The Arizona State Highway Department had spent a total of $19 million (equivalent to $ in ) on US 66 alone between 1944 and 1954. This was largely due to the gigantic increase in traffic on US 66 through Arizona over the last decade. A Flagstaff-based newspaper once stated that US 66 carried the largest number of interstate travelers of any highway in Arizona. By 1954, more than one million cars a year were traveling down US 66 from New Mexico to California. The increased traffic had also led to a greater number of car accidents and traffic jams, the latter of which earned US 66 the unfortunate reputation of being "The World's Largest Traffic Jam". By 1956, at least one out of six deaths resulting from car accidents in Arizona took place on US 66. This helped the highway earn another negative nickname, "Bloody 66".