U.S. Route 40 in Utah

U.S. Route 40
Route information
Defined by Utah Code §72-4-107
Maintained by UDOT
Length:	174.624 mi[1] (281.030 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-80 in Silver Summit
	US-189 in Heber City US-191 in Duchesne US-191 in Vernal
East end:	US 40 at the Colorado state line (west of Dinosaur, CO)
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Bannered Divided Replaced State highways in Utah Interstate • US State Minor Parks Scenic ← SR-39 SR-42 →

The west end of U.S. Route 40 is in the U.S. state of Utah at Silver Creek Junction in Silver Summit(about 20.7 miles (33.3 km) east of Salt Lake City) with Interstate 80. From there it heads southeast through Heber City and east into Colorado on its way to the Mid-Atlantic.

Route description

U.S. Route 40 begins at I-80 at Silver Creek Junction in Silver Summit, traveling south-southeast as a full freeway in a broad valley northeast of Park City. At the south end of the valley, Jordanelle Reservoir comes into view and US-40 continues south high on the slope above its western shore while Utah State Route 248 climbs away to the east on the slope overlooking the northern shore. The freeway passes through several large cuttings in the side of the mountains that were dug when US-40 was relocated to make way for the reservoir; Utah State Route 319 provides access down the slope to a state park on the shore of the reservoir. South of the reservoir, the dam is visible on the left and the road loses elevation quickly before abruptly connecting to a (suburban or exurban) non-freeway segment with frequent curb cuts and building frontage. In central Heber, U.S. Highway 189 continues south, but US-40 turns east to leave the city. US-40 continues south and east through mountains and the Uintah Basin to the Colorado border near Dinosaur National Monument.

History

As with most states, US-40 follows the Victory Highway through Utah. This auto trail was organized in 1921, and overlapped the older Lincoln Highway through Salt Lake City. To the west, it split from the Lincoln at Mills Junction, and took a straight path across the Great Salt Lake Desert on the proposed Wendover Cut-off to Nevada. The east split with the Lincoln was at Kimball Junction, where the Victory turned to the southeast over an old trail that led past Heber City, over Daniel's Pass, and along the Strawberry River and Duchesne River to Fort Robidoux. The highway continued east across a relatively flat area through Vernal to Colorado.^[2][3]

The Utah State Road Commission took over the highway from Kimball Junction to Colorado in 1910 and 1911; in late 1926, the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) assigned US-40 to this cross-state route.^[4]

The old Lincoln Highway east of Kimball Junction was initially US-530, but in the late 1930s it became part of US-189. The split between US-40 and US-189, formerly the junction of the Victory and Lincoln Highways, was moved east from Kimball Junction to Silver Creek Junction in 1952; this change moved both routes to a new road between Keetley Junction and Silver Creek Junction, and renumbered the road between Kimball and Silver Creek Junctions from US-189 to US-40.^[5] The old road between Keetley and Kimball Junctions became State Route 248.^[6] In 1974, with its replacement - Interstate 80 - almost complete across California, Nevada, and Utah, the three states applied to AASHO to truncate US-40 to Silver Creek Junction. (US-40 had been removed west of Truckee, California in 1964.) AASHO approved the truncation on June 17, 1975.^[7]

After a bypass of Myton was built, the old route along Main and Sixth Streets became State Route 252 in 1953.^[8] It was given to the city in 1969.^[9]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Summit	Silver Creek Junction	0.000	0.000		I-80 west – Salt Lake	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.000	0.000	1	I-80 east (US-189 north) / Silver Creek Road – Cheyenne	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; west end of unsigned US-189 overlap
	​	1.309	2.107	2	Silver Summit
	​	3.998	6.434	4	Park City, Kamas (SR-248)
Wasatch	​	8.246	13.271	8	Mayflower (SR-319)
	​	13.033	20.975	East end of freeway
	​	13.248	21.321		SR-32 – Francis, Kamas, Midway
	Heber City	17.006	27.369		SR-113 (100 South)
		17.945	28.880		US-189 south – Orem, Provo	East end of unsigned US-189 overlap
Duchesne	​	68.247	109.833		SR-208
	Duchesne	85.931	138.293		SR-311
		86.434	139.102		US-191 south (100 West)	West end of US-191 overlap
		86.524	139.247		SR-87 (Center Street)
	​	109.538	176.284		SR-87
	Roosevelt	114.576	184.392		SR-121 (200 North)
Uintah	​	130.450	209.939		SR-88
	Vernal	143.787	231.403		SR-121 (500 West)
		144.285	232.204		US-191 north (Vernal Avenue) – Flaming Gorge, Rock Springs	East end of US-191 overlap
	Naples	148.242	238.572		SR-45 – Bonanza
	​	157.109	252.842		SR-149 – Dinosaur National Monument
	​	174.624	281.030		US 40 east – Denver, Craig	Continuation into Colorado
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Reference Information: "US-40". (128 KB), updated May 2008, accessed June 2008
2. Froiseth, B.A.M., Map of the Territory of Utah, 1870
3. Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas, 1926, accessed via the Broer Map Library
4. Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via University of North Texas Libraries.
5. Utah Department of Transportation, Route 6 history, updated September 2005
6. Utah Department of Transportation, Route 248 history, updated December 2005
7. Utah Department of Transportation, Route 40 history, updated October 2005
8. Utah State Legislature (1953). Chapter 45: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. Route 252. From route 6 west of Myton via Myton Main Street to route 6.
9. Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: "Route 252". (2.54 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008