Utah State Route 201
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| State Route 201 | |||||||||
| Defined by Utah Code §72-4-126, maintained by UDOT | |||||||||
| Length: | 16.699 mi[1] (26.874 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1939 | ||||||||
| West end: | |||||||||
| Major junctions: |
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State Route 201 (SR-201), known locally as the 21st South Freeway (alluding to the placement of most of the freeway) or simply the 201, is a freeway/expressway located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It provides an alternative to Interstate 80 when needed and also is very important for the residents of Magna and Tooele County that work in Salt Lake City. The highway is an old routing of U.S. Route 50 and is signed as the routes of the Lincoln Highway, Pony Express and the California Trail.[2]
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[edit] Route description
SR-201 forks from Interstate 80 where the freeway passes between the Oquirrh Mountains and the Great Salt Lake near the county line with Tooele County. The expressway passes by the Kennecott Smokestack,[3] the tallest structure in Utah, and is parallel to Kennecott's electric rail line until just west of 9200 West.[4] SR-201 is routed at approximately 2100 South in Salt Lake County's grid system, giving the freeway its nickname of "21st South Freeway".[5]
The road is an expressway between Interstate 80 and 5600 West where the expressway turns into a freeway. The intersection with 5600 West, Bangerter Highway and 3200 West are diamond interchanges, but the interchange with I-215 is a full cloverleaf interchange and both exits at Redwood Road (SR-68) and 900 West are single-point urban interchanges.[6] The route is not continuous driving eastbound however, and drivers wishing to connect to 2100 South and the continuation of SR-201 must exit at 900 West. SR-201 continues along 2100 South until the intersection with U.S. Route 89 (State Street). The freeway portion ends at an intersection sometimes called the "Spaghetti Bowl", where SR-201, Interstate 15 and Interstate 80 merge. Before the construction of the Spaghetti Bowl, the freeway portion had a direct connection to 2100 South.[7]
[edit] History
State Route 201 is one of the original highways through Salt Lake. It was used and is still signed as the routes of the Pony Express and Lincoln Highway. The highway is also signed as the route of the California Trail although this is a less common branch called Hastings Cutoff that became infamous because of the Donner Party.[8]
2100 South both east and west of State Street (SR-1, now US-89) became a state highway in the 1910s.[9] In 1919, when the state legislature redefined the state road system to include only a short list given in the law and any federal aid projects, East 2100 South remained as part of the Lincoln Highway,[10] and became part of SR-4 and US-40 in the 1920s,[11] but West 2100 South (except west of Magna) was given back to the county until 1939. That year, the state legislature created State Route 201, running west from SR-1 to SR-4 (now SR-111) near Magna.[12] U.S. Route 50 Alternate would later be moved from SR-171 to SR-201 west of SR-1, but US-40 continued to use North Temple Street (then SR-67) west of SR-1, turning south in downtown Salt Lake City to reach East 2100 South.[citation needed] In 1962, when SR-4 was renumbered SR-2 and moved to the proposed location of I-80, SR-201 was extended in both directions - west on former SR-4 to SR-2 at Lake Point Junction and east on former SR-4 to SR-2 at the mouth of Parley's Canyon. The portion east of State Street was removed from the state highway system in 1969;[13] much of the road west of I-15 has been upgraded to a freeway.
[edit] Major intersections
The entire route is in Salt Lake County.
| Location | Mile[14] | # | Road(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Point Junction | 0.000 | Interchange | ||
| Garfield | 3.250 | |||
| Magna | 7.179 | |||
| Salt Lake City | West end of freeway | |||
| 10.805 | 11 | 5600 West (SR-172) | ||
| 12.821 | 13 | |||
| 13.760 | 14 | 3200 West | ||
| 14.677 | 15 | Signed as exits 15A (south) and 15B (north) | ||
| 15.287 | 15C | |||
| East end of freeway | ||||
| 16.414 | 900 West | Interchange; SR-201 east exits the freeway via exit 17 | ||
| Interchange | ||||
[edit] References
- ^ "State Route 201 Highway reference". Utah Department of Transportation. http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=52577302541859415.
- ^ Dan Stober. "Utah Highways". http://members.aol.com/utahhwys/rte201.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
- ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – UT-201 near Kennecott Smokestack [map]. Cartography by Tele Atlas. Retrieved on 2008-08-06.
- ^ Benchmark Maps. Utah Road and Recreation Atlas [map], 1:250000. (2002) ISBN 0-929591-74-7. p. 42, section G6.
- ^ "Facts About I-15 Reconstruction". KSL-TV. http://web.ksl.com/dump/news/cc/i15facts.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – UT-201 overview [map]. Cartography by Tele Atlas. Retrieved on 2008-08-06.
- ^ Utah Department of Transportation. Official Highway Map, Utah Transportation Commission [map], 1 inch =17.4 miles. (1983) Section Inset:Salt Lake City and Vicinity.
- ^ Longfellow, Rickie. "The Hastings Cutoff and Highway 80 Tragedy of the Donner Party". Federal Highway Administration. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0104.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
- ^ Fourth Biennial Report, State Road Commission, 1915 and 1916, p. 218
- ^ "State Road Commission", Chapter 57, Session Laws of Utah, 1919: "(e) The Lincoln Highway from the Utah-Wyoming State line, via Echo Canyon, Echo, Coalville, Hoytsville and Parley's canyon to Salt Lake City; thence westwardly via Magna, Garfield, Tooele, Stockton, St. John, Clover, Johnson's Pass, Granite Mountain and Ibapah to the Utah-Nevada State line."
- ^ Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas, 1926
- ^ "Designation of State Roads", Chapter 47, Session Laws of Utah, 1939: "Route 201. From route 1 on State street of Salt Lake City at Twenty-first South street in a westerly direction on Twenty-first South street to route 4 north of Magna, Utah."
- ^ Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: Route 201PDF (3.33 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008
- ^ Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Reference Information, accessed May 2008
[edit] External links
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