End of US highway 412
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1980-1986
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1986-1988
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1988-1994
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Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 817 miles for US 412... but at the time, it still ended in Woodward. Since then US 412 has been extended to Springer, and our own 2020 measurement yielded 1115.4 miles. It should be noted that US 412's westernmost 188 miles are entirely overlapped with other US routes. |
US 412 is one of a handful of recently-commissioned routes whose number completely defies the logic of the rest of the system. Specifically, the number "412" implies a branch off US 12. But this route does not come anywhere close to US 12, and could not possibly be considered a branch of it (more on the anomalies page). The minute orders listed in Arkansas' January 1980 report included the following item:
That makes it sound like the number 412 was not even AHTD's idea, but rather it was proposed to them by a group of civic organizations. The three original states (AR, OK, TN) first submitted their proposal to AASHTO for their June 1980 meeting, but it was disapproved for several reasons, listed in the letter AASHTO sent out to the state DOTs after the meeting:
Even AASHTO recognized that the number 412 was not appropriate. But then the same proposal was re-submitted for the Nov. meeting... and that time it was approved! Frustratingly I have not seen any documentation related to that, but it would be fascinating to learn why all of the concerns noted above were apparently no longer relevant just a few months later:
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To this day I still have not heard an explanation for how the number "412" was chosen, or why the three states were allowed to use it despite AASHTO's objection to it in June 1980. The original west terminus of US 412 was in Walnut Ridge, as shown on this map: |
c. 1988, AHTD |
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That was before the US 67 bypass had been built there, so US 412 ended at old US 67, which is now Business 67. This photo was looking north on Front Street: |
Nelson, Jan. 2006 |
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Old US 67 went left on Main Street (as Business 67 does today), and the west beginning of US 412 was to the right on Main. Originally the other end of the US 412 designation was in Jackson. Reportedly it continued south of I-40 and south of its present route (North Parkway), ending at the US 45 (Keith Short) Bypass: |
Karners, Apr. 2014 |
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At their Nov. 1986 meeting, AASHTO approved an eastward extension of US 412, this time to I-65's interchange 46 at Columbia. "End" and "Begin" assemblies were posted there: |
Dienhart, Oct. 2014 |
Lintz, May 2021 |
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This photo shows signage for the east beginning as seen from northbound I-65; from the offramp US 412 heads left, skirting downtown Columbia about seven miles to the west: |
Patriarca, July 2003 |
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If 412 were a "classic" US route, it would also extend east (right) from there about six miles along TN hwy. 99 to end at US 431. But it is not a classic route: it was commissioned long after the interstates had been built, so it is somewhat appropriate that it ends at an interstate. The following year (1988), US 412 was also extended west to Woodward, ending at its junction with US 183-270: |
c. 1989, OK DoT |
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This shot was looking east on Oklahoma Avenue. Besides US 183 and 270 (which continue to the right on 9th Street), this is now also eastbound US 412 (which continues straight ahead). But in 1989, straight ahead was the west beginning of US 412: |
Stuve, Jan. 2003 |
Sanderson, Apr. 2021 |
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This view is from northbound 9th, which carries northbound US 183 / westbound US 270. Today US 412 runs both ways along Oklahoma, but for a few years its west beginning was to the right: |
Sanderson, Apr. 2021 |
In 1994, US 412 was extended west again, this time to its current terminus in Springer. |
Research and/or photo credits: Paul Dienhart; Karin and Martin Karner; Josh Lintz; Steven Nelson; Chris Patriarca; David Rigsby; Mike Roberson; Dale Sanderson; Eric Stuve
Page originally created 2002;
last updated Feb. 11, 2022.