Nevada State Route 425 is a 3.437-mile-long highway located in Washoe County. The highway is a former segment of the 1939 era alignment of US Route 40 along 3rd Street in the community of Verdi. The corridor assumed the designation it now carries as part of the 1976 Nevada State Highway renumbering shortly after US Route 40 was decommissioned in the state. The highway was co-designated as Interstate 80 Business Loop in 1982 along with several other like corridors in Nevada. The designation is Nevada State Route 425 is heavily deemphasized on-route in favor of Interstate 80 Business.
Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in Verdi
Verdi is located along the Truckee River near the California state line. The proximity to the state line has ensured the community has stayed relevant as an overland trail from the California Gold Rush era to the modern day.
The first documented wagon crossing of the Sierra Nevada Mountains was made in 1844 by the Townsend-Murphys Party. From the vicinity of modern-day Verdi, the Townsend-Murphy Party traveled westward via the Truckee River Canyon towards what is known now as Donner Lake. This routing proved hazardous which led to an alternate routing being scouted through Dog Valley by Caleb Greenwood in 1845. The Dog Valley Grade would be favored by most immigrant parties including the ill-fated Donner Party during the Fall of 1846.
Much of the early history of the Dog Valley Grade is discussed in the September 1950 Centennial Edition of California Highways & Public Works. The volume notes the difficulties faced by the Townsend-Murphy Party in the Truckee River Canyon and the utility of the Dog Valley Grade.
The below illustration found in the September 1950 California Highways & Public Works depicts the Dog Valley Grade (1) from the Nevada state line near Verdi west to Truckee. The Dog Valley Grade is shown intersecting with the Henness Pass Road (2) in Dog Valley and then modern US Route 40 in Truckee.
The utility of the Dog Valley Grade was further enhanced by the development of the Henness Pass Road. During 1849-1850 Patrick Henness developed a Native American trail into what came to be known as the "Henness Pass Road." The Henness Pass Road began at Truckee River in Verdi and climbed west through the Sierra Nevada Mountains via Dog Valley towards Camptonville. The Henness Pass Road was surveyed as a possible all-year wagon road over the Sierra Nevada Mountains by D.B. Scott in 1855 at the behest of the California Legislature (
from the September 1950 California Highways & Public Works). Usage of the Henness Pass Road would peak during 1860-1868 when it was developed as a franchise toll road alternative to the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road.
The Dog Valley Grade can be seen as a component of the Henness Pass Road on the
1857 Britton & Rey's Map of California. The same map depicts the highway towards Donner Pass favoring the earlier routing through the Truckee River Canyon.
O'Neil's Crossing would be settled in 1860. The community was named after a man who constructed a bridge at the Truckee River. The Dog Valley Grade would be connected to the Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Road (DF&DLR) during the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad. During 1861 the State of California granted the Central Pacific Railroad a 10-year franchise on toll rights to the Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Road (DF&DLR) which completed by 1864.
The DF&DLR was used to finance the Central Pacific Railroad's construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad from 1864 to 1868. The DF&DLR was likely not tolled after the Central Pacific Railroad was completed over the Sierra Nevada Mountains via Donner Pass and the Truckee River Canyon during Spring of 1868. The DF&DLR became a public highway in 1871 and was only loosely maintained given rail service had become the easiest form of transportation over Donner Pass.
The
1873 Bancroft's Map of California & Nevada depicts the Dog Valley Grade serving as the fork between the Henness Pass Road and DF&DLR. The Central Pacific Railroad would establish a siding and town plot at O'Neal's Crossing in 1868 called Verdi. The community was named after Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi.
During 1912 Indiana Businessman Carl G. Fisher conceptualized the Lincoln Highway as a major transcontinental Auto Trail. The Lincoln Highway was formally dedicated on October 31, 1913, and was aligned west of Fallon via split branches over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The original northern branch of the Lincoln Highway (displayed in blue) is shown on the Lincoln Highway Association's Official Map from Verdi, Nevada via the Dog Valley Grade to Truckee, California. Within the community of Verdi, the highway used what is now Verdi Road and Bridge Street to reach the Dog Valley Grade.
The 1919 California Third State Highway Bond Act added an addition to
Legislative Route Number 38 (LRN 38) which defined a new segment of State Highway intended to replace the Dog Valley Grade:
"A certain highway Nevada and Sierra counties, running as follows: From a point in the town of Truckee where the present state highway branches at the subway under the Southern Pacific tracks going toward Lake Tahoe, continuing through the town of Truckee, crossing Prosser Creek and over what is known as the "Dog Valley Grade" as far as the state line about 1 mi NW of Verdi, Nevada..."
The Victory Highway was formally organized during 1921 as a coast-to-coast highway aligned from New York to San Francisco. The Victory Highway Association lived on after the creation of the US Route System and became the US Route 40 Association in 1938.
The initial draft of the US Route System was approved by the Secretary of Agriculture during November of 1925. The US Route System within California was approved by California Highway Commission with no changes recommended by January 1926. The alignment of US Route 40 east of Sacramento was planned to follow the existing Northern Branch of the Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway over LRN 3, LRN 17, LRN 37 and LRN 38 to the Nevada state line at Verdi.
Thusly US Route 40 appears on the 1925 Rand McNally Map of California east of Sacramento to Verdi. Conceptual US Route 40 is shown following the Dog Valley Grade east of Truckee.
The May 1926 California Highways & Public Works noted LRN 38 in the Truckee River Canyon between Truckee and the Nevada state line as having been fully graded. The new segment of LRN 38 is stated to have a planned opening on June 10, 1926, as a bypass to the Dog Valley Grade.
The completion of LRN 38 east of Truckee to Verdi by way of the Truckee River Canyon was featured in the
June 1926 California Highways & Public Works. The 19.1 mile long "Truckee River Highway" was dedicated on June 10, 1926, by California Governor Friend Richardson.
The US Route System was formally approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) on November 11, 1926. The approval of the US Route System formally brought US Route 40 into existence east of Sacramento to the Nevada State Line. Notably US Route 40 east of Sacramento to the Nevada State Line was referred to as the Victory Highway in numerous official documents into the 1930s. US Route 40 from the outset of the US Route System was aligned through the Truckee River Canyon east of Truckee to Verdi.
Within Verdi the then new alignment of US Route 40 was extended west of Bridge Street along Verdi Road. The highway would initially enter California via a bridge over the Truckee River which was located on what is now Quilici Ranch Road.
During 1938 the Nevada Department of Highways would construct a concrete arch bridge over the Truckee River east of downtown Verdi. During 1939 a similar structure over the Truckee River was constructed west of downtown. These bridges brought US Route 40 onto a new alignment which bypassed downtown Verdi via 3rd Street. The 3rd Street alignment was followed west of the community to the California state line.
On June 29, 1956, the Federal Highway Aid Act of 1956 was signed into law on the Federal Level. The Federal Highway Aid Act of 1956 was the genesis point of the Interstate Highway System which would in the coming decades sew the demise via of US Route 40 in Nevada with replacement by Interstate 80.
The
1968 Official Road Map of Nevada shows Interstate 80 lapping both ends of the Reno-Sparks area with construction approaching downtown Reno from the California state line. Verdi is shown to have already been bypassed by the then new Interstate. Despite being bypassed US Route 40 is still shown to be present in the community running along 3rd Street.
On November 15, 1974, the Nevada Department of Transportation in conjunction with states of California and Utah submitted a request to truncate US Route 40 from Truckee, California to Park City, Utah. The request to truncate US Route 40 was approved by the AASHO Executive Committee on June 17, 1975. The request by Nevada to remove US Route 40 seems to have been spurred by the completion of Interstate 80 through Reno. This action officially removed US Route 40 from the State of Nevada.
As part of the wider 1976 Nevada State Highway renumbering what was US Route 40 in Verdi was reassigned as Nevada State Route 425. On May 17, 1982, the Nevada Department of Transportation requested of AASHTO that Nevada State Route 425 be assigned a Interstate 80 Business Loop. The request was approved along with seven other Interstate 80 Business Loops on June 29, 1982.
Part 2; a drive on Nevada State Route 425
Eastbound Nevada State Route 425 begins at Interstate 80 Exit 2. The corridor of Nevada State Route 425 is almost fully signed as Interstate 80 Business. The highway begins via an eastern frontage of Interstate 80 and crosses over the freeway to 3rd Street.
Eastbound Nevada State Route 425 enters Verdi and crosses over Truckee River via the 1939 era West Verdi Bridge. The structure can be viewed from Crystal Peak Park.
Eastbound Nevada State Route 425 intersects Bridge Street near downtown Verdi.
Eastbound Nevada State Route 425 passes over Truckee River via the 1938 era East Verdi Bridge and enters a roundabout at Edinburgh Drive. Said roundabout has one of the few non-postmile references to Nevada State Route 425 instead of Interstate 80 Business.
Nevada State Route 425 passes by the bridge which once carried the Lincoln Highway over the Truckee River to Verdi Road. The eastbound highway terminates at Interstate 80 Exit 5.
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