page_title: U.S. Route 491
section_title: Elimination and renumbering of US 666
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 491 / History / Elimination and renumbering of US 666
caption_attribution_description: English: A photograph of Shiprock, Navajo Nation, New Mexico, USA.
context_page_description: U.S. Route 491 is a north–south U.S. Highway serving the Four Corners region of the United States. One of the newest designations in the U.S. Highway System, it was created in 2003 as a renumbering of U.S. Route 666. With the 666 designation, this road was nicknamed the "Devil's Highway" because of the significance of the number 666 to many Christian denominations, which believe it to be the Number of the Beast. This Satanic connotation, combined with a high fatality rate along the New Mexico portion, convinced some people the highway was cursed. The problem was compounded by persistent sign theft. These factors led to two efforts to renumber the highway, first by officials in Arizona, later in New Mexico. There have been safety improvement projects in recent years, and fatality rates have subsequently decreased.
  The highway, now a spur route of US 91 via its connection to US 191, runs through Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as the tribal nations of the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The highway passes by two mountains considered sacred by Native Americans: Ute Mountain and an extinct volcanic core named Shiprock.
context_section_description: In 1985, the US 66 designation was eliminated, leaving US 666 (and other routes) as "orphans". This fact would be used as a supporting factor in later petitions to renumber the highway. In 1992, the part in Arizona was renumbered as an extension of US 191. This truncated US 666 again at Gallup, New Mexico, now at I-40.
  The route in the other three states became U.S. Route 491 in 2003, mainly through efforts of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. He requested the change due to the "infamy brought by the inopportune naming of the road". While campaigning for governor, Richardson promised to renumber the highway as part of a larger plan to improve the highway and build relations between New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. Although traditional Navajo culture does not share the belief of 666 being an evil number, some Navajos had attempted for years to change the number as a way to raise awareness about the dangerous highway. The highway had largely been ignored, with few improvements made since it was first paved. By 1997, US 666 was named one of the 20 most dangerous highways in the United States. Some Navajo leaders were concerned that efforts to reduce poverty on Navajo lands, via promoting tourism and outside investment, were being hampered by the Christian aversion to the number.
  In New Mexico's motion to renumber the highway, they selected U.S. Route 393. Since the route came nowhere near US 93, AASHTO instead suggested US 491, noting it as a branch of US 191 at Monticello, Utah. Although the next three-digit child of US 91 would have been U.S. Route 291, both the 291 and 391 designations were already in use as state route numbers in at least one of the affected states. At the news that the motion had passed, a New Mexico spokesperson stated, "The devil's out of here, and we say goodbye and good riddance." Referring to the motion passing with a different number from what New Mexico requested, another spokesperson responded, "As long as it's not 666 and it's nothing satanic, that's OK." US 666 officially ceased to exist on May 31, 2003, although temporary "New 491 – Old 666" signs were posted after the change to aid travelers using old maps.
  Although sign theft has always been a problem along this highway, thefts reached epidemic proportions when the pending number change was announced. Within days of the announcement, virtually every US 666 sign had been stolen, some for sale on eBay. Officials in Utah reported that five entire sign assemblies had been cut down with a chainsaw and stolen, while New Mexico officials reported that even signs welded to metal posts, as a theft deterrent, had been stolen. Officials speculated from one scene that someone had intentionally crashed a car into the sign post to break the welds.
  The dedication of the "new" highway was postponed until July 30, 2003, to coincide with the start of construction projects to improve safety on the highway. At the dedication George Blue Horse, a Navajo medicine man, performed a ceremony to remove the curse from the highway. In the Navajo language he stated, "The road itself never ends. It goes on generation to generation. The new number is a good one. The new road will be a medicine."
  Newspapers and television stations interviewed people along the route about their opinions on the changing of the highway's number. Even some people who believed in the 666 curse disagreed with the change. One went on record as stating highway officials, "are messing with the wrong guy. They're making the devil mad. They should have left the 666 alone." Others were more sarcastic. One Monticello resident stated, "We'll really miss all the potheads stopping and taking pictures of the Route 666 sign." Most residents took pride in living along the Devil's Highway and opposed the change. Some commented that no matter the number they would still call the road the Devil's Highway.
caption: Shiprock, a sacred mountain to the Navajo people, is accessed via US 491
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