The old Lincoln Highway east of Kimball Junction was initially US 530, but in the late 1930s it became part of US 189. The split between US 40 and US 189, formerly the junction of the Victory and Lincoln Highways, was moved east from Kimball Junction to Silver Creek Junction in 1952; this change moved both routes to a new road between Keetley Junction and Silver Creek Junction, and renumbered the road between Kimball and Silver Creek Junctions from US-189 to US-40. The old road between Keetley and Kimball Junctions became State Route 248. In 1974, with its replacement - Interstate 80 - almost complete across California, Nevada, and Utah, the three states applied to AASHO to truncate US-40 to Silver Creek Junction. (US 40 had been removed west of Truckee, California in 1964.) AASHO approved the truncation on June 17, 1975.