User:MatthewAnderson707/Sandbox/Arizona State Route 76

State Route 76 (SR 76) was a short state highway in eastern central Arizona, United States that connected State Route 77 to the San Manuel Copper Mine and San Manuel with a detached southern segment connecting Pomerene to Benson. The highway was planned to be completed through Pima County between Pomerene and San Manuel, but was ultimately never completed, with the next planned segment being abandoned during construction. The northernmost section of the highway, between SR 77 and the San Manuel mine was decommissioned by ADOT, with the remainder of the highway being decommissioned in 1988, and all right of way acquired for the incomplete extension being sold off. ADOT continues to recognize SR 76 as a de facto designation, though all sections of the former route are unsigned and have mostly become locally maintained roads.

Route description
State Route 76 began at an interchange with Interstate 10 exit 306 and I-10 Business (former SR 86) in eastern Benson. The road which comprised of I-10 Business transitioned into the southern section of SR 76, after crossing under I-10. SR 76 continued north along Pomerene Road, unsigned. Upon reaching the point where Pomerene road curved westward, the SR 76 designation and state ownership of Pomerene Road ended, creating a discontinuous gap, in the highway. The highway was meant to be continued through Pima County along the San Pedro River valley to San Manuel, but was never completed. In southeastern Pinal County, an incomplete section of highway, where only the road grading had been completed, exists between Redfield Canyon and Peppersauce Wash, just southeast of San Manuel. This was part of the proposed extension.

The completed northern segment of SR 76 began at the incomplete grading near Peppersauce Wash, near an intersection with San Pedro River Road. The highway continued northwest along what is now Veterans Memorial Boulevard towards San Manuel, crossing under a no longer extant railroad overpass for the San Manuel Arizona Railroad. SR 76 continued along the eastern edge of San Manuel, serving as the main road to the mining town, with access to the town being provided by numerous residential and local arterial roads. The highway continued past San Manuel Airport, paralleling a now abandoned railroad through mountainous terrain, then curved north, crossing over Cherry Valley Wash. SR 76 proceeded to a grade separated interchange with SR 77, south of the San Manuel Copper Mine, where the highway ended after 1974. Prior to 1974, SR 76 continued north to the mine, ending at the main administrative buildings, which were located on the edge of the open pit mine.

History
SR 76 was first established on December 28, 1962, when the state of Arizona took ownership and maintenance of 6.5 mi of San Manuel Road in Pinal County between McNab Parkway in San Manuel and the old routing of SR 77 (Tiger Mine Road) next to the open pit of the San Manuel Copper Mine. Although SR 76 was an even numbered highway, it was signed as north–south due to its orientation. Starting in 1967, there was a planned extension to Benson which would have originally been State Route 176. SR 176 was ultimately never designated as a state highway, with the proposed route becoming part of SR 76 proper in 1970. This was done in order to secure a Secondary Federal Aid Highway designation and federal funding for the proposed route, which had already been allocated to SR 76.

Around 1969, SR 76 was extended further southeast from San Manuel over Peppersauce Wash. A bridge was constructed over Peppersauce Wash and grading of a further section of SR 76 began through Redfield Canyon towards the Pinal–Pima County Line. The rest of the highway from Peppersauce Wash to San Manuel Mine had also been improved and paved, with two culverts and a railroad overpass being constructed on the short section north of SR 77. This extended the highway to a total length of 10.37 mi. In Cochise County, a section of Pomerene Road near Benson was taken over by the state of Arizona and rebuilt into a section of SR 76. The newly rebuilt section of road began at I-10, traveling north then curving west continuing briefly before reverting to a county maintained road in Pomerene. Though there were plans to extend the highway past Pomerene, nothing ever materialized and the southern section only ever reached a length of 2.06 mi. Though part of SR 76, Pomerene Road was never signed unlike the San Manuel section. Construction on the route through Redfield Canyon in Pinal County was started, but never finished. The unpaved grading was left abandoned and is still unused to this day, ending abruptly in the middle of nowhere. With construction cancelled southeast of Peppersauce Wash, the two sections of SR 76 were never connected and the entire highway only reached a maximum length of 12.43 mi.

In 1974, the section of SR 76 between SR 77 and San Manuel Mine was retired from the state highway system and handed over to Pinal County. This reduced the length of SR 76 to 11.16 mi. Any hope of SR 76 ever being completed to Benson faded in 1988, when ADOT cancelled the proposed extension all together. The short section of SR 76 that was completed near San Manuel was decommissioned as a state highway on December 16 of the same year. The unsigned section of Pomerene Road near Benson was also retired from the state highway system. All right of way ADOT had acquired to construct the highway between Benson and SR 77 was also given away. Although SR 76 was properly decommissioned as an active state highway, the section of Veterans Memorial Boulevard crossing under SR 77, between both the northbound and southbound interchange ramps is still designated by ADOT as an unsigned section of SR 76, where the remainder of the former highway is no longer owned or maintained by ADOT. As of 2023, State Highway System GIS data suggests ADOT continues to recognize SR 76 as an active designation, including all sections relinquished by the state to local jurisdictions between 1974 and 1988.

Major intersections
The following represents the route of SR 76 as it existed in 1988, prior to decommissioning.