US 395, Part 11: Carson City (NV 529, Business US 395, NV 530, Future I-580)

Approaching Fairview Dr, we get our first signage of TEMP US 395/US 50, which was requested by NDOT and approved by AASHTO 15 May 2009. This is a small connector bypass taking traffic out of the downtown to the (currently) constructed freeway to Fairview. We'll cover this first before we resume down Carson St on the oldest alignment of US 395. The routing is fairly nondescript city street, but as you have no doubt appreciated thus far, I try to be comprehensive about signed alignments.

North of Fairview Dr, Stewart Street splits off, functioning somewhat as an eastern bypass of the downtown.

At this point, I left my car in the restaurant parking lot to take in the sights in person. The next set of photographs up to William St (old US 50) were taken on foot.

Here are two nice resources about Nevada's political history (#1 and #2), by the way.

The signage exhibited here in the old Nevada senate chamber was part of the locally funded (in this case, in California) marker system used to indicate the highway's alignment, but the highway description itself was actually published in guidebook format and the FHWA site above describes some of the fascinating hallmarks of the route as documented in this Official Road Guide; additional upgrades and bypasses were merely noted by changes in the book because the LHA was unable itself to pay for the actual road's upkeep (Henry Ford thus being vindicated). Several short stretches were paved with local funds and money from LHA backers, including the 1922-3 "Ideal Section" through Indiana (which is still in existence), and the road's success would directly lead to government attention to the otherwise shoddy state of contemporary roads and the rise of the Federal "US" highway system. However, it was the experiences of a young Army lieutenant colonel traveling on a military convoy on the route in 1919, along with his observations of the Autobahn in Germany as a general in World War II, that directly led to the formation of the modern, high-speed national government-funded road network that Henry Ford had believed would one day occur. That young officer became President Dwight Eisenhower, who formulated his experiences into his "Grand Plan" of highways and the birth of the national Interstate highway system.

As for the Lincoln Highway, the official designation would lapse with the formation of the Federal highway system and its approval in 1926. To preserve the route, however, the LHA staged one last stunt and on 1 September 1928, at 1pm, Boy Scouts across the routing placed approximately 2,500 concrete markers at major crossings and intervals to mark the former alignment. We will get to see one of these markers in a moment. Despite the LHA closing its doors shortly thereafter, the highway carried on and became fully paved and sealed by 1938, and the route's marking is becoming renewed in the present day after decades of dormancy by local historical groups and boosters in a fashion not unlike Carl Fisher and the original LHA. (Fisher himself died in 1939, having lost most of his fortune to the Depression.) Today, the modern Lincoln Highway Association carries the torch and is dedicated to the route's continued preservation.

The plaque on the Lincoln Highway post reads Lincoln Highway: First Marked Coast To Coast Federal Highway, Now: US 50, San Francisco to Salt Lake City, US 30, Salt Lake City to Philadelpha, US 1, Philadelphia to New York City. This is somewhat of an oversimplification; there are actually two portions of the Lincoln Highway in California, and this sign only recognizes one. Classically, the northern "Donner" fork more or less follows old US 50 (now I-580, I-205 and I-5) from San Francisco to Sacramento, then old US 40 (now I-80) east to Reno, then US 40 (I-80) to near Wadsworth and then southeast on then-NV 2 (later ALT US 95, now ALT US 50) to US 50 west of Fallon, and then east on US 50. The California portion of this route is well-signed with commemorative markers as Lincoln Highway in the field (having driven it personally), although Dan Faigin marks it as Lincoln Highway (Alternate). In 1927, the portion from Davis to San Francisco was later realigned along what is now I-80.

This plaque, on the other hand, asserts only the southern "Pioneer" routing, which was US 50 from San Francisco to Sacramento, staying on US 50 to Carson City; then north on US 50 (and later US 395/US 50) to US 50 again, and east on US 50 from Carson City; moreover, this post's placement as highway designation is only possible on the southern routing. Note that both routings were established more or less at the same time, so IMHO it is somewhat misleading to indicate one or the other as an alternate route.

From US 50 on, the routing is less ambiguous. Today, the route is best approximated by US 50 to ALT US 50/US 91 (now I-15) at the south end of Salt Lake City, then north on ALT US 50/US 91 (I-15) to US 30S (now I-80) in Salt Lake City, then east on US 30S (I-80) to US 30, and US 30 to Philadelphia, then US 1 from Philadelphia to New York City.

The plaque shown above was not part of the original post and I am not certain when it was added. Since this was taken facing west, the arrow is pointing south along US 50/US 395 Carson St.

As far as I am aware, this is the original marker that stood, not a replica. The rarity of these markers has made them targets of theft, and those that remain have been badly vandalized, ruining their classic facade; even the honourable western terminus post on California St in San Francisco has suffered under the thoughtless thuggery of taggers. Those sorts of brats should grow up.

This photograph and the next two were taken in 2005, before the completion of the partial quadrant bypass. Keep these three photographs in mind, because we'll be coming back to this location in a "couple years" (at the end of this Part).

At this point, I pulled a U-turn across multiple lanes of traffic and hopped the Jersey kerb to bring you, my readers, this view of the completed northeastern quadrant bypass in late 2006. I was finally released with a reckless driving conviction from the Nevada State Penitentiary thanks to good behaviour and a copy of the Star Wars Christmas Special smuggled to the warden, and my parole officer says I might even get to serve on a state jury one day.

Just kidding. Here is the beginning of the new bypass descending from US 395 southbound this time (which is the clearest way to demonstrate the exits).

Continue to Part 12