Utah Roads - I-80

I-80


All photos are courtesy Michael Summa and were taken in 1976, or else are recent and courtesy Doug Kerr or Lou Corsaro. I will start each caption with MS-, DK-, or LC-.


DK- Entering Nevada, there's one last hill to dig through before the state line.


DK- Westbound across the Bonneville Salt Flats, which as you can see are flat and salty. When it rains, people bring their cucumbers here. Not.


LC- I've been accused of not putting enough scenery on my pages, so I'll try to make up for it on this one. These photos were taken over more than an hour, and there's still nothing but salt. That's because after crossing a few foothills, I-80 goes from the Salt Flats to the Great Salt Lake's southern shore. Photos start at the same cut as Doug's photo and head eastward.


MS- Facing north at I-80 Exit 70, Delle. State maintenance only applies to the interchange - there's no intersecting highway. Michael would like you to note the oversized NRT sign.


MS- All westbound. Why I-80 had exit numbers when no other Utah Interstate did is beyond me.


MS- Eastbound; Stansbury has been added to newer signs.


MS- Scenic view at Lakeside parking area, west of Salt Lake City at what's now Exit 101, heading WB.


MS- This was ALT US 50, pardon the nighttime flash-on-Scotchlite effect, eastbound approaching Salt Lake City; it is now UT 201.


MS- WB, showcasing Utah Parks & Recreation.


DK- What appears to be an older three-digit shield, followed by the normal 2-digit kind, then on the exit ramp (which is also the Exit 118 onramp), back to three digits but with the I-80 shield being the old one. These are westbound.


DK- Eastbound in the same area. Jct. I-215 makes a terrible destination, and centering the destinations while right-justifying the distances makes a terrible sign. More narrow or old shields are followed by signs that are definitely new, where the font is trying its best to outgrow the sign.


DK- This is the exit from the airport, which becomes UT 154, on the ramp to I-80 EB. It splits for Exit 115, which as the mini-shield (it's all a one-piece assembly) says, is North Temple (not Ave., either, just North Temple), but it's also UT 186.


MS- Ignore the foreground for a moment, please. This photo is a double exposure. The flash didn't go off when it was taken on I-80, but of the three BGS's, the one on the right is Exit 129, UT 186. The center one is for what is now Exit 126, 13th (now 1300) East, Sugar House (now Sugarhouse). This was UT 181, but isn't anymore. The left BGS is a pull-through for I-80 WEST, Salt Lake, Reno.


LC- Opposite direction, every sign is wrong but all the scenery is so right. The I-80 comes closest - the arrows should just be one over each lane. The middle sign needs to be wide enough to put its two destinations on two sides so that it doesn't run together as a single, schizophrenic ski area. IF the sign on the right looked anything close to the sign on the left, I could start to accept it.


DK- Westbound entering Salt Lake City, past an old and narrow I-215 shield to a much older pair of signs at the exit. The I-80 shield is new, as is the airport patch, but this is the last remaining button copy sign on I-80! To prove it, click for a darker photo that more clearly shows the buttons in the "186". You can also see that on the Parleys Way greenout, the y's don't line up with the rest of the letters, because otherwise they wouldn't fit on the patch.

MS- WB.


MS- Gotta love this snap - I-84 is still I-80N! Notice how the N is below the number, not next to it like modern shields for suffixed routes. Echo is now Exit 169, and I-84 is Exit 168.


LC- EB in the same spot, in daylight so that you can see what Michael missed. (I'm sure the rocks were the same back then, only cooler.)


DK- More scenery because I love you, and then ending at a numbered exit for a rest area. Okay, anyone gotta pee? Into the Quonset hut!

To I-15 and the I-80/15 multiplex

Into Nevada on I-80
Into Wyoming on I-80
To US 50
Exit 117 or 130 to I-215
Exit 118 to UT 68
To US 40
Onto I-84 (former I-80N)
Back to Utah Roads
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