Utah Roads - US 40



The photo atop this page was taken in 1976 by Michael Summa, a couple of years after US 40 was taken out of Salt Lake City and truncated to Silver Creek, I-80 Exit 146. The photo was very likely taken on E 400 S, which is now US 89, but until 2007 was part of UT 186 (which replaced most of US 40 in SLC). Michael pegged it at State St./US 89.


Another downtown SLC remnant, same year, same attribution. This was likely UT 186 WB at N 900 W, which heads up to W 900 N (yes, different road), but first finds W 600 N at the next interchange up. It can't be at N 400 W because that used to be grade-separated, and probably isn't at N 300 W, which is better known as US 89. Thanks to Thomas Silas for helping pin this location down. This was a double exposure; to hear more about the BGS's shadowing the background of the photo, jog on over to I-80 (linked at bottom).


Not an old photo, but an old road. Courtesy Doug Kerr, this is former US 40 west of Salt Lake City, now serving as a concrete-surfaced frontage road to I-80.


Interesting way to sign a signal in advance - and an interesting distance from which to do so, followed by an interesting way to sign an end, both courtesy Doug Kerr. Hey, at least UDOT (or maybe just a concerned fellow road enthusiast) tried to remove the arrow.

Remaining photos are all courtesy Michael Summa.


US 40 is a freeway in the Park City area, east of Salt Lake City. Since that doesn't match this photo, let's start from the beginning. Before the 1940's, US 40 came into Park City on what is now UT 248 and left on UT 224. It followed the general route of I-80 westward, through Salt Lake City, ending in San Francisco. In the 1970's, US 40 was truncated to just northeast of Park City, just northwest of this photo. Until the 1990's, US 40 was a two-lane road, running through what is now the Jordanelle Reservoir. There is a long stub road leading to the dam, a shorter stub to the north leading into what is now UT 248, and a very short stub connecting that stretch of road (northwest of the reservoir) to what is now a frontage road but was original US 40. This photo, taken in 1983, is where UT 248 coming out of Park City terminated, as a two-lane road, into two-lane US 40. As the reservoir came into being, US 40 was rebuilt as a freeway to the west of the reservoir, and the old road was partially covered up. That's about when UT 248 was extended to the east, along the part of old US 40 between what is now the eastern frontage road and the long stretch of pavement heading into the lake, and eastward from there. Old UT 248 in the vicinity of the US 40 interchange was realigned slightly to the south, and faired into old US 40, leaving the very short stub I mentioned before. To summarize, the view in this 1983 photo is now a T facing the opposite direction, and the signs are on a piece of road that no longer exists. What was then labelled as US 40 is now a frontage road. Thanks to Daniel Stober of Utah Highways for some of this information, and Google Maps for most of the rest.


US 40 EB in 1983, just west of the Colorado border.


US 40 WB in 1983, at that self-same border.

Into Colorado on US 40
To I-15
Onto I-80
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