Arizona State Route 77

State Route 77 (or SR 77) is a state highway in Arizona that traverses much of the state's length, stretching from its northern terminus at the boundary of the Navajo Nation north of Holbrook to its junction with I-10 in Tucson.

Route description

At its southern terminus, north of Tucson, the road is known as Oracle Road until the final mile and a half when the road turns westward directly toward Interstate 10 and is called Miracle Mile Road, named such in 1962.

File:State route 77 in the salt river canyon, arizona.jpg

Route 77 traveling through Salt River Canyon

Past the Navajo Nation boundary, SR 77 becomes BIA Route 6 northbound towards Keams Canyon. Between Show Low and Globe, this highway is concurrent with U.S. Route 60. Its southernmost reaches were formerly part of U.S. Route 80 and U.S. Route 89, except for its terminal segment, the Miracle Mile segment of old Business 10 and State Route 84A.

Origin of the name of Tucson's Miracle Mile

Although it was thought for several years that, Tucson's Miracle Mile derived its name from a June 1937 Arizona Highways magazine, historian David Leighton challenged this theory, in a February 23, 2015, article in the Arizona Daily Star newspaper. He explained that in 1936, real estate developer Stanley Williamson conceived the idea of creating a commercial center outside of the over-congested downtown retail district, in Tucson. His model for this business center was the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, Calif. The one in L.A., was the idea of real estate agent A.W. Ross, who saw that the retail district in that city was overcrowded and, also saw that cars were becoming more common. He came up with the idea of buying farming land, along Wilshire Blvd., several miles out from downtown, with the belief that as more people bought automobiles they would be willing to drive farther, in order to avoid the lack of parking and congestion in the downtown area. While initially no one thought his idea would work, in time store after store came to his business center. The Miracle Mile eventually became one of Los Angeles' premier shopping districts. Ross originally called his business area, the Wilshire Boulevard Center, it was changed to the Miracle Mile in 1928.

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Pima	Tucson				I-10 – Phoenix, El Paso
Pinal	​				SR 79 north (Pinal Pioneer Parkway) – Florence, Phoenix
	​			—	Veterans Memorial Boulevard – San Manuel	Interchange; serves San Manuel Airport
Gila	Winkelman				SR 177 north (2nd Street) – Superior
	Globe				US 70 east – Safford	South end of US 70 overlap
					US 70 end / US 60 west (Ash Street) – Globe, Phoenix	South end of US 60 overlap; north end of US 70 overlap
Navajo	​				SR 73 east
	Show Low				SR 260 west (Clark Road) – Heber	South end of SR 260 overlap
					SR 260 east (White Mountain Road) – Pinetop-Lakeside	North end of SR 260 overlap
					US 60 east (Deuce of Clubs) – Springerville	North end of US 60 overlap
	Snowflake				SR 277 west (3rd Street North) – Heber
	​				SR 377 south (Heber Road) – Heber
	Holbrook				US 180 east – St. Johns	South end of US 180 overlap
					US 180 west (Hopi Drive) to I-40 – Flagstaff	North end of US 180 overlap
					I-40 west / I-40 BL east (Navajo Boulevard) – Flagstaff	South end of I-40 overlap; I-40 exit 286
				289	I-40 BL west (Navajo Boulevard)	Exit number follows I-40
	​				I-40 east – Albuquerque	North end of I-40 overlap; I-40 exit 292
	Navajo Nation boundary				BIA Route 6 north	Northern terminus; continuation into Navajo Nation as BIA Route 6
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

See also

• Arizona portal
• U.S. Roads portal

External links

• SR 77 at Arizona Roads
• David Leighton,"Street Smarts: Miracle Mile's roots include fancy stores, the Mexican revolution," Arizona Daily Star, February 23, 2015