U.S. Route 60 in Texas

Route description

U.S. 60 enters Texas from New Mexico at Farwell, having just left a concurrence with U.S. Highways 70 and 84. The route travels northeast through small towns in the western Panhandle, reaching an intersections with U.S. Highway 385 at Hereford. The route continues on, reaching Canyon. There it turns north, and merges with Interstate 27 and U.S. Highway 87. This concurrence continues until it reaches Amarillo. I-27 ceases at the intersection with Interstate 40. US 60 and 87 continue north, being joined by U.S. Highway 287. On the north side on Amarillo, US 60 departs to the east on Amarillo Avenue. This route is currently Business Route 40, and is a portion of Historic Route 66. US 60 and Business I-40 split just northeast of the Amarillo Airport, with US 60 continuing to the northeast. The route passes through Panhandle and Pampa, before reaching a 10-mile (16 km) concurrence with U.S. Highway 83 in Hemphill County. The routes then split again, with US 60 travelling northeast to the Oklahoma state line near Higgins in Lipscomb County.

History

The section of US 60 from New Mexico to Amarillo was originally a portion of the Ozark Trail and paralleled the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. When Texas began numbering their highway system, the Ozark Trail received the numbering of State Highway 13. By 1920, the entire US 60 route had been renumbered as State Highway 33, or its spur SH 33A, with the northeastern portion also following the AT&SF Railway. By the mid-1920s, the entire route had become an extension of the Abo Pass Highway, and was SH 33 along the entire length. In 1928, the AASHO added the highway to the U.S. Highway System as U.S. Highway 164. It was renumbered as US 60 in 1930 when the route was extended to make it a coast to coast highway.