Utah State Route 56

State Route 56 marker

State Route 56
Route information
Defined by Utah Code §72-4-111
Maintained by UDOT
Length: 61.502 mi[1] (98.978 km)
Existed: 1931 – present
Major junctions
West end: SR 319 near Modena
  SR-18 in Beryl Junction
I-15 in Cedar City
East end: SR-130 in Cedar City
Highway system
  • State highways in Utah
← SR-55SR-57 →

State Route 56 is a highway completely within Iron County in southwestern Utah going from the Utah/Nevada border to Cedar City.

Route description

From its western terminus on the Nevada border near Modena, the route heads northeast until reaching Modena, where it turns southeast. It continues this direction until Newcastle, where it begins heading east and then southeast. After a junction with Pinto Road, it leaves the Harmony Mountains, enters Cedar Valley, then the route heads northeast until entering Cedar City, where it runs east until its eastern terminus.

History

View east from the west end of SR-56 at the Nevada state line

The road from Beryl Junction west to Modena became a state highway in 1918,[2][3] and in 1927 the legislature extended it west to the Nevada state line (at SR 25) and numbered it as part of SR-18.[4] A connection from SR-18 at Beryl Junction east to SR-1 (US-91, now SR-130) in Cedar City was added in 1931 as State Route 56,[5] and in 1935 that route absorbed the segment of SR-18 to the state line.[6]

SR-56 originally crossed the mountains between Cedar City and Beryl Junction via Desert Mound, following the present Desert Mound Road. Two branches from SR-56 to Iron Mountain were added in 1935: State Route 120 directly south from about the midpoint (never built), and State Route 198 from near the Cedar City end southwest via Iron Mountain to the Dixie National Forest in the direction of Pinto.[7] Both routes were deleted in 1945, and SR-56 was realigned via Iron Mountain,[8] with the portion of SR-198 east of that settlement becoming part of the new route.[3] A 1953 law restored part of the old alignment to the state highway system as State Route 253, from the junction west of Cedar City to Desert Mound, and also created State Route 254 as a branch to Iron Springs.[9] Both were given back to the county in 1969.[3]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Iron County. [10]

Location[10]mi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Modena0.0000.000 SR 319 – PanacaNevada–Utah state line; Western terminus
Beryl Junction25.11140.412 SR-18 (Beryl Highway) – Enterprise, St. George
Cedar CityLund Highway – Lund
60.514–
60.529		97.388–
97.412		 I-15 – St. George, ParowanExit 59 on I-15
61.50298.978 SR-130 (Main Street)Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. 1 2 "State Route 56 Highway reference". Utah Department of Transportation.
  2. ↑ Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: "Route 18". (2.49 MB), updated September 2007, accessed May 2008
  3. 1 2 3 Utah Department of Transportation, State Route History Archived February 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine., accessed July 2007
  4. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1927). Chapter 21: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. 18. From Enterprise Junction near St. George, northerly via Central, and Enterprise to Modena, thence, westerly to the Nevada State line.
  5. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1931). Chapter 55: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. (56) From Cedar City westerly via Newcastle to Enterprise junction on route 18.
  6. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1935). Chapter 37: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. Route 56. From Cedar City westerly via Newcastle and Modena to the Utah-Nevada state line.
  7. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1935). Chapter 37: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. Route 120. From junction with route 56 west of Cedar City southerly to Iron Mountain." "Route 198. From route 56 to Dixie National Forest en route to Pinto.
  8. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1945). Chapter 61: State Roads and Routes. Session Laws of Utah. Route 56. From Cedar City on route 1 westerly via Iron Mountain, Newcastle and Modena to the Utah-Nevada state line.
  9. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1953). Chapter 45: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. Route 253. From a point on route 56 approximately six miles west of Cedar City westerly to Desert Mound. Route 254. From a point on route 253, approximately two miles west of junction with route 56, northerly to Iron Springs.
  10. 1 2 "State Highway Map". Utah Department of Transportation. Retrieved 22 April 2008.

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