AZ/NV US 93 Truck removed

[mjcordone]

In Arizona and Nevada, US 93 Truck has not existed for about 12 years, yet it is still on TM. I am talking about "US93TrkLau", which overlays AZ 68, NV 163, and US 95. It existed because trucks were not allowed across the Hoover Dam, but was rendered obsolete and removed with the completion of the Hoover Dam Bridge in 2010.

[oscar]

^ My impression is that the new bridge is often enough closed to trucks due to high winds, that the truck detour could still serve a useful purpose.

Has the signage completely disappeared? I haven't seen signage in the vicinity of Boulder City, but haven't lately ventured farther south on US 93 or US 95.

I'll take a look on Google Maps Street View, once I return from Easter brunch at my sister's new home in south central Pennsylvania.

[mjcordone]

I don't think it was ever actually an official US Truck Route, rather it was merely a truck restriction that forced trucks to take a different route. I've included an image from street view that shows what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, the only imagery of the signage is from January 2008, so it is quite blurry, but the sign says "No trucks, buses, rental trucks, or trailers on US 93 over Hoover Dam. Use AZ 68, NV 163, US 95." This is located on US 93 NB just south of the interchange with AZ 68, and the signage had disappeared by the time the next street view imagery was taken in 2011. Anyway, the signage isn't so much a bannered US Truck Route but rather a truck restriction with a recommended route.

[oscar]

^ Just starting my look, I found this US 93 Truck Detour sign assembly on eastbound NV 163, just east of its junction with US 95. This GMSV imagery is from May 2021. At the same intersection. there's a westbound truck detour US 93 sign assembly, directing detour traffic onto northbound US 95, from March 2021. Neither of these sign assemblies include any orange signs, indicating the detour is temporary.

I'll look for more imagery, on both sides of the NV/AZ state line.

EDIT: Also here, in Searchlight NV on NB US 95.

[Jim]

If we keep it (which looks unlikely to me) the NV165 point should be aligned with US 95's NV165 point to fix the concurrency.

[Duke87]

I'd definitely favor axing it seeing as whatever signage still exists appears to be straggling and, as was pointed out, the original reason for this truck route's existence has not been relevant for a decent number of years now.

Oscar if you agree feel free to pull the AZ portion along with your NV portion.

[oscar]

https://github.com/TravelMapping/HighwayData/pull/5728
https://github.com/TravelMapping/HighwayData/pull/5729

The US 93 (Truck) signs noted above were all I could find in GMSV. More important, no such signs on SB US 93 approaching the US 95 interchange, or NB US 93 approaching the AZ 68 interchange.

FWIW, Nevada DOT's latest list of state-maintained highways in Clark County (Las Vegas area, down to the state's southern tip) doesn't include the US 93 truck detour, but does include the US 93 business route through Boulder City.

The US 93 Tillman Bridge near Hoover Dam is sometimes closed to heavy trucks due to high winds. However, for such closures, at least Nevada DOT seems to rely on variable message signs and/or state police to direct trucks to cross the Colorado River at Laughlin NV, instead of the Tillman Bridge.

mjcordone, thank you for bringing this to our attention.