State Route 86 (or SR 86) is a state highway in southern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

that stretches from its junction with State Route 85 in

Why Why may refer to: * Causality, a consequential relationship between two events * Reason (argument), a premise in support of an argument, for what reason or purpose * Grounding (metaphysics), a topic in metaphysics regarding how things exist in v ...

east to its junction at 16th Avenue east of

Interstate 19 Interstate 19 (I-19) is a north–south Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Arizona. I-19 travels from Nogales, roughly from the Mexican border, to Tucson, at I-10. The highway also travels through the cities of ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. It formerly went east to the

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

border near

Lordsburg Lordsburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States. Hidalgo County includes the southern "bootheel" of New Mexico, along the Arizona border. The population was 2,797 at the 2010 census, down from 3,379 in 20 ...

, but this eastern segment has been superseded by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 Benson may refer to: Animals *Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain Places Geography Canada *Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality *Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet United Kingdom * Benson, Oxfordshire ...

and east to the New Mexico state line, effectively serving as a direct bypass to the

US 80 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

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

. In 1970, SR 86 had its eastern end truncated to

US 89 U.S. Route 89 (US 89) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern section ...

(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 A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

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