Interstate 19: Miles or Kilometers?

Arizona Highways – October 20, 2014

Interstate 19, which is entirely in Arizona, is an oddity among U.S. interstate highways. I-19, which runs from Tucson to Nogales, is the country’s only continuous highway that lists distances in kilometers, rather than in miles.

As the Associated Press reported earlier this month, the highway’s embrace of the metric system dates to the Carter administration. The idea was to make the interstate more accessible to tourists coming from Mexico, where kilometers are the standard unit of measuring distances.  

Our bosses at the Arizona Department of Transportation have tried to change I-19’s signs back to miles before. The signs have to be replaced periodically anyway. But businesses along the highway say doing so would make their shops harder to find, since the exit numbers would also change.

So, what do you think? Should I-19 go back to miles or stick with kilometers? Let us know in the comments. Regardless of how you feel, we hope you’ll take a drive down I-19 soon; it passes through some stunning terrain, and Nogales is a charming border town. Look for a Scenic Drive that originates from I-19 in our February 2015 issue.

https://www.arizonahighways.com/blog/interstate-19-miles-or-kilometers

12 thoughts on “Interstate 19: Miles or Kilometers?

  1. Maybe I’m being free with the word TREASON but that’s what this is to me, the metric road signs enraged me when I first encountered them on a trip to Green Valley, I do not see this as anything but facilitating an illegal invasion.
    If you think I’m wrong or overacting I’d enjoy hearing why?

      1. I have not but that would surprise me less considering maritime is and has been enemy territory for ages. I’m sure you recall that merchant ships are not allowed to have small arms hence the piracy we have seen (not sure if that changed, I’ve seen security details with ak’s and m16’s shooting pirates as of late).

        1. I’ve seen ‘water level’ markers in the Rockies, Frank. It’s their ‘justification’ for Maritime Law being enforced, by virtue of us all being under (virtual, I guess) water.

          Their insanity knows no bounds.

          1. I prescribe to none of their BS, been thinking as of late that I should begin confronting/filming the border guards I see here 100 miles north and calling them on their hypocrisy, might make a youtube channel out of it, either way this treason of not securing the border needs to be seen/understood by all.

          2. All I’m saying is that according to them this entire country is underwater.

          3. Like literally? I’ll look into that.
            Can’t readily find anything but if you post a link I’ll be sure to check it out

          4. Sorry… been years since I read that information, haven’t a clue where, but I’ve seen it a couple of times since then as well… just not recently.

            Come to think of it, it may have come from the very first ‘conspiracy’ site that I ever logged on to… ‘Return of the Nephilim’. Not sure, though.

  2. Driven that route more times than I can count. Nogales is a pain in the ass, it’s basically Mexico. They take their sweet time loading trucks, it’s all produce down there grown in Mexico,trucked to Nogales. We have to wait for the Mexicans to get their slow ass’ up to Nogales and unload their product so we can load and get the hell out of there.

    If I get there at 7am it,s a miracle if I get out at 7pm. We have to keep our refrigeration units running the whole damn time until loaded. In the summer both the truck and refeer unit are running together. Probably close to 50 bucks in fuel just sitting there.

    I get paid by the mile, no waiting time down there, they could care less if we sit. But in the mean time, I’m paying for their wetback kid to go to school in the US.

  3. So, what do you think? Should I-19 go back to miles or stick with kilometers? ……
    No, leave the milage designation in metric, but mine the road…maybe motion sensing EMP generators? Let’s get creative.

    1. It was an experiment basically, no other friggen road in the US shows as Kilometers, only this Chili Rellenos stretch of highway that is completely inside the US.

      My opinion, change it back to Miles. If the wets are ignorant to US signage, then Poncho Villas traveled 101 kilometers, instead of 63 miles.

      The Arizona DOT should be stripped of all salary and given atomic wedgies, while force fed Komono Dragon Chili peppers.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_Dragon_(chili_pepper)

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