Arizona 88/188 @ The Lost Highway

Arizona 88/188 - Roosevelt Dam

Writeup and photos taken November 11, 2000 by Cary B. Todd.

Intersection of Arizona 88 and 188. We drove east on Arizona 88 out of Apache Junction. This road is the "Apache Trail" and is a spectacular drive. The eastern 22 miles are dirt and extremely dangerous, tight one-lane curves on the sides of mountains with no guardrail. It is amazing it was declared a state route. The road was built for access to the dams along the Salt River. This particular intersection is especially interesting because it was completely relocated/rebuilt onto viaducts when the Roosevelt Dam was rebuilt (the dam originally carried Arizona 188 traffic over it, but does not anymore, see later pictures).
Roosevelt Dam area. I am on the south side of the dam at an overlook. The original AZ 188 crossed the dam, and you can see the original roadway traveling away from the dam toward the newly-built arch bridge. On the far right side of the panorama, you can see the old Arizona 88/188 duplex original road far below the arch bridge. The original intersection of 88/188 no longer exists, and there is no trace of it. Arizona 88 was extended east (along the original 88/188 duplex as it left the dam toward the east/south), and then it elevates onto a beautiful 2-lane viaduct that carries the road over a small canyon, after which it meets with the viaduct portion of the new arch bridge.
This is the arch bridge looking southeast, bridge completed in 1990 right before the dam was rebuilt so as to not disrupt travel between Globe and Payson on Arizona 188. Notice the elevated Arizona 88/188 intersection in the background. The bridge is 120 feet above the water. The dam was rebuilt from 1990-1992 because experts determined that the highest potential flood level was significantly higher than the original dam.
A close-up of the elevated intersection. Notice the old road in front of the bridges.

	Intersection of Arizona 88 and 188. We drove east on Arizona 88 out of Apache Junction. This road is the "Apache Trail" and is a spectacular drive. The eastern 22 miles are dirt and extremely dangerous, tight one-lane curves on the sides of mountains with no guardrail. It is amazing it was declared a state route. The road was built for access to the dams along the Salt River. This particular intersection is especially interesting because it was completely relocated/rebuilt onto viaducts when the Roosevelt Dam was rebuilt (the dam originally carried Arizona 188 traffic over it, but does not anymore, see later pictures).
	Roosevelt Dam area. I am on the south side of the dam at an overlook. The original AZ 188 crossed the dam, and you can see the original roadway traveling away from the dam toward the newly-built arch bridge. On the far right side of the panorama, you can see the old Arizona 88/188 duplex original road far below the arch bridge. The original intersection of 88/188 no longer exists, and there is no trace of it. Arizona 88 was extended east (along the original 88/188 duplex as it left the dam toward the east/south), and then it elevates onto a beautiful 2-lane viaduct that carries the road over a small canyon, after which it meets with the viaduct portion of the new arch bridge.
	This is the arch bridge looking southeast, bridge completed in 1990 right before the dam was rebuilt so as to not disrupt travel between Globe and Payson on Arizona 188. Notice the elevated Arizona 88/188 intersection in the background. The bridge is 120 feet above the water. The dam was rebuilt from 1990-1992 because experts determined that the highest potential flood level was significantly higher than the original dam.
	A close-up of the elevated intersection. Notice the old road in front of the bridges.