Utah State Route 186

State Route 186 (SR-186) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah connecting Beck Street (US-89) in the northern outskirts of Salt Lake City to Salt Lake City's east bench and the interchange of I-80 and I-215 at the mouth of Parleys Canyon. With the entirety of the highway set in the boundaries of Salt Lake City, its downtown, and its eastern periphery, the roadway runs 9.34 miles (15.03 km) primarily along State Street, 400 South, 500 South, and Foothill Drive, among other more minor roadways. The road varies from a two-lane highway north of the Utah State Capitol to a six-lane urban artery in and east of downtown.

The highway, as SR-186, was formed in 1935, initially going from what is now US-89 in downtown east on 400 South, west on 200 South after a gap, and south on 1300 East to US-40, now 2100 South. Portions of this route were signed as US-40 Alternate. By 1954, Foothill Drive existed in its current state and US-40A, as well as the legislative and unsigned SR-186 designation, was routed along that road. At one point, the highway extended west to the Salt Lake City International Airport (well after US-40A was truncated), but this connection was lost in 2007 when SR-186 was aligned to cover all of former SR-184, which was decommissioned that same year.

Route description

The highway begins at the intersection of Beck Street (US-89) and Victory Road. The route heads up Victory Road as a two-lane undivided highway, climbing up a slope to Salt Lake's Capitol Hill with the Utah State Capitol to the east and the Marmalade District neighborhood to the west. Before passing the capitol building, the route transfers onto Columbus Street. The highway turns east for a brief time on 300 North on the southern boundary of the Capitol complex and then turns south on State Street. It continues on State Street for seven blocks before turning east on 400 South next to Washington Square. The UTA TRAX Red Line runs in the median of SR-186 from this point to Stadium station at about 1350 East, and there are three stations in the median: Library, Trolley, and 900 East. The road curves south one block to climb the escarpment forming the boundary of the East Bench, subsequently becoming 500 South. After the light rail tracks leave the median, the route passes the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium, various University of Utah support buildings in the southern reaches of the campus, the Veteran's Administration Hospital, and a small military area (the remnants of Fort Douglas) before turning southeast and becoming Foothill Drive. The route continues southeast before connecting to I-80, southbound I-215, and westbound Parleys Way.^[2]

History

The state legislature created State Route 186 in 1935. Its original route began at US-89/US-91 (now solely US-89) at the corner of State Street and 400 South, and followed the present route east to the University of Utah, but then it turned north with a gap through the university grounds, west on 200 South, and south on 1300 East to end at 2100 South, then US-40.^[3] Legislatively designated as SR-186 by the state, this was signed and treated as US-40 Alternate (US-40A) otherwise. Although SR-186 was a hidden legislative designation along the path of US-40A, the portion of 400 South between 300 West (where US-40 ran) and Redwood Road (SR-68) was solely SR-186 by 1941, and was signed as such. By 1948, the path of US-40A (hidden SR-186) ran from US-40 at the mouth of Parleys Canyon northwesterly along Foothill Drive until turning west on Sunnyside Avenue, north on 1300 East and west on 500 South and 400 South before terminating at 300 West, which then carried the designations of US-40, US-89, and US-91.^[4][5] By 1954, Foothill Drive was extended north past Sunnyside Avenue toward the University of Utah, and US-40A was rerouted along this new stretch of road.^[6] By 1965, US-40 and US-40A switched routes; henceforth, US-40 would run along current-day SR-186 until it was truncated in the mid-1970s.^[7] In 1966, the State Road Commission extended the route southwest on a proposed roadway to I-215, but the Bureau of Public Roads denied the request to build it with federal aid because placing an interchange at that location on I-215 was infeasible, and it was cut back to SR-68 in 1967.^[8]

North Temple Street west of 300 West (then US-89/91, now solely US-89) was added to the state highway system in 1931 as part of SR-67.^[9] Since it was along the planned alignment for I-80, it became SR-2 (only a legislative designation that was never signed) in 1962, but the portion east of an interchange near the Salt Lake City International Airport was due to be bypassed by the Interstate, and so in 1966 that piece became State Route 267.^[10] State Route 176 was built in 1933 with federal aid and numbered in 1935, forming an alternate to US-89/91 through downtown Salt Lake City. Its original route began at South Temple Street and 300 West, and ran south on 300 West and east on 900 South to State Street.^[11] The north end was extended one block to North Temple Street in 1962, when US-89A/91A was moved from South to North Temple, and in 1967 the south end was removed from 900 South and sent down 300 West to SR-171 (3300 South). The latter extension was done in exchange for State Route 202, which followed Main Street between SR-201 (2100 South) and SR-171 from 1961 to 1967.^[12][13] Both of these routes - SR-176 and SR-267 - became part of SR-186 in 1969. The parts of SR-186 (400 South) west of SR-176 (300 West) and SR-176 south of SR-186 were dropped from the state highway system, and SR-186 was extended north on 300 West to North Temple and west on North Temple to I-80, replacing the remainder of SR-176 and all of SR-267.^[8]

State Route 184 was created in 1963, running north from US-89A/91A at North Temple and State Streets around the west side of the State Capitol and back to SR-1 north of downtown.^[14] The roadway had previously been part of SR-181 since 1935,^[15] but with US-89A/91A moving from South Temple to North Temple, a new number was needed to avoid a one-block overlap. SR-184 remained a separate route until 2007, when North Temple west of State Street was given to Salt Lake City for its planned Airport TRAX light rail line. Since North Temple had carried US-89 east of 300 West, that route was realigned to use what had been SR-186 on 300 West and 400 South, cutting SR-186's west end back to 400 South and State Street. But that intersection was also the south end of SR-184, and SR-186 was extended to absorb SR-184.^[8]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County.

References