Nevada State Route 161 Explained

State:NV
Type:NV
Route:161
Map:Nevada 161 map.svg
Map Notes:Nevada State Route 161, highlighted in red
Map Alt:Nevada State Route 161 runs southeast from Goodsprings to I-15.
Alternate Name:Goodsprings Road
Length Mi:7.290
Length Round:3
Length Ref:[1]
Direction A:West
Direction B:East
Terminus A:Esmeralda Street in Goodsprings
Terminus B: in Jean
Formed:1976
History:Established as SR 53 by 1935
Counties:Clark
Previous Type:NV
Previous Route:160
Next Type:NV
Next Route:163

State Route 161 (SR 161) is a state highway in Clark County, Nevada. It is known as Goodsprings Road, connecting the town of Goodsprings to Interstate 15 at Jean. The route was part of State Route 53 prior to 1976.

Route description

The route begins at the intersection of Esmeralda Street and Spring Street in Goodsprings. It runs east along Spring Street, then exits the town and heads southeastward, intersecting Sandy Valley Road, which provides access to Sandy Valley. The road continues southeastward through the Mojave Desert for about 7miles before entering Jean. SR 161 ends in Jean at an interchange with Interstate 15.[1]

History

A connection between Goodsprings and U.S. Route 91 (and SR 6) at Jean first appeared on official Nevada state maps in 1933. At that time, it was an unimproved county road.[2] By 1935, that road was incorporated into State Route 53, which connected Jean to Goodsprings before curving southwest towards the California state line.[3] By 1941, the first 7miles of the SR 53 reaching Goodsprings was paved, with the remaining 13miles in to Sandy Valley and on to California still unimproved.[4]

SR 53 remained unchanged until the 1976 renumbering of Nevada's state highway system that was authorized on July 1, 1976. In that process, the paved portion of the highway between Jean and Goodsprings was renumbered to State Route 161. This change was first seen on the 1978–1979 edition of the official state map[5] [6] The remaining section of SR 53 to Sandy Valley continued to be shown on the state map, but was dropped from the state system by 1982.[7] Sandy Valley is now reachable via the Sandy Valley Road turnoff from SR 161, prior to entering Goodsprings.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: State Maintained Highways of Nevada: Descriptions and Maps. Nevada Department of Transportation. Nevada Department of Transportation. January 2017. May 6, 2017.
  2. Nevada Department of Highways . Official Road Map of Nevada . https://archive.today/20121205004930/http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/u?/hmaps,461 . dead . December 5, 2012 . 1933 . 26 July 2011 .
  3. Nevada Department of Highways . Official Road Map of the state of Nevada . https://archive.today/20121211152024/http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/u?/hmaps,465 . dead . December 11, 2012 . 1935 . 26 July 2011 .
  4. Nevada Department of Highways . Official Road Map of the state of Nevada . 1941 . 26 July 2011.
  5. Book: Nevada State Maintained Highways: Descriptions, Index and Maps . January 2001 . Nevada Department of Transportation . 99 .
  6. Nevada Department of Highways . Official Highway Map of Nevada . 1978 . F6 . 26 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150122214240/http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/u?%2Fhmaps%2C535 . 22 January 2015 . dead .
  7. Nevada Department of Transportation . Official Highway Map of Nevada . 1982 . F6 . 26 July 2011.