A Cursed Highway?

  In 2003, U.S. Highway 491 received its current designation. The three states that it goes through; New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, all agreed on 491 as the number because none of these states were using that number in their respective state highway systems. Until the renumbering, this highway was the most ominously numbered highway in the nation. It used to be called U.S. Highway 666. This designation was bestowed upon the highway because it was the 6th branch of U.S. Highway 66. However, people of many cultures and religions associate the number 666 with Satan and this instilled fear in alot of people.
  Until 1992, U.S. Highway 666 was alot longer. Before its length was truncated to Gallup, it "jogged" west 32 miles, into Arizona and then split off again from Interstate 40. Then it ran down the east side of Arizona until it ended 336 miles later, just outside of Douglas. The end of the highway was only about one mile from the border with Mexico.
  Arizona renumbered its portion of highway 666 in 1992. I remember a beautiful drive south through the White Mountains in eastern Arizona when the renumbering was in process. At that time, the highway was numbered with both designations, its current U.S. Highway 191 designation with a U.S. Highway 666 shield underneath it. Eventually a sign was put between the two numbered signs that said "OLD," in reference to the fact that it used to be U.S. Highway 666 but now was known as U.S. Highway 191. Where old highway 666 split off from Interstate 40, in the small town of Sanders, it is only a six mile "jog" to the west to where highway 191 splits off again and heads north through the Navajo Indian Reservation.
The Arizona Transportation Department gave two reasons for designating this 336 mile stretch of highway as U.S. Highway 191 instead of U.S. Highway 666. First, the north-south routes are supposed to end with odd numbers and 666 did not fit the pattern. Second, all of the U.S. Highway 666 signs were repeatedly getting stolen and the state was tired of replacing them all the time. The signs were being stolen because of the "666" designation.
  After the southern 3/4 of highway 666 was renumbered, that left a 193 mile long highway running from Gallup, New Mexico to Monticello, Utah. This stretch also had a serious problem with sign thefts and, in the few month's time after it was announced that the highway would be renumbered, every 666 sign was stolen, in some cases, the entire metal post was cut just above ground level. That must have made travel difficult for some people because they did not know if this was actually the highway that was indicated on their road maps. The states would replace the signs, but the signs would immediately get stolen again.