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State Route 201 (SR-201) is an east–west expressway and
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 i ...
located in
Salt Lake County Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The coun ...
in the U.S. state of
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 its ...
. Colloquially known by some as the ''21st South Freeway'', the route serves as an alternative to
Interstate 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 ...
(I-80) through
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...
. From the western terminus of the route west of Magna, the highway heads east through Kennecott Copper property as an expressway before running through the western suburbs of Salt Lake City as a freeway. Shortly after the route returns on a surface route, SR-201 terminates on its eastern end at State Street (
U.S. Route 89 U.S. Route 89 (US 89) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern section ...
). The history of the route predates the invention of the automobile; the
Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in ...
,
California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail fo ...
and
Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pike ...
all followed the present-day path of the highway. During the 1910s, the route was designated a state highway and, in 1939, State Route 201 was officially written into law, running from Magna east to 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 re ...
. At one point, the highway carried US-50 Alternate west of State Street and both US-40 and US-40 Alternate east of that road, though all were truncated from Salt Lake City by the late 1970s. Construction of the freeway portion of SR-201 west of I-15 commenced in the mid-1960s and was fully completed by 1986.


Route description

At its western terminus, SR-201 begins at a partial interchange at
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 ...
. Heading generally east with two lanes in each direction, the expressway passes by the Kennecott Smokestack, the tallest structure in Utah. Past its intersection at SR-202, the route takes a turn to the southeast, bypassing the Kennecott tailings pond. Now exiting Kennecott property, the route exits unpopulated terrain and enters the urban
Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the north ...
, beginning with the Salt Lake City suburb of Magna. Past junctions at 9200 West, 8400 West, 8000 West and 7200 West, the route veers northerly three blocks and becomes a limited-access freeway. East of 7200 West, SR-201 is routed at approximately 2100 South in Salt Lake County's grid system, giving the freeway its nickname of "21st South Freeway". Now with three lanes in each direction, the highway straddles the boundary between Salt Lake City and West Valley City, another suburb of the former. The road continues due east with
diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...
s at 5600 West ( SR-172) and Bangerter Highway ( SR-154). Immediately following a
single-point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thr ...
(SPUI) at 3200 West, the freeway intersects I-215 in the form of a
cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes ...
. The road dips to the south slightly and, following two SPUIs at Redwood Road ( SR-68) and 900 West, the freeway terminates at the Spaghetti Bowl interchange, giving eastbound motorists on SR-201 the option of continuing to I-15, I-80, 1300 South and 900 South. However, an eastbound traveler wanting to continue on the surface portion of SR-201 to State Street must exit on 900 West, head north briefly and then turn eastbound on 2100 South; a westbound traveler on 2100 South wishing to connect to the freeway must take an on-ramp from the surface street just before 900 West. Prior to 1997, this connection was direct. Now on the four-lane 2100 South, a secondary surface street, the route runs along the Salt Lake City-South Salt Lake border. State maintenance of 2100 South ends at the intersection of State Street (US-89).


History

State Route 201 is one of the original highways through the Salt Lake Valley. Signs along the route claim the path of the highway to be the historical route of the
California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail fo ...
,
Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pike ...
and
Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 19 ...
. While signed as the route of the California Trail, modern 2100 South is a less common branch called
Hastings Cutoff The Hastings Cutoff was an alternative route for westward emigrants to travel to California, as proposed by Lansford Hastings in ''The Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California''. The ill-fated Donner Party infamously took the route in 1846. ...
that became infamous because of the
Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in ...
. The Lincoln Highway, generally derived from the route of the Pony Express across Utah, was routed on 2100 South. However, no modern highway exactly follows the route of the Pony Express west of Salt Lake City. SR-201 is one of a few auto-tour routes that approximates the Pony Express trail, which actually ran south of the road. In the 1910s, 2100 South in Salt Lake County became an unnumbered state highway. In 1919, when the state legislature redefined the state road system to include only a short list given in the law and any
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 ...
projects, 2100 South east of State Street remained as a portion of the Lincoln Highway. In 1926, 2100 South became part of US-40, following the creation of the
United States Numbered Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...
system. By 1937, 2100 South west of 9180 West was assigned to US-50, US-40 now turning northward toward Downtown Salt Lake City. This created two signed highways over 2100 South: US-40 east of US-91 and US-50 east of 9200 West (US-50 traveled west on 3500 South through Salt Lake City from US-91 to 2100 South in Magna, whereas US-40 turned from eastbound 2100 South to northbound State Street to connect to North Temple). In 1939, the state legislature designated State Route 201, running west on 2100 South from State Street (US-40/US-91) to US-50 (9180 West) in Magna. By 1954, US-50 was moved south to an alignment through central Utah, the old routing mostly replaced by US-50 Alternate (US-50A). However, US-50A was placed in Salt Lake City on 2100 South west of State Street, replacing the SR-201 designation. By 1965, US-40 was realigned along Foothill Drive (then US-40A), the Utah Highway Department believing the Foothill route was more direct in connecting with North Temple toward the airport. US-40A was now aligned along the entirety of 2100 South from US-40/future I-215 at the mouth of Parley's Canyon west to State Street and beyond with US-50A to US-40 west of Magna. Both mainline and Alternate US-40, along with US-50A, were truncated to east of the city by 1979.


Constructing a freeway

By 1958, SR-201 between US-40 west of Magna and SR-68 (Redwood Road) was a two-lane highway through rural Salt Lake County. The rural landscape changed by the time SR-201 intersected 300 West and entered urban Salt Lake County, the highway becoming a four-lane road. The route remained this way until the intersection of 1300 East ( SR-181), where the route reverted to a two-lane configuration. By 1965, a time when most U.S. Routes in the city were being replaced by
Interstate Highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
, all two-lane portions of the road east of 1300 East were widened to at least four lanes; an interchange between US-40, US-40A and future I-215 was being built at the mouth of Parley's Canyon. From under-construction I-15 west to Redwood Road, the old route of SR-201 was being superseded by a six-lane freeway directly to the south. All construction was complete by 1970 with interchanges at 900 West and Redwood Road; the new freeway extended west to 2700 West. By 1977, an interchange directly west of Redwood Road at I-215 was being built and the rest of the highway to Magna was given a median in preparation for freeway construction to 5600 West ( SR-172). This construction concluded by 1986, with interchanges at 3200 West, Bangerter Highway ( SR-154, then solely 4000 West) and 5600 West as a result. Beginning in April 1997 and concluding in July 2001, as part of a larger reconstruction project for I-15, SR-201 was rebuilt from 900 West to I-15/I-80, including the colloquial "Spaghetti Bowl" interchange. As a result, SR-201 was left in two discontinuous pieces; to connect from the surface portion of SR-201 to the freeway, one must now take an on-ramp. From 2004 to 2006, the freeway from 900 West to I-215 was widened and repaved, the Redwood Road interchange being redone as well. In 2009, the freeway from Bangerter Highway to 5600 West was widened to three lanes in each direction and the road between SR-202 and I-80 was widened to four lanes—the latter project eliminated the final two-lane section of SR-201.


Major intersections


References


External links

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Utah State Route 201 Utah State Route 201 201