Аризона штатының 79 тас жолы: Пинал Пионер паркінің тарихы мен сипаттамасы

State highway in Arizona, United States

State Route 79 (SR 79), also known as the Pinal Pioneer Parkway, is a 58.40 mile (94 km) long state highway in the U. S. state of Arizona. It serves as the main route through the town of Florence, which is also the county seat of Pinal County. Although the highway has been part of the state highway system since at least 1926, it was not designated as SR 79 until 1992. The highway was previously a section of U. S. Route 80 and U. S. Route 89 between Phoenix and Tucson, until both highways were decommissioned in 1977 and 1992 respectively. SR 79 is also the only state highway in Arizona that has a business route, which is SR 79 Business through downtown Florence. SR 79 is also notable for being the location where cowboy western actor Tom Mix died in a car accident on October 14, 1940.

SR 79 begins at an intersection with State Route 77 in the unincorporated locality of Oracle Junction. From this point, it heads northwest through state owned land plentiful with Saguaro cacti on either side of the highway. The southern portion of SR 79 from Oracle Junction to just south of Florence is designated Pinal Pioneer Parkway, a scenic road of the high desert plain with views of the Santa Catalina and Tortilla Mountains. This stretch of road was so designated by the Arizona State Highway Department on January 10, 1961. The first 40 miles of SR 79 is mostly uninhabited wilderness, with only a handful of small ranching communities siding the highway on occasion. Around 11 mile (18 km) north of SR 77, SR 79 crosses Olsen Wash and passes the Cadillac Chaparral Restaurants, one of the few notable man made features on this stretch of highway. North of Foreman Wash, the terrain becomes relatively flat and fairly featureless. SR 79 from this point on becomes a straight highway with no curves or turns. 24 mile (39 km) north of Oracle Junction, the highway passes the Tom Mix Memorial, located on the west side of the highway. Although Florence is not accessible by Interstate, it can be reached by I 10 traffic from SR 287 and SR 87 via Casa Grande and Coolidge. Florence is also accessible from the Phoenix Metropolitan Area by Hunt Highway. SR 79 also serves as a major back road to the Phoenix and Tucson Metropolitan Areas with control cities along this route showing either Phoenix or Tucson. Though SR 79 does not go to either city, direct connections to both Phoenix and Tucson are provided by SR 77 and US 60. Most of SR 79 is a segment of Historic U. S. Route 80, save for a small section through Florence, where it follows SR 79 Business instead.

SR 79 is a former section of both U. S. Route 80 and U. S. Route 89. Both highways were originally designated along this highway on November 11, 1926. US 80 was the main highway across the southern half of the United States between San Diego, California and Savannah, Georgia, while US 89 was the main north–south highway in Arizona, connecting the cities of Tucson, Phoenix and Flagstaff with Mexico and Utah. On the afternoon of October 12, 1940, silent film actor Tom Mix died in a car accident on US 80/US 89 18.5 miles southeast of Florence, Arizona. The entire highway between Florence Junction and Oracle Junction remained completely unpaved until 1946, and was the last section of US 80 in the entire state to receive pavement. The US 80 designation was decommissioned from this road in 1977, when the highway was removed between Yuma and Benson. The remainder of US 80 was decommissioned in Arizona on October 6, 1989. The highway remained part of US 89 until August 21, 1992, when the designation was truncated to Flagstaff. SR 79 was designated as a segment of Historic U. S. Route 80 by the Arizona Department of Transportation in September 2018. Although the current route has existed since 1992, the SR 79 designation was used by two other highways between 1927 and 1993. By 1928, it extended northeast to Flagstaff. By 1941, this route was redesignated as U. S. Route 89A. In 1950, SR 79 was redesignated from Camp Verde to SR 69 at Cordes Junction. Between 1955 and 1964, SR 79 was extended to US 89A south of Flagstaff. SR 79 was extended north to US 66 in 1964. The second incarnation of SR 79 was decommissioned on March 19, 1993.