State Route 86 (or SR 86) is a state highway in southern Arizona that stretches from its junction with State Route 85 in Why east to its junction at 16th Avenue east of Interstate 19 in Tucson. It formerly went east to the New Mexico border near Lordsburg, but this eastern segment has been superseded by

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

. SR 86 is the primary east–west highway through the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Route description

The western terminus of SR 86 is located at a junction with SR 85 in Why. From this intersection, the highway heads southeast, but curves towards the east as it enters the

Papago Indian Reservation The San Xavier Indian Reservation ( O’odham: Wa:k) is an Indian reservation of the Tohono O’odham Nation located near Tucson, Arizona, in the Sonoran Desert. The San Xavier Reservation lies in the southwestern part of the Tucson metropolit ...

. It continues towards the east passing through the communities of Schuchuli,

Gunsight A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...

, Wahak Hotrontk, Plato Vaya, and Maish Vaya before curving towards the southeast near Quijotoa. It continues southeast until curves towards the east in Sells. It curves towards the northeast near Ali Chukson and curves back to the east near San Pedro. The highway curves towards the northeast just prior to leaving the reservation. SR 86 curves towards the east as it enters Tucson. In Tucson, the highway continues east past an interchange with I-19 to 16th Avenue, which serves as its eastern terminus.

History

SR 86 was originally designated in 1930, between Willcox and Bowie. In 1931, it was extended west to Benson and east to the New Mexico state line, effectively serving as a direct bypass to the US 80 Douglas loop. From 1927 to 1960, the remainder of the bypass between the Arizona border and

Road Forks, New Mexico Road Forks is an unincorporated community in western Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States, in the southwestern corner of the state. It is east of the Arizona border, due east of Stern's Mountain, and at the junction of Interstate 10 and N ...

was served by

New Mexico State Road 14 New Mexico State Road 14 (NM 14) is an approximately state road located in northern New Mexico. The highway connects Albuquerque to Santa Fe and comprises most of the Turquoise Trail, a National Scenic Byway which also includes NM ...

. SR 86 was further extended through Tucson and the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation to Ajo in 1943. SR 85 was extended south from Ajo to

Lukeville Lukeville is a small unincorporated town on the Mexico–United States border in southern Pima County, Arizona, United States. It was named for World War I aviator Frank Luke, an Arizona native who was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. Descri ...

in 1955, establishing a concurrency with SR 86 to Why. In 1970, SR 86 had its eastern end truncated to US 89 (later State Business Route 19) in Tucson after being replaced by I-10 between Tucson and New Mexico. In 1991, the concurrency with SR 85 between Ajo and Why was removed, truncating the western end of SR 86 to Why. In 2003, SR 19 Bus. was removed, truncating the eastern end of SR 86 to 16th Avenue east of I-19. The Census Designated Place of Why was named after the "Y" shaped intersection between SR 85 and SR 86. The intersection has since been rebuilt into a "T" shaped intersection.

Junction list

References

External links

SR 86 at Arizona Roads
{{Authority control

086 Area codes 084 and 086 are Nigerian telephone area codes serving the cities of Port Harcourt and Ahoada in Rivers State. They fall under the Southeast Zone in the National Numbering Plan (NNP) restructured in 2003. When in Port Harcourt or Ahoad ...

Transportation in Tucson, Arizona Transportation in Pima County, Arizona Interstate 10 Tohono O'odham Nation