State Route 61 (SR-61) is a nearly

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

Cache County Cache County ( ) is a county located in the Wasatch Front region of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 133,154. Its county seat and largest city is Logan. Cache County is included in Logan metropolitan area. History I ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, connecting SR-23 in Cornish, to U.S. Route 91 (US-91) in Cove via Lewiston, in the extreme northern part of the state. The highway has existed since at least 1914 and as SR-61 since at least 1937. Between 735 and 2,180 vehicles travel along the highway on an average day in 2012.

Route description

At the intersection of SR-23 (4800 West) and 13400 North in the center of Cornish, SR-61 departs east on 13400 North due east, crossing over a

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

belonging to the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

(UP). Exiting Cornish, the highway crosses the Bear River and continues east through rural Cache County. Just shy of the western

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...

of Lewiston, the highway intersects SR-200 (800 West), a connector road to Preston, Idaho. From the western terminus to SR-200, the shoulder is up to wide, suitable for bicycling, however the remainder of the route has much narrower shoulders, between less than or equal to wide. The highway's name changes from 13400 South to Center Street through Lewiston. Passing the Lewiston Cemetery, SR-61 crosses over the

Cub River Cub River is a stream in Franklin County, Idaho and Cache County, Utah, United States. According to tradition, Cub River was so named by pioneer Brigham Young for its smaller size relative to the nearby Bear River. See also *List of rivers of ...

and a second single track belonging to UP, and then a third UP single track just before the highway's eastern terminus at US-91 north of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. All of the rail lines that SR-61 crosses originally belonged to the

Oregon Short Line Railway The Oregon Short Line Railroad was a railroad in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Montana and Oregon in the United States. The line was organized as the Oregon Short Line Railway in 1881 as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railway. The Union Pacific int ...

. Aside from the segment through Lewiston, the highway is surrounded by farmland for its entire journey across northern Utah. Every year, UDOT conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of average annual daily traffic (AADT), a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2012, UDOT calculated that as few as 735 vehicles used the highway on an average day at its western terminus in Cornish, and as many as 2,180 vehicles used the highway at its junction with SR-200. Thirty-five percent of this was truck traffic.

History

A roadway linking Cornish to the east has existed since at least 1914. The roadway that serves as the eastern terminus was numbered SR-1 by 1927, and the highway officially was designated SR-61 in 1931. The bridge that carries SR-61 over the Cub River today was constructed in 1952, while the bridge over the Bear River was built in 1961. The original river crossings were slightly further south than their current locations. Until 1953, SR-61 continued north to the

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

border. This section was replaced by SR-23 in 1953.

Major intersections

References

External links

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061 61 may refer to: * 61 (number) * one of the years 61 BC, AD 61, 1961, 2061 * In some countries, a slang name for the Cyrillic letter Ы * '' 61*'', a 2001 American sports drama film * "Sixty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Mountain ...

061 State Route 61