U.S. Route 191
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{{Infobox U.S. Route |article_route=191 |type=Secondary |yrcom=1926 |length_mi=1,905 |length_km=3,066 |direction_a=South |direction_b=North |from=Douglas, AZ |to=Loring, MT }}
U.S. Highway 191 is a spur of U.S. Highway 91 that has two branches. The northern branch currently runs for 440 miles (708 km) from Loring, Montana, at the Canadian border to the northern part of Yellowstone National Park. The southern branch currently runs for 1,465 miles (2,358 km) from the southern part of Yellowstone National Park to Douglas, Arizona, on the Mexican border. It passes through the states of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona.
The original route commissioned in 1926 ran from Idaho Falls, Idaho, to West Yellowstone, Montana. Its routing has drastically changed through the years having been extended and shortened several times. West Yellowstone is the only town that has always been served by the highway. At one time US 191 connected to its parent, U.S. Highway 91, twice at Idaho Falls, Idaho and Brigham City, Utah; today they do not connect. U.S. 191 is now 10 times longer than its parent.
By the late 1970s the route was truncated to West Yellowstone and Malta, Montana. Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming lobbied AASHTO to create a single highway that would connect several national parks in the 3 states to facilitate tourism. It was decided to number this "new" highway an extension of U.S. Highway 191. Most of the southern extension recycled existing U.S. and state highways. However at least 3 new pieces were proposed:
- Local and National Forest roads were upgraded to create a more direct route between Flaming Gorge Reservoir and Interstate 80 in Wyoming.
- A road linking Vernal, Utah and Interstate 70 near Cisco, Utah was proposed but never built. The current route between Vernal and I-70 is a circuitous route that replaced (then) Utah State Route 33 over Indian Summit between Price and Duchesne.
- A New route was constructed between Bluff, Utah and Mexican Water, Arizona. This change bypassed steep hills and sharp curves near Mexican Hat, Utah and Monument Valley along U.S. Highway 163. This was arguably the only instance where U.S. 191 was built to bypass a scenic area.
The southern extension was complete in 1982.
With its mission of connecting national parks complete the highway became popular with tourists and RV's. U.S. Highway 191 now the primary US route to connect Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Capital Reef National Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Painted Desert, Arizona and Petrified Forest National Monument. The highway also indirectly connects Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, Monument Valley, Four Corners National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Wupatki National Monument, and Sunset Crater National Monument.
In 1992,Arizona requested a new number for its portion of U.S. Highway 666 arguing the road signs on this highway were the most frequently stolen in the state. As a result, US 191 was extended to the Mexican border at Douglas, Arizona.
In 1999 it became the last U.S. highway to run from border to border, with the extension from Malta, Montana to the Canadian border.
In 2003 New Mexico asked AASHTO to renumber its portion of U.S. Highway 666. This time all of remaining U.S. 666 was renumbered U.S. Highway 491 giving U.S. Highway 191 a "child".