Interstate 40 in Arizona

According to allcitycodes, Interstate 40 or I -40 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Arizona. The highway is an east-west connection in the north of the state, running from Topock on the California border via Flagstaff to Lupton on the New Mexico border . The highway leads over great heights and is 578 kilometers long.

Travel directions

I-40 in western Arizona.

I-40 near Flagstaff.

I-40 overlooking San Francisco Peaks.

I-40 in Eastern Arizona.

At the hamlet of Topock, Interstate 40 in California crosses the Colorado River, also the border with Arizona. From here, the highway leads through the desert to the east, and later to the north. A Ford test area is located along the highway. One then reaches Kingman, a regional city of 27,000, where US 93 exits north as a 2×2 trunk road to Las Vegas. At Kingman the highway turns east. You are now at 1000 meters altitude. One passes further through the uninhabited desert, the next place is 110 kilometers away. In remote area, US 93 exits toward Phoenix. The I-40 continues the long way through the desert. The road sometimes has a wide median strip, up to a kilometer wide. To the north is the Grand Canyon.

The area is becoming more mountainous and people have now risen to 1600 meters. After Ash Fork you enter the San Francisco Mountains, and the road rises steeply. Soon one reaches 2000 meters altitude. You then reach Flagstaff, a regional city with 58,000 inhabitants. This is where Interstate 17 ends, coming south from Phoenix. The US 180 also goes north here, towards the Grand Canyon. To the north, Humphrey’s Peak is visible, the highest point in Arizona at 3,851 feet. East of Flagstaff, the landscape is more prairie-like. At Exit 233 is a meteorite crater.

One passes Winslow, a small town. At Holbrook, US 180 exits toward Eagar, not far from the New Mexico border. The highway then passes through Petrified Forest National Park, a petrified forest. You then pass through the Painted Desert, where the desert has special colors. At Chambers one crosses US 191, the main road from St. Johns in the south to Mexican Water on the border with Utah. At an old trading post, I-40 crosses the border into New Mexico, then Interstate 40 in New Mexico continues to Albuquerque.

History

I-40 replaced the famous Route 66 for its entire length. The highway was built mainly during the 1960s and 1970s. The first section opened in 1960, east of Winslow. In most cases, the routes between the regional centers were first constructed, and only later, often in the 1970s or even early 1980s, the routes along the towns, so that many built-up areas were still on the route for quite some time. The final section, the Williams bypass, opened in 1984.

Opening history

California State Line – Kingman

Kingman – Flagstaff

Flagstaff – New Mexico State Line

Traffic intensities

Lane Configuration