From State Route 264.
At Tuba City, State Route 264 begins at an intersection with US 160. The road leads first southeast, later east through the desert. The area is mainly a plateau at 1,600 to 1,800 meters, with relatively little elevation change, except for some low mesas and shallow canyons. The area is extremely sparsely populated, there are hardly any intersecting roads and most villages are little more than hamlets in Navajo Nation. In uninhabited areas in Navajo County, State Route 87 and State Route 77 connect one after the other.
The eastern part of the route is slightly higher, largely on a plateau at approximately 2,000 meters. At Ganado is a short double numbering with US 191. Near the border with the state of New Mexico, State Route 264 runs over an approximately 2,200-meter mountain ridge, this is the only part of the route with vegetation. Near Window Rock follows the state line, then State Route 264 in New Mexico continues to Gallup.
History
The road already existed as a dirt road in the 1920s, but did not become an Arizona state route until 1961. At that time, the entire road was already paved. The road mainly opens up Indian reservations. It is the only east-west road in the area.
Traffic intensities
Most parts of State Route 264 have 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles per day, mostly traffic to Native American reservations and tourists. The eastern part between Ganado and Window Rock is somewhat busier with 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles per day.
