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Interstate 80 in Utah

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Interstate 80 marker

Interstate 80
Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway
Purple Heart Trail
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I-80 highlighted in red for Utah section
Route information
Defined by Utah Code §72-4-113
Maintained by UDOT
Length: 196.35 mi[1] (315.99 km)
Existed: 1956 – present
History: Completed August 22, 1986
Major junctions
West end: I‑80 at Nevada state line
  SR-201 near Magna
SR-154 in Salt Lake City
I-215 in Salt Lake City
I-15 in Salt Lake City
SR-201 in Salt Lake City
I-15 in South Salt Lake
US-89 in South Salt Lake
I-215 in Millcreek
US-40 / US-189 near Park City
I-84 in Echo
East end: I-80 / US 189 at Wyoming state line
Location
Counties: Tooele, Salt Lake, Summit
Highway system
SR-79 SR-81

Interstate 80 (I-80) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey. The portion of the highway in the U.S. state of Utah is 196.35-mile-long (315.99 km), through the northern part of the state. From west to east, I-80 crosses the state line from Nevada in Tooele County and traverses the Bonneville Salt Flats—which are a part of the larger Great Salt Lake Desert. It continues alongside the Wendover Cut-off—the corridor of the former Victory HighwayU.S. Route 40 (US-40) and the Western Pacific Railroad Feather River Route. After passing the Oquirrh Mountains, I-80 enters the Salt Lake Valley and Salt Lake County. A short portion of the freeway is concurrent with I-15 through Downtown Salt Lake City. At the Spaghetti Bowl, I-80 turns east again into the mouth of Parley's Canyon and Summit County, travels through the mountain range and intersects the eastern end of I-84 near Echo Reservoir before turning northeast towards the Wyoming border near Evanston. I-80 was built along the corridor of the Lincoln Highway and the Mormon Trail through the Wasatch Range. The easternmost section also follows the historical routes of the First Transcontinental Railroad and US-30S.

Construction of the controlled-access highway began in the 1950s, and by the late 1970s most of the freeway across the state of Utah had been completed. The four-and-a-half-mile-long (7.2 km) section of I-80 between Utah State Route 68 (SR-68, Redwood Road) and the Salt Lake City International Airport was the last piece of the nearly 2,900-mile-long (4,700 km) freeway to be completed. It was opened on August 22, 1986, and was about 50 miles (80 km) from the site of another cross-country milestone in Utah, the driving of the Golden Spike of the First Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit. Average daily traffic volumes in 2012 ranged between 6,765 vehicles using the freeway at SR-58 and 121,205 vehicles using the freeway at the Spaghetti Bowl in Downtown Salt Lake City. Throughout the state, the highway is also known as the Purple Heart Trail.

Route description

Out of the eleven states which I-80 passes through, the 196.34-mile-long (315.98 km) segment in Utah is the fourth shortest. The longest stretch of I-80 in a single state is the 455.32-mile-long (732.77 km) segment in Nebraska.[1] As part of the Interstate Highway System,[2] the entire route is listed on the National Highway System, a system of roads that are important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.[3]

Every year, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways to measure traffic volumes. This measure is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2012, UDOT calculated that as few as 6,765 vehicles traveled I-80 at the interchange with SR-58 in Wendover, and as many as 121,205 vehicles used the highway at the Spaghetti Bowl in downtown Salt Lake City.[4] Between seven and 58 percent of the traffic recorded consisted of trucks.[5] These counts are for the portion of the freeway in Utah.

Tooele County

The freeway enters Utah from Nevada in the city of Wendover on the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats. The cities of West Wendover, Nevada and Wendover are accessible by I-80's only business loop in Utah,[6] whose interchange is just south of Danger Cave.[7][8] The highway closely follows the historical routes of the Wendover Cutoff, the Victory Highway,[9] and of the ex-Western Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route (now part of the Union Pacific Railroad Central Corridor) across the salt flats and the larger Great Salt Lake Desert.[10] Bonneville Speedway, home to many land speed records, is accessible from I-80.[11] In the middle of the salt flats is a concrete sculpture, Metaphor: The Tree of Utah, which stands just off the westbound carriageway of I-80, 30 mi (48 km) east of Wendover.[12]

Bounded on each sides by military training grounds,[13] the I-80 corridor is overflown by commercial airliners traveling west from Salt Lake City International Airport.[14] The freeway veers north around the Cedar Mountains in a small gap between them and the Lakeside Mountains. Further east, the highway passes the Stansbury Mountains, which are located in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest.[15] After the mountain ranges, the freeway arrives at the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake and closely follows the shore towards the western suburbs of Salt Lake City.[16] However, the historical routes from which the route of I-80 was derived were routed further from the lake, passing through the towns of Grantsville and Tooele; these communities are now served by SR-138 and SR-36 respectively.[7] It is in this section that I-80 reaches its lowest elevation in Utah, 4,203 feet (1,281 m) above sea level.[17] After an interchange with SR-36 at Stansbury Park, the highway crosses a bottleneck between the Oquirrh Mountains and the Great Salt Lake.

Salt Lake County

View west along I-80 at the eastern junction with I-15 and SR-201 in Salt Lake County

While traversing the neck, views can be had from I-80 of the Lake and Antelope Island. After passing the neck, the road forks, with I-80 proceeding towards the north end of Salt Lake City and SR-201 proceeding towards the south end.[18] Historically, this intersection was the separation of US-40 and US-50. After the intersection, the freeway corridor is again bottlenecked with the Great Salt Lake to the north and the Kennecott Copper smelter and tailings pond to the south. The Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Mine, which was once considered to be the largest open-pit copper mine, can be seen in the distance.[19] The 1,215-foot-tall (370 m) Kennecott Smokestack is one of the tallest freestanding structures in the United States.[20] Along this portion, the freeway passes the historical site of the Saltair Resort.[7]

The freeway enters the Salt Lake Valley on the former alignment of North Temple Street until it passes the Salt Lake City International Airport, where the freeway veers slightly south and leaves the North Temple Street corridor which leads to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. The Green Line of the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) TRAX system briefly parallels I-80 before traveling down the center of North Temple Street. I-80 becomes concurrent with I-15 after interchanges with SR-68 and 600 South and continues south for about three miles (4.8 km), passing along the western and southern edges of downtown Salt Lake City. The southern interchange with I-15, which also includes SR-201 (21st South Freeway) and marks the end of the concurrency, is known as the Spaghetti Bowl,.[21] In the southwestern corner of the Spaghetti Bowl is another portion of the UTA TRAX Green Line as it travels towards West Valley City. After separating from I-15, the freeway continues easterly through South Salt Lake, loosely following an alignment just south of 2100 South and the UTA S Line streetcar through the Sugar House neighborhood and past Sugar House Park—once the home of the Sugar House Prison[22] towards the clockwise terminus of the I-215 270° belt route around Salt Lake. It continues through Parley's Canyon,[7] where the freeway joins the historical route of the Lincoln Highway.[23] Between the mouth of the canyon and the Summit county line, the route re-enters the Wasatch National Forest.[18]

Summit County

Parley's Canyon carries I-80 up the western slope of the Wasatch Front as a six-lane freeway,[7] cresting the mountains at an elevation of 7,016 feet (2,138 m) at Parley's Summit, the highest point on I-80 within the state of Utah.[24] Both the canyon and summit were named for Parley P. Pratt, an early settler to the Salt Lake Valley and an early Mormon leader who was asked to survey a new route across the mountains to replace the route through Emigration Canyon. Between 1848 and 1851, Pratt surveyed, completed, and operated the Golden Pass toll road through the canyon that today bears his name. Pratt had unsuccessfully solicited for $800 (equivalent to $NaN in 2021)[25] to build the road, and sold it for $1,500 (equivalent to $NaN in 2021).[25][26] On and off ramps for the Wyoming port-of-entry are located just within Utah.[7] In January 2014, UDOT introduced variable speed limits to I-80 in Parley's Canyon, allowing a speed limit between 35 mph (56 km/h) up to the normal 65 mph (105 km/h) depending on weather or traffic conditions.[27]

View along I-80 eastbound in Parley's Canyon

Beyond Parley's Summit lies Park City, a mining town today better known for its many ski resorts.[28][29] The Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail State Park travels in the median between carriageways of I-80 before paralleling the highway until the southern end of Echo Reservoir.[30] The freeway turns north upon reaching the Rockport Reservoir at Wanship[31] following the tributaries of the Weber River toward Echo Reservoir and dam. Upon reaching Echo Canyon and the junction with the eastern terminus of the western section of I-84, the freeway follows the canyon east until it reaches the Wyoming state line near Evanston. I-80 forms the northeastern border between Rich and Summit Counties.[32]

The portion through Echo Canyon follows the historical routes of the Mormon Trail, US-30S, and the First Transcontinental Railroad.[33] A rest area in the canyon just east of the junction with I-84 features signs pointing out features that were obstacles for both the Mormon pioneers and the railroad construction workers, including Pulpit Rock,[34] which was partially demolished when the I-80 was built through the canyon.[35]

History

I-80 eastbound across the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Earlier roads

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I-80 follows the routes of two major auto trails through the state. In western Utah, I-80 follows the historical route of the Victory Highway from Wendover at the Nevada state line to the junction of US-40 near Park City. Throughout Utah, I-80 is signed as the modern route of the Lincoln Highway—except through Salt Lake City, where the Lincoln Highway is routed along State Route 201 and Parley's Way. The route of the Lincoln Highway across Utah was generally derived from the route of the Pony Express and the Central Overland Route. However, much of the original route of the Lincoln Highway west of Salt Lake City is inaccessible. The original route of the Lincoln Highway proceeded southwest from Tooele towards Ely, Nevada. This area is now used for military bases, such as the Dugway Proving Ground and Tooele Army Depot. The area was closed to the public when these bases were established. I-80 and US-93 are the modern signing of the Lincoln Highway between those two cities. East of Salt Lake City, I-80 closely parallels the original route of the Lincoln Highway.[36][37]

In 1926, much of the route covered by I-80, including Pratt's former toll road from the Nevada state line into Salt Lake City, was signed as US-40 then as US-30 to the Wyoming state line.[38][39] It was also part of the Victory Highway west of Salt Lake and the Lincoln Highway east of Salt Lake at this time. Most of the route had been improved but some stretches of graded road remained.[40] In 1937, parts of the route near Wanship were numbered US-530.[41] In 1950, the highway near Echo was designated US-30S and US-189.[42] By 1959, US-50 Alternate was also routed along the western portion of I-80.[43]

Current road

The first Utah State Route to have the number 80 is now known as SR-92, which was originally numbered SR-80 until the 1977 renumbering of Utah State highways. Previously, the freeway's legislative designation was SR-2.[44]

I-80 passing the Oquirrh Mountains westbound along the shores of the Great Salt Lake

Passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 formed the Interstate Highway System,[45] and the I-80 number was first designated to a then-unconstructed controlled-access highway across the state by 1957.[46] I-80 was constructed in segments, starting in the late 1950s. By the late 1970s, the Utah portion of I-80—except for a gap on the western edge of Salt Lake City—was largely complete. A four-and-a-half-mile-long (7.2 km) section between Redwood Road and Salt Lake City International Airport is the final link of the transcontinental freeway to be completed.[47] As an Interstate Highway, design specifications require a controlled-access highway with no at-grade intersections. This section was dedicated on August 22, 1986, and was the last to be completed to Interstate Highway specifications along the almost 2,900-mile-long (4,700 km) route of I-80 between San Francisco, California and Teaneck, New Jersey.[48] The section was completed close to the thirtieth anniversary of the Interstate Highway System, which was noted at the dedication and considered to be a milestone in the history of highway construction in the United States.[47] It was also noted at the dedication that this was only 50 miles (80 km) south of Promontory Summit, where the golden spike of the United States First Transcontinental Railroad was laid.[49]

View east along I-80 toward the eastern I-215 interchange (foreground) and downtown Salt Lake City (background)

The original designation of I-84, which begins at an interchange with I-80 in Echo, was I-80N. This designation was changed to I-84 in 1977 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials despite objections from the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Idaho Transportation Department, and with the support of UDOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation. The legislative designation for this highway was SR-3 until the 1977 renumbering.[44]

Rebuilding of the first portions of I-80 began in October 1990 with a one-point-four-mile-long (2.3 km) stretch near Redwood Road in Salt Lake City.[50] By 1991, UDOT estimated that the reconstruction of all federally funded highways in the state would cost up to $4.3 billion (equivalent to $NaN in 2021)[25].[51] The Spaghetti Bowl interchange was first proposed in 1996 to accommodate traffic for the 2002 Winter Olympics being held in the city.[52] Most of the Spaghetti Bowl was open by November 2000; the remainder opened in early 2001.[53] In 2002, the Utah State Legislature named the highway the Purple Heart trail,[54] in honor of wounded war veterans.[55] Additional reconstruction work—which involved replacing most of the bridges along the route, resurfacing and installation of sound barriers—was done on I-80 between the Spaghetti Bowl and Parley's Canyon in 2007 and 2008.[56]

Exit list

County Location mi[note 1] km Exit Destinations Notes
Tooele Wendover 0.000 0.000 I‑80 west – Reno Continuation into Nevada
0.043 0.069 1 Wendover Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
1.484 2.388 2 I-80 Bus. / SR-58 west – Wendover No westbound entrance; I-80 Bus. not signed eastbound
3 4.8 Port of Entry
3.993 6.426 4 Bonneville Speedway Rest and View Area off exit
9.816 15.797 Rest Area
41.278 66.431 41 Knolls (Wendover Cut-off) Eastern terminus of the Wendover Cut-off
48.940 78.761 49 Clive
53.996 86.898 Grassy Mountain Rest Area
56.195 90.437 56 Aragonite
61.837 99.517 62 Military Area, Lakeside
69.521 111.883 70 Delle
Rowley Junction 76.402 122.957 77 SR-196 – Rowley, Dugway
83.358 134.152 84 SR-138 – Grantsville, Tooele
88.395 142.258 88 Grantsville
94.4 151.9 94 SR-179 south (Midvalley Highway) New interchange opened on October 30, 2021[citation needed]
Lake Point 98.619 158.712 99 SR-36 – Stansbury, Tooele
Salt Lake 101.544 163.419 102 SR-201 east (2100 South) – Magna, West Valley City Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
104.273 167.811 104 SR-202 / Invalid type: road
Salt Lake City 111.287 179.099 111 7200 West
113.276 182.300 113 SR-172 south (5600 West)
114.336 184.006 114 Wright Brothers Drive Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
115.374 185.676 115 SR-154 (Bangerter Highway)
Salt Lake City International Airport
Signed as exits 115A (SR-154) and 115B (airport)
116.488 187.469 115C North Temple – Downtown Salt Lake City, Temple Square Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former SR-186
117.262 188.715 117 I-215 – Ogden, Provo I-215 exit 22 northbound, 22A-B southbound
117.862 189.681 118 SR-68 (Redwood Road)
119.591 192.463 120 I-15 north (Veteran's Memorial Highway) – Ogden Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; I-15 exit 308
121 SR-269 (600 South) Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
I-15 north (Veteran's Memorial Highway) – Ogden West end of I-15 overlap; westbound left exit and eastbound left entrance; I-15 exit 308
306 600 South Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; exit numbers follow I-15
305C 1300 South Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; C/D lanes provide access to 2100 South/SR-201
305B 2100 South Eastbound exit accessible from C/D lanes
Salt Lake CitySouth Salt Lake line 305A SR-201 west – West Valley Part of the Spaghetti Bowl interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance; accessible from C/D lanes eastbound; westbound entrance includes direct entrance ramp from 900 West and direct entrance ramp to 1300 South/900 South
I-15 south (Veteran's Memorial Highway) – Las Vegas East end of I-15 overlap; eastbound left exit and westbound left entrance; I-15 exit 304
122 2100 South / 1300 South / 900 South Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; part of the "Spaghetti Bowl" interchange; exit numbers follow I-80
South Salt Lake 122.028 196.385 123A-B I-15 south (Veteran's Memorial Highway) / SR-201 west – Las Vegas, West Valley Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 123A (SR-201) and 123B (I-15) westbound; part of the "Spaghetti Bowl" interchange; I-15 exit 304
123.231 198.321 124 US-89 (State Street)
Salt Lake City 124.125 199.760 125 SR-71 (700 East)
125.072 201.284 126 1300 East – Sugar House Former SR-181
126.785 204.041 127 2300 East – Holladay, Millcreek Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former SR-195
127.039 204.449 128 I-215 south (Belt Route) Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Millcreek 127.685 205.489 129 SR-186 west (Foothill Drive) / Invalid type: road Former US-40 Alternate
128.619 206.992 130 I-215 Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; I-215 exit 2 northbound
129.888 209.034 131 Quarry Service Road No eastbound exit; signed as "Quarry"
130.399 209.857 Rock Quarry Road Signed as "Quarry"
131.869 212.223 132 Mt. Aire Canyon Road Signed as "Ranch Exit"
132.477 213.201 133 Utility Exit Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
133.665 215.113 134 SR-65 north – East Canyon
136.113 219.053 137 Lambs Canyon
Parleys Summit 139.413 224.363 140 Parleys Summit Salt LakeSummit county line
Summit Summit Park 141.815 228.229 141 Jeremy Ranch
142.847 229.890 View Area (eastbound); exit 144
Kimball Junction 144.198 232.064 145 SR-224 south – Park City
Silver Creek Junction 146.876 236.374 146 US-40 east (US-189 south) – Heber City, Vernal West end of US-189 overlap; western terminus of US 40
150.724 242.567 150 Tollgate Promontory
Wanship 154.972 249.403 155 SR-32 south – Wanship, Kamas
Coalville 162.592 261.666 162 SR-280 – Coalville
165.005 265.550 View Area
167.324 269.282 168 I-84 west – Ogden Eastern terminus of I-84; exits 120A-B on I-84
167.781 270.017 169 Echo
169.505 272.792 Rest Area
178.703 287.595 178 Emory Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
180 290 Port of Entry Westbound exit and entrance
184.126 296.322 185 Castle Rock
187.767 302.182 187 Fawcett Formerly signed as "Ranch Exit"
191.690 308.495 191 Wahsatch
UtahWyoming line 196.548–
196.680
316.313–
316.526
Port of Entry Eastbound exit and entrance
I-80 east / US 189 north – Cheyenne Continuation into Wyoming
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

Notes

  1. I-80 has its own mileposts and exits except for the concurrency with I-15,[57] which uses the mileposts and exits from I-15.[58]

References

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External links

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  • Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
  • Interstate 80 in Utah on AARoads


Interstate 80
Previous state:
Nevada
Utah Next state:
Wyoming
[[{{{road}}}]]
Previous state:
[[{{{road}}} in Nevada|Nevada]]
Utah Next state:
[[{{{road}}} in Wyoming|Wyoming]]