Arizona State Route 77

State Route 77 (or SR 77) is a state highway in Arizona that traverses much of the state's length, stretching from its northern terminus at the boundary of the Navajo Nation north of Holbrook to its junction with I-10 in Tucson.

State Route 77
SR 77 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by ADOT
Length	253.93 mi[1] (408.66 km)
Existed	May 13, 1930–present
History	Part of the route is a former section of US 80 and US 89
Tourist routes	Copper Corridor Scenic Road[2] Historic US 80[3]
Major junctions
South end	I-10 in Tucson
	US 70 in Globe US 60 from Globe to Show Low US 180 in Holbrook I-40 in Holbrook
North end	BIA Route 6 at Navajo Nation boundary
Location
Counties	Pima, Pinal, Gila, Navajo
Highway system
Arizona State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Unconstructed Former ← SR 76 → SR 78

Route description

At its southern terminus, north of Tucson, the road is known as Oracle Road[4] until the final mile and a half when the road turns westward directly toward Interstate 10 and is called Miracle Mile Road,[4] named such in 1962.[5]

SR 77 traveling through Salt River Canyon

Past the Navajo Nation boundary, SR 77 becomes BIA Route 6 northbound towards Keams Canyon. Between Show Low and Globe, this highway is concurrent with U.S. Route 60. Its southernmost reaches were formerly part of U.S. Route 80 and U.S. Route 89, except for its terminal segment, the Miracle Mile segment of old Business 10 and State Route 84.

Origin of the name of Tucson's Miracle Mile

Between Miracle Mile and SR 79, SR 77 is part of Historic U.S. Route 80.

Although it was thought for several years that Tucson's Miracle Mile derived its name from a June 1937 Arizona Highways magazine, historian David Leighton challenged this theory, in a February 23, 2015, article in the Arizona Daily Star newspaper. He explained that in 1936, real estate developer Stanley Williamson conceived the idea of creating a commercial center outside of the over-congested downtown retail district, in Tucson. His model for this business center was the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, Calif. The one in L.A., was the idea of real estate agent A.W. Ross, who saw that the retail district in that city was overcrowded and, also saw that cars were becoming more common. He came up with the idea of buying farming land, along Wilshire Blvd., several miles out from downtown, with the belief that as more people bought automobiles they would be willing to drive farther, in order to avoid the lack of parking and congestion in the downtown area. While initially no one thought his idea would work, in time store after store came to his business center. The Miracle Mile eventually became one of Los Angeles' premier shopping districts. Ross originally called his business area, the Wilshire Boulevard Center, it was changed to the Miracle Mile in 1928.

History

SR 77 was first designated on May 13, 1930.[6] The highway originally ran from a junction with SR 73 in McNary to U.S. Route 66 (US 66) in Holbrook via Show Low.[7] On June 20, 1938, the section of SR 77 between Show Low and McNary was decommissioned, following the completion of US 60 from Globe to Springerville through Show Low. SR 77 was then extended southwest along the brand new US 60 to Globe, followed by a further southeast extension along US 70 from Globe to Cutter at the San Carlos Indian Reservation. From Cutter, SR 77 was extended further south along a newly acquired state highway to a southern terminus with US 80/US 89 in Oracle Junction. At the time, both U.S. Highways made up the route between Tucson and Oracle Junction.[6][8] US 80 was removed from the Tucson to Oracle Junction corridor in 1977, when the U.S. Highway was truncated to I-10 in Benson.[9] On August 21, 1992, US 89 was truncated to US 180 in Flagstaff. At the same time, the northern Tucson section of State Business Route 10 (SR 10 Bus.) was decommissioned. SR 10 Bus. started at an intersection with I-10 and Miracle Mile, heading east on Miracle Mile to US 89, then followed US 89 south on Oracle to its terminus at a junction with US 89, I-10 and SR 19 Bus. in South Tucson, Arizona. SR 77 was immediately extended south along former US 89 down Oracle Road to Miracle Mile in Tucson, then extended west along Miracle Mile (which was part of the recently decommissioned SR 10 Bus.) to an interchange with I-10.[10] While Miracle Mile and the northern part of Oracle Road were renumbered as an extension of SR 77, the remainder of SR 10 Bus. and US 89 between the intersection of Oracle Road and Miracle Mile and the interchange with I-10 and SR 19 Bus. were not given to another route and was retired as a state highway, being handed over to the city of Tucson on October 15, 1993.[11]

Junction list

County	Location	mi[1][lower-alpha 1]	km	Exit	Destinations[12][3][2][13]	Notes
Pima	Tucson	68.05	109.52		I-10 – Phoenix, El Paso	Southern terminus; I-10 exit 255
		69.05	111.13		Historic US 80 east (Oracle Road south)	Southern end of Historic US 80 concurrency; former US 80 east / US 89 / SR 93 south
	Oro Valley	79.12	127.33		Tangerine Road (SR 989 west)	Serves Oro Valley Hospital
Pinal	Oracle Junction	91.14	146.68		SR 79 north / Historic US 80 west (Pinal Pioneer Parkway) – Florence, Phoenix	Southern terminus of SR 79; former US 80 west / US 89 north
	​	109.14	175.64		Veterans Memorial Boulevard – San Manuel	Interchange; serves San Manuel Airport; former SR 76
Gila River		134.62	216.65		Bridge
Gila	Winkelman	134.80	216.94		SR 177 north (2nd Street) – Superior	Southern terminus of SR 177
	Globe	170.92 254.10	275.07 408.93		US 70 east – Safford	Southern end of US 70 concurrency; mile markers change to reflect US 70
		252.14 252.06	405.78 405.65		US 70 end / US 60 west (Ash Street west) – Globe, Phoenix	Southern end of US 60 concurrency; northern end of US 70 concurrency; mileposts change to reflect US 60
Navajo	​	318.15	512.01		SR 73 east	Western terminus of SR 73
	Show Low	339.73	546.74		SR 260 west (Clark Road) – Heber	Southern end of SR 260 concurrency
		341.69	549.90		SR 260 east (White Mountain Road) – Pinetop-Lakeside	Northern end of SR 260 concurrency
		342.01 342.20	550.41 550.72		US 60 east (Deuce of Clubs east) – Springerville	Northern end of US 60 concurrency; mileposts change to reflect SR 77
	Snowflake	361.05	581.05		SR 277 west (3rd Street North) – Heber	Eastern terminus of SR 277
	Holbrook	386.20	621.53		SR 377 south (Heber Road) – Heber	Northern terminus of SR 377
		387.49	623.60		US 180 east – St. Johns	Southern end of US 180 concurrency
		388.54 286.69	625.29 461.38		I-40 BL / US 180 / Historic US 66 west (Hopi Drive) to I-40 – Flagstaff	Northern end of US 180 overlap; southern end of SR 40 Bus./Historic US 66 concurrency; former US 66 west; mileposts change to reflect I-40 BL
		287.36 286.91	462.46 461.74		I-40 BL / Historic US 66 east (Navajo Boulevard) / I-40 west – Flagstaff	Northern end of SR 40 Bus./Historic US 66 concurrency; southern end of I-40 concurrency; I-40 exit 286; former US 66 east; mileposts change to reflect I-40
		289.46	465.84	289	I-40 BL / Historic US 66 west (Navajo Boulevard)	Exit number follows I-40; former US 66 west
	​	292.83 395.07	471.26 635.80		I-40 east – Albuquerque	Northern end of I-40 concurrency; I-40 exit 292; mileposts change to reflect SR 77
	​	408.93	658.11		BIA Route 6 north	Continuation beyond northern terminus at Navajo Nation boundary
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

Notes

1. The mileage reflects the official ADOT mileposts along SR 77. The mileposts reflecting SR 77 only are based on former US 89. Milepost 0.00 was on US 89 (now SR 19 Bus.) at the United States–Mexico border in Nogales.

See also

•  Arizona portal
•  U.S. roads portal

External links

• SR 77 at Arizona Roads
• David Leighton,"Street Smarts: Miracle Mile's roots include fancy stores, the Mexican revolution," Arizona Daily Star, February 23, 2015

References

1. Roadway Inventory Management Section, Multimodal Planning Division (December 31, 2008). "2008 State Highway System Log" (PDF). Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 9, 2008.
2. Arizona Department of Transportation (2014). "Arizona Parkways, Historic and Scenic Roads" (PDF). Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
3. "Historic Arizona U.S. Route 80 Designation". Webpage. Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation. August 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
4. Tucson @ AARoads.com
5. Devine, Dave (October 9–15, 1997). "Motel Memories". Tucson Weekly. Tucson.
6. Arizona State Highway Department and United States Public Roads Administration (June 1939). "History of the Arizona State Highway Department" (PDF). Retrieved July 27, 2019 – via Arizona Memory Project.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
7. Arizona Highway Department (1931). State Highway Department Road Map of Arizona (Map). 1:1,267,200. Taylor Printing Company. Retrieved July 27, 2019 – via AARoads.
8. Arizona Highway Department (1939). State Highway Department Road Map of Arizona (Map). 1:1,267,200. Taylor Printing Company. Retrieved July 27, 2019 – via AARoads.
9. Weingroff, Richard F. (October 17, 2013). "U.S. Route 80: The Dixie Overland Highway". Highway History. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
10. Arizona Department of Transportation. "ADOT Right-of-Way Resolution 1992-08-A-056". Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 9, 2019. Renumber B-10 from MP. 255.26 in Tucson to U.S. 89 at M.P. 256.71. / Renumber U.S. 89 from S.R. B-10 (Miracle Mile) to Oracle Jct.
11. Arizona Department of Transportation. "ADOT Right-of-Way Resolution 1993-10-A-062". Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 9, 2019. Abandon portion of R/W to city of Tucson, priors 9-9-27, 8-21-36, 63-69, 87-109, & 92-56.
12. Arizona State Transportation Board Meeting Agenda (PDF) (Report). Show Low, Arizona: Arizona State Transportation Board. July 20, 2018. pp. 310 to 339.
13. Shell Oil Company; H.M. Gousha Company (1956). Shell Highway Map of Arizona (Map). 1:1,330,560. Chicago: Shell Oil Company. Retrieved March 31, 2015 – via David Rumsey Map Collection.