Route

• South End: Junction US 163, three miles north of Mexican Hat
• North End: Junction U-95, seven miles east of Natural Bridges National Monument

Route Notes
This scenic route, features steep climbs, and a narrow, winding roadway, connecting U-95 and points to the south

Route

• West End: Junction US 191, fifteen miles south of Blanding
• East End: Colorado state line, connecting to Colorado route 41, ten miles southeast of Aneth

Route Notes
Most of this route is within the boundaries of the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation in the southeast corner of the state. This is the closest route to Hovenweep National Monument, and the closest Utah route to Four Corners. Four Corners is served by road only from US 160 in New Mexico. To reach the monument, continue eastward on Colo-41 to US 160, and then south into New Mexico.

Legislated Route
Route 263 is not currently assigned

Route

• West End: Junction U-31, eight miles east of Fairview
• East End: Junction U-96 in Scofield

Route

• West End: Junction U-114, on Geneva Road, about 3/4 miles west of I-15 at exit 272
• East End: Junction US 189, next to Cougar Stadium on the BYU campus

Route Notes
This route is signed from I-15 as University Parkway, and despite the fact that the route intersects with I-15 at exit 272, there are no U-265 route shields posted on the signage along the freeway for this exit. The route's somewhat diagonal northwest to southeast orientation, makes it the primary exit for BYU traffic traffic coming in from the north.

Route

• West End: I-215, at exit 15
• East End: I-215, at exit 5

Route Notes
This route stretches across the valley on 47th South and 45th South. It is primarily a city street, with five lanes or four lanes divided from I-215 and 47th South eastward to Ninth East, and from there only three lanes through Holladay to its eastern end.

The exits for 47th South/45th South from I-15, and from I-215 at either end are all signed as U-266, but, there is no exit for 45th South from I-215 northbound on the eastern end.

Route

• West End: I-15, at exit 312
• East End: US 89, at Sixth North and Third West in Salt Lake City

Route Notes
This route consists of the viaduct connecting I-15 with Central Salt Lake City traffic on Sixth North street. In the downtown Salt Lake area, I-15 is located several blocks west of the central city and seperated by the Union Pacific mainline. At each of the downtown exits, there is a long viaduct to shuttle traffic over the tracks and several blocks of real estate into the downtown area. Route 268 is the number assigned to the viaduct along Sixth North between I-15 at exit 312 and US 89 on the west side of Capitol Hill, although there is no Route 268 signage along the route nor on the I-15 exit signage.

A view from the western end of U-268, looking east. The intersection with I-15 is a SPUI, and U-268 travels over the freeway, hence the odd signal assembly in the background. Also, note the State Capitol building, on top of the hill, near the right side of the photo, just above where the van is entering I-15 southbound; exit 312 and U-268 provide the closest freeway access to the Capitol.

When I-15 was constructed in the 1960s, the federal interstate highway funding share formula permitted the use of federal funds to build exits from the interstates to extend to the point where the ramp reaches grade level. Utah took advantage of this language to construct extraordinarily long ramps from the freeway into the city at each of the downtown exits. The three exits with long viaducts, despite having been built as part of the I-15 project and with I-15 money, were assigned consecutive Utah route numbers: 268, 269, and 270, from north to south.

In 1997, Route 268's viaduct was demolished and rebuilt as a part of the I-15 reconstruction project. When it reopened in September 1998, it was one block shorter. Before demolition, the eastern end descended to grade level at Third West, but the newer structure touched the ground at Fourth West. The shorter structures were approved at the behest of Salt Lake City. See a more complete explanation under Route 269 below.

One more note: While this viaduct is called the "Sixth North viaduct", when it was first constructed in 1963, it was located on Fifth North. Did the bridge move?! Actually, back in 1970, Salt Lake City renumbered its western and northern streets; the end of this route, presently located at the corner of Sixth North and Third West, was actually situated at Fifth North and Second West. It can be very confusing to look at older maps of Salt Lake and see those streets with the numbers seemingly offset by one block!

Route

• West End: I-15 at exit 310
• North End: Junction US 89, at State Street and Fifth and Sixth South Streets in Salt Lake City.

Route Notes
This route consists of a pair of viaducts, each four lanes wide, one eastbound and one westbound, connecting the Salt Lake civic center with I-15 at exit 310. As noted in more detail above under Route 268, the viaducts were constructed using federal interstate funds when I-15 was first built in the 1960s.

A look at the Fifth South on-ramp, aka U-269, taken in January 1999, about a month before demolition. The view is westward, toward the freeways, from Third West Street.

Route 269's westbound viaduct began at Third West, sailed over five blocks of warehouses and railroad tracks, and then split to I-80 westbound, I-15 northbound, or the I-15 southhbound/I-80 eastbound duplex. So, from this one ramp, a motorist had direct access to any of Salt Lake's major interstates.

Similarly, the eastbound viaduct could be reached from I-80 eastbound, I-15 southbound, or I-15 northbound/I-80 westbound, and was even a block longer than its counterpart, descending at Second West, and included a cloverleaf ramp to northbound Third West as the viaduct flew over.

This direct connection between all of the city's major freeways and the central city made the Sixth South exit the most popular exit for accessing downtown Salt Lake.

The view eastbound on U-269 on the viaduct before demomilition. Despite the empty appearance of the roadway, this was the most most convenient and most popular entry into the center city area. No other cars vehicles appear in this shot because it was taken on a Sunday morning (the only time it was safe enough to stop on the bridge and snap a photo).

Note that this viaduct, while really nothing more than a long exit ramp from I-15, featured an exit of its own: Third West northbound. The point of view is from about Sixth West; the replacement viaducts will have already descended to grade level by the time they reach this point.

Also, note the industrial character of the neighborhood below the bridge. This is the area that Mayor DeeDee Coradini hopes to transform with her Gateway Project.

From the eastern end of each of the viaducts, traffic continued in a one- way pattern, eastbound on Sixth South, and westbound toward the viaduct on Fifth South. Route 269 follows Fifth and Sixth South as far as State Street. Eastbound U-269 never meets westbound U-269.

Thanks to the extraordinarily wide streets laid out by Utah pioneers, one way streets are a rarity in Utah. Besides the streets on this route, one street in Salt Lake City's Avenues neighborhood, and a pair of one way couplets in Ogden, this author is aware of no other one-way city streets. Most American downtown areas were developed before the automobile age, and were left with a legacy of narrow streets in their central areas which had to be converted to one way streets to facilitate 20th Century traffic. However, Brigham Young commanded that streets in Salt Lake City be wide enough to turn around a cart and a team of oxen, and this edict was observed as the Mormon settlers laid out townships throughout Utah territory, leaving modern Utah with city streets amply wide enough to accomodate two-way traffic, center turn lanes, and on-street parking.

Fifth and Sixth South are similarly wide enough, but, when I-15 was built in 1963, planners felt that the streets could be better utilized if they carried four or five lanes of traffic in a single direction and made a direct connection to the freeway ramps. So, these two streets were converted to one way streets between the bottom of the I-15 ramps and Fifth East street in 1963.

The viaducts were closed and demolished in late 1998/early 1999 as a part of the I-15 reconstruction project, and, as of this writing, remain closed. They will be replaced by shorter viaducts, which should be open by early 2000. The viaducts will be shorter because Salt Lake City asked UDOT to bring the structures down to grade level several block further west than they where they had descended before.

The area immediately under and surrounding the viaducts is an industrial area, loaded with warehouses, vagrants, and streets with rails in them. Mayor DeeDee Coradini, envisions a revitalization project that would convert the area into a trendy nightclub district and a showcase area to put the city's best foot forward for Olympics visitors in 2002. The plan is known as the "Gateway Project."

	Three views of the Gateway Redevelopment Area and U-269's dominance over it. In the photo at left, taken at Fifth South and Fifth West looking west, the underbelly of the westbound viaduct is unsightly to those who who seek to transform the area. Below left, the western end of U-269, the big green overhead signs up on the bridge structure indicate the gore point as the Fifth South viaduct branches to each of the nearby freeways even as it crosses the Union Pacific mainline. Finally, at lower right, looking south on Fourth West, railroad tracks in the center of the street and the Fifth and Sixth South viaducts ahead. This shot was taken about a half block from the Amtrak depot.

Mayor Coradini believed that the viaducts were a hindrance to her plans. She wants the thousands of daily comuters who use the Sixth South exit to drive through her project area, not over it. Also, she reasons, having unsightly freeway overpasses towering over an area is a detriment to the kind of environment she hopes to foster. So, thanks to Mayor Coradini, the new viaducts will be several blocks shorter, and making it ever more inconvenient to reach downtown Salt Lake City.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Salt Lake City's city council is very hostile toward commuters who live in cities other than Salt Lake, mostly because we can't vote to oust them. The shorter viaducts plan is just another in a long series of actions and positions which make life difficult for us suburban commuters.

Economic booms don't last forever. Someday, things will turn bad again, and downtown Salt Lake City will wish that it could have back all of the commuters its commuter-hostile council chased away. In the meantime, Sandy, West Valley City, and other valley cities are busy building commuter-friendly alternative business parks. I wonder if Salt Lake will wake up in time..."

As for the progress on the Gateway Project, Mayor Coradini has done what it takes to keep the project on track so far: she's convinced the railroads to remove the rails from the middle of streets in the area, she convinced Amtrak to move its depot location to another location further west, and convinced UDOT to shorten their viaducts. The next step will be more difficult-- funding. Coradini was banking on swimming in cash from Olympics sponsorships, but the scandal has changed that picture completely. Now, there is some doubt that Utah will have enough funds to put on a barebones Olympics, let alone splurge on gateway developments. This project may never come to fruition, ...but at least we've got shorter viaducts!

Freeway sections
It could be argued that, before their demolition in 1998, the long ramp viaducts constituted a short freeway: they were nearly a mile long, and the eastbound lanes even had an exit at Third West street. But, despite the fact that these viaducts had their own route number, UDOT treated the viaducts as ramps from I-15, as evidenced by the inventory numbers stenciled on the lampposts which lined the bridges. Those posts were numbered "310 xxx", relating to milepost 310 on I-15.
Certainly, in the post-reconstruction era, now that the ramps are much shorter, no one will mistake them for a separate freeway.

The Sixth South viaduct, aka U-269 eastbound, sails over Third West street. Note the cloverleaf ramp on the far side of the street, beyond the overpass; this was the Third West exit from the Sixth South exit. Confused?

The replacement viaducts will not strech far enough east to span Third West, so this view will never be duplicated.

Route Notes
This route is the southernmost of the three extended viaduct ramps from I-15 into downtown Salt Lake City. See the notes above under Route 268 for a more detailed explanation. This viaduct descends to grade level at the corner of West Temple and Ninth South. Althopugh the exit on I-15 is labelled "9th South", through traffic is channelled onto northbound West Temple and from southbound West Temple onto the ramp. The exit is available from northbound I-15 only, there is no southbound exit. Similarly, traffic southbound on U-270 can access only southbound I-15 (and eastbound I-80 since there is a duplex here).

This ramp has not yet been impacted by the I-15 reconstruction project, but, unlike the other viaducts in the area, plans are to rebuild it to the same length as it was originally built.

Currently, the route is accessed from a temporary ramp which leaves I-15 labelled as "EXIT 309". Before, the reconstruction project started, motorists had to leave the freeway at exit 308, and use the collector road to access this exit. Also, the old signage on the freeway included a U-270 shield, but the current temporary signage makes no mention of U-270.

Route

• South End: Junction U-271, just east of I-15 exit 78
• North End: I-15, at exit 82

Route Notes
This route is old US 91 through Paragonah.

Route

• South End: Junction U-106, north of Farmington
• North End: Junction US 89, at Cherry Hills

Route Notes
At the northern end of this route, traffic can turn onto northbound US 89 only. Straight across US 89, is the beginning of U-273, but a jersey barrier median on US 89 prevents U-272 traffic from reaching U-273. This is a very dangerous intersection which is scheduled to be rebuilt in the next few years. After that work is done, it will be possible to reach U-273 from U-272.

Route

• South End: Junction US 89, at Cherry Hills
• North End: Junction I-15, at exit 334

Route Notes
This route is one section of old US 91. US 89 and US 91 ran together from Utah County to this point, north of Farmington where they diverged: US 89 hugged the eastern edge of the narrow strip of flatland in Davis County while US 91 veered northwestward through Kaysville, and around the west side of Hill Air Force Base.

Route

• South End: Junction U-143 in Parowan
• North End: Junction I-15 at exit 78

Route Notes
This route is yet another small section of old US 91 (What is it with there routes in the 270s?)

Route

• South End: Junction U-95, thirty miles east of US 191
• North End: National Bridges National Monument

Route Notes
This route is a short connector between the state highway and the NPS administered facility.

Toll facilities
There is a $5.00 per vehicle entrance fee to enter Natural Bridges National Monument.

Route

• North End: Junction U-95, thirty miles south of Hanksville
• East End: Junction U-95, thirty-five miles east of US 191

Route Notes
The route description seems a little strange for two reasons: first, it shows that the route end and rebegins at the Glen Canyon Recreation Area boundaries; second, it begins in the north when most route descriptions begin in the south. The explanations are simple.

First, all land within the boundaries of the Recreation Area is under the administration of the National Park Service, not UDOT, so the legislative route description is technically correct. In reality, the road is within the Rec Area for a relatively short distance (not counting the ferry ride), so you can really think of U-276 as more or less continuous.

Second, the northern half of the route is signed north/south and the southern half is signed east/west, so the legislators treated the route as being east/west when they worte the desription, and started in the west.

The only ferry on Utah's state highway system is located on this route, at Halls Crossing. Though the crossing is within the boundaries of Glen Canyon Recreation Area, and service is provided by Aramark, the NPS vendor in the area, the ferry itself is owned by UDOT, and so is a integral part of U-276. Service is provided only once every two hours, alternating on the hour from each side, so wait times can be long in the summer. Plan accordingly.

The ferry is operated during daylight hours only, and is closed in February for regular maintenance.

UDOT is considering the purchase of a second boat, possibly in time for summer 2001. A second ferry would allow for hourly service from each shore, and would eliminate the yearly closings for maintenance every February. Toll Ferry
There is a toll ferry boat crossing Lake Powell at Halls Crossing. The toll is $9.00 per vehicle. Service is provided only once every two hours, and is closed in February for regular maintenance.

Route

• West End: Moab patash plant
• North End: Junction US 191, one mile north of Moab

Links
E-mile-by-mile route log

Route

• West End: I-80, at exit 164
• East End: the town of Coalville

Route Notes
This route serves a connector between I-80 and Coalville. Before I-80 was built, Coalville was served by US 189. However, the new interstate was constructed about a mile west of the town and the old highway, and then the old road was relinquished from the state highway system. To insure that Coalville remained connected to the system, this new route was commissioned to join the interstates's Coalville interchange with the town itself.

By the way, despite its somewhat sleepy appearance, especially when viewed from the freeway, Coalville is more important than one might think -- it's the county seat of Summit County, Utah's fastest growing county. Many people mistakenly believe that the seat is in Park City, or somewhere close; but the seat of government for Summit County is some 25 mils to the northeast, in Coalville.