Interstate 80 in Utah

Interstate 80
Route information
Defined by Utah Code §72-4-113
Maintained by UDOT
Length:	196.35 mi[1] (315.99 km)
Existed:	1956 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-80 in West Wendover, NV
	I-15 in Salt Lake City US-89 in Salt Lake City US-40 / US-189 near Park City I-84 in Echo
East end:	I-80 / US 189 towards Evanston, WY
Highway system
Main route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business State highways in Utah Interstate • US • State (Parks) • Scenic ← SR-79 SR-81 →

In the U.S. state of Utah, Interstate 80 (I-80) runs 196 miles (315.4 km) east–west through northern part of the state, passing through the Bonneville Salt Flats, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the Wasatch Mountains and Echo canyon. In western Utah the highway was built along the corridor of the Victory Highway, U.S. Route 40 and the Feather River Route. In eastern Utah the highway was built along the corridor of the Lincoln Highway and the Mormon Trail. The easternmost section also follows the historical routes of the First Transcontinental Railroad and U.S. Route 30S. The section of I-80 between Redwood Road and the Salt Lake International Airport was the last piece of the transcontinental freeway to open to traffic.

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 2.1 Auto trails 2.2 U.S. Routes 2.3 Construction 2.4 Reconstruction 3 Exit list 4 References

Route description

The freeway enters Utah in the town of Wendover on the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats. The highway closely follows the historical routes of the Wendover Cutoff of the Victory Highway and the ex-Western Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route (now part of the Central Corridor) across the salt flats and the larger Great Salt Lake Desert.^[2] In the middle of the salt flats a concrete sculpture, Metaphor: The Tree of Utah, stands just off the westbound lanes of I-80.^[3] The freeway arrives at the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake and closely follows the southern shore towards the western suburbs of Salt Lake City. However, the historical routes from which the route of I-80 was derived were routed farther away from the lake, passing through the towns of Grantsville and Tooele before crossing a bottle neck between the Oquirrh Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. While traversing the neck, I-80 features a view area with views of both 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 State Route 201 proceeding towards the south end. Historically, this intersection was the separation of U.S. Route 40 and U.S. Route 50. After the intersection the freeway corridor is again bottlenecked with the Great Salt Lake to the north and the Kennecott Utah Copper smelter and tailings pond to the south. Visible in the distance is the Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Mine, at one time the largest manmade excavation and the Kennecott Smokestack, one of the tallest freestanding structures in the United States. Along this portion the freeway passes the historical site of the Saltair resort.

The freeway enters the Salt Lake City Metro area on the former alignment of North Temple Street until passing the Salt Lake International Airport where the freeway veers slightly south departing the North Temple Street corridor which leads to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake. I-80 merges with Interstate 15 for about 3 miles (4.8 km) passing along the western and southern edge of downtown Salt Lake. After separating from I-15, the freeway loosely follows an alignment just south of 2100 South towards Parley's Canyon, here joining the historical route of the Lincoln Highway. The freeway ascends Parley's Canyon as a six-lane freeway to an elevation of 7,120 feet (2,170 m) at Parley's Summit, and passes just north of Park City. Upon reaching the Rockport Reservoir at Wanship the freeway turns north, following the tributaries of the Weber River toward Echo Reservoir and dam. Upon reaching Echo Canyon, the freeway follows the canyon east until the Wyoming state line near Evanston. The portion through Echo Canyon follows the historical routes of the Mormon Trail, U.S. Route 30S and the First Transcontinental Railroad. A rest area in the canyon, just east of the separation with Interstate 84, features signs pointing out features in the canyon that were obstacles in the canyon for both the Mormon pioneers and the construction workers of the railroad, including Pulpit Rock, which was partially demolished when the railroad was converted to double track.

History

Auto trails

Interstate 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 the Wendover at the Nevada state line to the junction of U.S. Route 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 west of Salt Lake City, the original route of the Lincoln Highway is un-drivable. 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. When these bases were formed the area was closed to the public. Interstate 80 in Utah and U.S. Route 93 in Nevada are the modern signing of the Lincoln Highway between those two cities. East of Salt Lake, I-80 closely parallels the original route of the Lincoln Highway.^[4][5]

U.S. Routes

From 1926 until the 1970s, all of the modern I-80 corridor was signed as U.S. Highways. From the state line at Wendover to Park City I-80 replaced U.S. Route 40. From Park City to Echo I-80 replaced a what was originally numbered U.S. Route 530, and U.S. Route 30S from Echo to the Wyoming state line. The US-530 designation was replaced with U.S. Route 189.^[6][7][8]

Construction

Interstate 80 was constructed in segments, starting in the 1950s. By the late 1970s the Utah portion of I-80 was largely complete, except for a gap on the western edge of Salt Lake City. A 5 miles (8.0 km) section between Redwood Road and the Salt Lake International Airport holds the distinction of being the final link of Interstate 80 to be completed. This section was dedicated on August 22nd, 1986. This coincidentally was close to the 30th birthday 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. It was also noted at the dedication that this was only 50 miles (80 km) from Promontory Summit, where the golden spike of the United States First Transcontinental Railroad was laid.^[9][10]

Reconstruction

Reconstruction of I-80 began in August 2007, from State Street (US-89) east to 1300 East (former SR-181). Dubbed "Innovate 80," phase one of the project involved temporarily widening bridges on the eastbound side of the freeway to accommodate five lanes (three lanes in one direction and two in the other). The center lane was made reversible so there would be three westbound lanes during the morning commute and three eastbound lanes during the evening commute. Phase two began December of that same year, reconstructing the westbound lanes and replacing the bridges. The bridges were all constructed in advance and then moved to their respective positions, beginning with the Highland Drive bridge, the 900 East bridge, the 700 East bridge, the 600 East bridge, the 500 East bridge, the 300 East bridge, and the 700 East ramp, which extends over 600 East. The westbound bridge moves were completed July 31.

Phase three began in October 2008, involving the eastbound lanes and bridges being reconstructed from 700 East to 1300 East (traffic traveled on the new pavement on the north side of the freeway). However, the bridges on the eastbound lanes were replaced with the traditional manner, constructing them on the spot of where they would lay. With the project's completion in November 2009, there are now five lanes in each direction (one of those being an auxiliary lane in between exits) compared to three lanes prior to 2007. As part of the project, sound walls were added, grade-level signage was replaced with overhead signs, on- and off-ramps were lengthened, and the State Street bridge received a bridge deck replacement, as opposed to a new bridge.^[11][12][13]

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[14]	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Tooele	Wendover	0.043	1	To SR-58 – Wendover	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		1.484	2	I-80 Bus. west / SR-58 – Wendover	Westbound entrance is via a U-turn at exit 4
		3.993	4	Bonneville Speedway
		41.278	41	Knolls
		48.940	49	Clive
		56.195	56	Aragonite
		61.837	62	Military Area, Lakeside
		69.521	70	Delle
		76.402	77	SR-196 – Rowley, Dugway
		83.358	84	SR-138 – Grantsville, Tooele
		88.395	88	Grantsville
		98.619	99	SR-36 – Stansbury, Tooele
Salt Lake		101.544	102	SR-201 east (2100 South) – Magna, West Valley City	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		104.273	104	SR-202 / Saltair Drive
	Salt Lake City	111.287	111	7200 West
		113.276	113	5600 West (SR-172)
		114.336	114	Wright Brothers Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		115.374	115	Bangerter Highway (SR-154) – Salt Lake City International Airport	Signed as exits 115A (Airport) and 115B (Bangerter Highway) westbound; no westbound exit or eastbound entrance at North Temple
		116.488	115	North Temple – City Center, Temple Square	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former SR-186
		117.262	117	I-215 – Ogden, Provo
		117.862	118	SR-68 (Redwood Road)
		119.591	120	I-15 north – Ogden	West end of I-15 overlap; no exit number westbound
			121	600 South (SR-269 east) – Temple Square	Signed as exit 306 westbound
			122	900 South (SR-270 north)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			122	1300 South	Signed as exit 305C eastbound
			122	2100 South (SR-201)	Signed as exit 305B eastbound
	South Salt Lake
			123A	SR-201 west – West Valley	Signed as exit 305A eastbound
		122.028	123B	I-15 south – Las Vegas	East end of I-15 overlap; no exit number eastbound
		123.231	124	US-89 (State Street)
	Salt Lake City	124.125	125	SR-71 (700 East)
		125.072	126	1300 East – Sugar House	Former SR-181
		126.785	127	2300 East – Holladay, Millcreek	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former SR-195
		127.039	128	I-215 south (Belt Route)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		127.685	129	SR-186 west (Foothill Drive) / Parleys Way
		128.619	130	I-215	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		129.888	131	Quarry Exit	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		130.399	131	(No name)	No eastbound exit
		131.869	132	(No name)
		132.583	133	(No name)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		133.665	134	SR-65 north East Canyon
		136.113	137	Lambs Canyon
Summit		139.413	140	Parley's Summit
		141.815	141	Jeremy Ranch
		142.847	144	View Area	Eastbound exit and entrance
		144.198	145	SR-224 south – Kimball Junction, Park City
		146.876	146	US-40 east (US-189 south) – Heber, Vernal, Provo	West end of US-189 overlap
		150.724	150	Tollgate Promontory
	Wanship	154.972	155	SR-32 south – Wanship, Kamas
	Coalville	162.592	162	Coalville (SR-280)
		165.005	166	View Area	No access across I-80
		167.324	168	I-84 west – Ogden
		167.781	169	Echo
		169.505	170	Rest Area	No access across I-80
		178.703	178	Emory	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		184.126	185	Castle Rock
		187.767	187	Ranch Exit
		191.690	191	Wahsatch
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Major highways in the Salt Lake City area Radial I-15 I-80 SR-152 (Van Winkle) SR-201 (2100 South) Legacy Parkway Circumferential I-215 SR-154 (Bangerter) Proposed Legacy Highway Mountain View Corridor

Interstate 80
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