Do not adjust your monitor, these are indeed reverse shields on the connector road from US 60 to AZ Loop 303. (If you have a monitor that can reverse colors in specific parts of images, do not adjust it, just maximize your profit from producing and selling more of them.) Loop 303 was the forgotten child of loop signage, since Loop 101 and Loop 202 snapped up blue and brown. 303 could have been green, red, or any other standard color, but ADOT went with black. Maybe because this is the only loop with non-freeway sections, although right-of-way is reserved for eventual upgrade as development, and consequently traffic, increases. Once this is a freeway, the "TO" banners may actually be accurate, depending on the interchange configuration. No, actually, the assemblies will just be gone. I hate progress.


EB Superstition Freeway button copy.


Just east of the AZ 87 junction in Mesa, taken in 1988 by Michael Summa. The US 60 sign was still accurate at the time of the photo, but the US 89 should have been removed as it was truncated up to Flagstaff thanks to I-17 and I-19. They should also have both been on one pole, though US 70 and 80 added below them (as was once the case) would have made a nice square. US 60 moved south to the Superstition Freeway in 1992, replacing AZ 360.


WB through the Loop 202 stack interchange. Those shields are rather angular, cutting off Gadsden and Yuma. Also, there's something amiss with the exit numbers. I bet they're Series D-modified instead of just plain Series D. The thicker stroke width belongs in the body of the sign below, not the exit tab.


Old West Hwy., former US 60 (and US 70/80/89, earlier), EB in Apache Junction.


Goldfield Rd. SB at the same intersection. This one's not button copy.


WB Exit 199 from US 60 leads to Old West Highway where it meets Goldfield Rd. Exit 198 is for Goldfield Rd. just to the south. Also, this is the only ramp for Exit 199. So why does Exit 199 even exist? Well, it should be obvious that this ramp follows former US 60 toward Apache Junction, if not from the cracked roadway and faded left yellow stripe for a two-lane roadway, then for the fact that the old EB roadway is just next to it, abandoned. In fact, if you have something sturdier than a rental car, you can cross over and drive on it. Rather than abandon the entire roadway, ADOT decided it could keep it in service with no maintenance for the time being. Sooner or later, they'll have to either repave the ramp or close it, and I don't want to guess which.


The ramp curves left to meet Goldfield Rd. at a 90-degree angle instead of cutting across onto Old West Hwy., and the old WB and EB roadways respectively cross it and head straight along the old alignment.

US 60/I-17

Onto AZ Loop 303
To I-10
Exit 176 to AZ Loop 101
Exit 179 to AZ 87
Up onto AZ Loop 202 Pinal Co. scenery from US 60
Back to Arizona Roads
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