State Route 186 (SR-186) is a

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 ...

entirely within

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, capital of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

. It forms a quarter-

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

connecting US-89 and

I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band) "Soulja Girl" is the second single from American rapper Soulja Boy's studio album '' ...

leading north from Salt Lake City to

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

leading east; as such, it effectively forms the missing (non-

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

) quarter of the

I-215 Interstate 215 is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 15 (I-15): * Interstate 215 (California), a regional Interstate bypass for I-15 and a connection to I-10 that serves the ...

belt route around the city, though it does not directly connect to I-215 at the north end. Despite this beltway role, the route passes through

downtown Salt Lake City Downtown (also called City Center) is the oldest district in Salt Lake City, Utah. The grid from which the entire city is laid out originates at Temple Square, the location of the Salt Lake Temple. Location Downtown Salt Lake City is usually def ...

because downtown is built right up to the northern mountains surrounding City Creek Canyon. The portion of the route connecting downtown to I-80 is a high-capacity street heavily used by commuters, especially those travelling to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

or between downtown and eastern neighborhoods, but the portion on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

north of downtown is much narrower and has sharp turns around the

Capitol grounds The Capitol Grounds Capitol Park (I), was a baseball field in Washington, D.C. The grounds were the home field for the Washington Nationals of the Union Association during the league's only season in . The ballpark had a seating capacity of 6,000, ...

. The roadway runs along Victory Road, Columbus Street, 300 North, State Street, 400 South, 500 South, and Foothill Drive. The highway, as SR-186, was formed in 1935, initially going from what is now US-89 in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

east on 400 South, west on 200 South after a gap, and south on 1300 East to US-40, now 2100 South. Portions of this route were signed as US-40 Alternate. By 1954, Foothill Drive existed in its current state and US-40A, as well as the legislative and unsigned SR-186 designation, was routed along that road. At one point, the highway extended west to the

Salt Lake City International Airport Salt Lake City International Airport is a civil-military airport located about west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. The airport is the closest commercial airport for more than 2.5 million people and is within a 30-minu ...

(well after US-40A was truncated), but this connection was lost in 2007 when SR-186 was aligned to cover all of former SR-184, which was decommissioned that same year. The entire route is included as part of the National Highway System.

Route description

Capitol Hill

The highway begins at the intersection of Beck Street ( US-89) and Victory Road. The route heads up Victory Road as a two-lane undivided highway, forming the northern limit of urban development in the Marmalade District. The land north of Victory road is the

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

-like slope leading up to

Ensign Peak Ensign Peak ( ) is a peak in the foothills near downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It is approximately north of the Utah State Capitol and sits almost directly behind it. On July 26, 1847, Brigham Young and other early members of the Church of Jesu ...

. As the road heads southeast, it reaches the top of Salt Lake's Capitol Hill, a

foothill Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

of Ensign Peak, where residential developments begin to appear on the north side. The route turns south onto Columbus Street and runs along the west side of the

Utah State Capitol The Utah State Capitol is the house of government for the U.S. state of Utah. The building houses the chambers and offices of the Utah State Legislature, the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, the State Auditor and ...

grounds. At the grounds' southwest corner, SR-186 connects to Main Street and turns east on 300 North. A short distance east, at the foot of the front steps of the Capitol building, the route again turns south onto State Street and descends to downtown.

Downtown Salt Lake City

Widening to three lanes in each direction at North Temple, SR-186 continues on State Street for a total of seven blocks before turning east on 400 South next to Washington Square. US-89 turns west from northbound State Street at the same intersection. Light rail (the

UTA TRAX Red Line The Red Line is a light rail line on the TRAX (light rail), TRAX system in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). It originally began operation in December 2001 as the peak-hour-only Sandy/University Line, ru ...

) runs in the median of SR-186 from this point to Stadium station at about 1350 East.

400 South and 500 South

400 South, which is also known as University Boulevard, passes through the eastern edge of downtown and meets the northern end of

SR-71 The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a Range (aeronautics), long-range, high-altitude, Mach number, Mach 3+ military strategy, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporati ...

at 700 East. SR-186 then curves south (effectively becoming 1000 East for a short time) one block to climb the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

forming the boundary of the East Bench, subsequently becoming 500 South. The honorary University Boulevard name follows this curve as well. After the light rail tracks leave the median with a gated

grade crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...

of the westbound lanes, the route passes the

's Rice-Eccles Stadium, various University of Utah support buildings in the southern reaches of the campus, the Veteran's Administration Hospital, and a small military area (the remnants of

Fort Douglas Camp Douglas was established in October 1862, during the American Civil War, as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, to protect the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. In ...

) before turning southeast and becoming Foothill Drive (also known as Foothill Boulevard).

Foothill Drive

Foothill Drive crosses Red Butte Creek before turning south to come into alignment with 2100 East (a name that is still sometimes used for this segment to avoid confusion with an old northwest-southeast segment of Foothill Drive just to the west). The intersection with Sunnyside Avenue (previously SR-65) leading to Emigration Canyon is at the northern end of this segment. The street then passes through a small residential area and along the western side of Bonneville Golf Course before turning southeast again, crossing Emigration Creek, and narrowing to two lanes in each direction past a commercial area. The route continues southeast before connecting to

, southbound

, and westbound Parleys Way.

Light rail

The

runs in the median of SR-186 from State Street to the Stadium station at about 1350 East, and there are three stations in the median:

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, Trolley, and 900 East & 400 South. Though the median forms a dedicated right-of-way for the trains almost everywhere, there are some places where left-turn lanes overlap the trains' right-of-way.

Bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

is planned for Foothill Drive south of the university.

Bicycling

None of the high-capacity segment of SR-186 east of downtown has

bicycle lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor v ...

Bicyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

are encouraged (but not required) to use a less busy street such as 300 South (Broadway) as an alternative to SR-186 on 400 South and 500 South. Similarly, Wasatch Boulevard is a designated bicycle route parallel to Foothill Drive; however, the north end of Wasatch Boulevard takes a major detour to the east around Bonneville Golf Course, which makes it less useful for commuters to the university, so bicyclists end up using the very busy north end of Foothill Drive anyway (north of Sunnyside Avenue, there is at least a short sidepath). At the south end of Foothill Drive, several dedicated bridges for the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Parley's Trail provide access across I-80 and I-215 at the mouth of

Parley's Canyon Parleys Canyon is a canyon located in the U.S. state of Utah. The canyon provides the route of Interstate 80 (I-80) (and previously the Lincoln Highway, U.S. Route 40, and a railroad) up the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains and is a relati ...

, so bicyclists have multiple options there.

Legal definition

The legal definition of State Route 186 is as follows: 72-4-124. State highways -- SR-186, SR-189, SR-190
(1) SR-186. From Route 89 at Beck Street in Salt Lake City southerly on Victory Road and Columbus Street; then easterly on Third North; then southerly on State Street to Fourth South Street; then easterly on Fourth South, Tenth East, and Fifth South Streets; then southerly on Foothill Boulevard to Route 80.

History

The state legislature created State Route 186 in 1935. Its original route began at US-89/ US-91 (now solely US-89) at the corner of State Street and 400 South, and followed the present route east to the

, but then it turned north with a gap through the university grounds, west on 200 South, and south on 1300 East to end at 2100 South, then US-40. Legislatively designated as SR-186 by the state, this was signed and treated as US-40 Alternate (US-40A) otherwise. Although SR-186 was a hidden legislative designation along the path of US-40A, the portion of 400 South between 300 West (where US-40 ran) and Redwood Road ( SR-68) was solely SR-186 by 1941, and was signed as such. By 1948, the path of US-40A (hidden SR-186) ran from US-40 at the mouth of

Parleys Canyon Parleys Canyon is a canyon located in the U.S. state of Utah. The canyon provides the route of Interstate 80 (I-80) (and previously the Lincoln Highway, U.S. Route 40, and a railroad) up the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains and is a relati ...

northwesterly along Foothill Drive until turning west on Sunnyside Avenue, north on 1300 East and west on 500 South and 400 South before terminating at 300 West, which then carried the designations of US-40, US-89, and US-91. By 1954, Foothill Drive was extended north past Sunnyside Avenue toward the University of Utah, and US-40A was rerouted along this new stretch of road. By 1965, US-40 and US-40A switched routes; henceforth, US-40 would run along current-day SR-186 until it was truncated in the mid-1970s. In 1966, the State Road Commission extended the route southwest on a proposed roadway to

, but the

Bureau of Public Roads The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

denied the request to build it with

federal aid A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

because placing an interchange at that location on I-215 was infeasible, and it was cut back to SR-68 in 1967.

Utah Department of Transportation The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is an agency of the state government of Utah, United States; it is usually referred to by its initials UDOT (pronounced "you-dot"). UDOT is charged with maintaining the more than of roadway that co ...

Highway Resolutions
, updated October 2007, accessed May 2008 Utah State Capitol seen from State Street

North Temple Street west of 300 West (then US-89/91, now solely US-89) was added to the state highway system in 1931 as part of SR-67. Since it was along the planned alignment for

, it became SR-2 (only a legislative designation that was never signed) in 1962, but the portion east of an interchange near the

was due to be bypassed by the Interstate, and so in 1966 that piece became State Route 267.

Highway Resolutions
, updated December 2007, accessed May 2008 State Route 176 was built in 1933 with

and numbered in 1935, forming an alternate to US-89/91 through

. Its original route began at South Temple Street and 300 West, and ran south on 300 West and east on 900 South to State Street. The north end was extended one block to North Temple Street in 1962, when US-89A/91A was moved from South to North Temple, and in 1967 the south end was removed from 900 South and sent down 300 West to SR-171 (3300 South). The latter extension was done in exchange for State Route 202, which followed Main Street between SR-201 (2100 South) and SR-171 from 1961 to 1967.

Highway Resolutions
, updated November 2007, accessed May 2008

Highway Resolutions
, updated November 2007, accessed May 2008 Both of these routes - SR-176 and SR-267 - became part of SR-186 in 1969. The parts of SR-186 (400 South) west of SR-176 (300 West) and SR-176 south of SR-186 were dropped from the state highway system, and SR-186 was extended north on 300 West to North Temple and west on North Temple to I-80, replacing the remainder of SR-176 and all of SR-267. Utah State Highway 186 at the intersection with State Highway 68

Utah State Highway 186 at the intersection with State Highway 68

State Route 184 was created in 1963, running north from US-89A/91A at North Temple and State Streets around the west side of the

State Capitol This is a list of state and territorial capitols in the United States, the building or complex of buildings from which the government of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia and the organized territories of the United States, exercise its ...

and back to SR-1 north of downtown. The roadway had previously been part of SR-181 since 1935, but with US-89A/91A moving from South Temple to North Temple, a new number was needed to avoid a one-block

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * Ove ...

. SR-184 remained a separate route until 2007, when North Temple west of State Street was given to Salt Lake City for the Airport extension of the TRAX Green Line. Since North Temple had carried US-89 east of 300 West, that route was realigned to use what had been SR-186 on 300 West and 400 South, cutting SR-186's west end back to 400 South and State Street. But that intersection was also the south end of SR-184, and SR-186 was extended to absorb SR-184.

Major intersections

References

External links

Highway Reference Information:0186P
(

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

)
State Road Resolutions:Route 186
(

)
Route 186 on Dan Stober's ''Utah Highways''
(as archived by the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:State Route 186

186 Year 186 ( CLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 939 ''Ab urbe co ...

Utah State Route 186 State Route 186 (SR-186) is a state highway entirely within Salt Lake City, capital of the U.S. state of Utah. It forms a quarter-beltway connecting US-89 and I-15 leading north from Salt Lake City to I-80 leading east; as such, it effectively ...

186 186