U.S. 40

U.S. 40

U.S. 40 begins its cross country journey at its junction with Interstate 80 at Silver Creek Junction. U.S. 40 runs concurrent with U.S. 189 from Silver Creek Junction and extends southeast past Park City to Heber City as a freeway. At Heber City, the two U.S. highways diverge, with U.S. 189 continuing southwest to Provo and U.S. 40 continuing southeast past Strawberry Reservoir to Duchesne. U.S. 40 sees a shared alignment with U.S. 191 between Duchesne and Vernal. East of Vernal, U.S. 40 proceeds east past Jensen toward Dinosaur National Monument and the Utah-Colorado state line.

U.S. 40 Utah Guides

U.S. 40 used to extend from San Francisco, California, east to Atlantic City, New Jersey. With the elimination of multiple U.S. routes in California 1964, U.S. 40 was gradually retracted to Silver Creek Junction in phases, with the last segment of U.S. 40 west of Silver Creek Junction eliminated on June 17, 1975, by approval of AASHTO.1 U.S. 40 was largely decommissioned in favor of Interstate 80, which also begins in San Francisco and extends east to Sacramento, Reno, Elko, Salt Lake City, and Silver Creek Junction.

Alternate U.S. 40 through Salt Lake City along Utah 186 was also eliminated in 1975 (at the same time the main highway was decommissioned). The route ran along the former U.S. 40 alignment when the U.S. 40 mainline shifted to an overlap with Interstate 80 between Utah 68 (Redwood Road) and Parleys Canyon. The bannered route followed Temple Street east to 300 West to 400 South and the current route of Utah 168 back to I-80 and 215.

Construction of Jordanelle Dam along the Provo River submerged the junction of U.S. 40 and Utah 32 (old U.S. 189) at Hailstone, and several miles of each route. A new limited access alignment for U.S. 40 (and hidden U.S. 189) was constructed along the eastern slope of the Wasatch Range above the new Jordanelle Reservoir. The freeway north to Keetley Junction was completed in 1990.2

An $11.2 million, year long project started in October 1992, extended the U.S. 40 freeway another three miles north from Park City Junction to Interstate 80 at Silver Creek Junction. The two lane roadway was expanded to a four-lane concrete freeway with an interchange added at Silver Summit.2 This freeway improved access to the Park City ski resort areas, which was a primary venue for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

The last of the improvements made necessary when Utah won its bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympic Games was the $27 million upgrade of the interchange between U.S. 40 and Interstate 80 at Silver Creek Junction. Work through summer 2001 replaced a parclo interchange with the combination of a single point urban interchange (SPUI) and high speed ramps linking I-80 and U.S. 40 east and U.S. 40 and I-80 west.3 Further south, U.S. 40 was also widened from two to five lanes along a three mile stretch north of Heber City. Complete by Fall 2000, the $7 million expansion accommodated traffic for Soldier Hollow, site of the cross country and Olympic biathlon.

The U.S. 40 freeway carries its own exit numbers based on U.S. 40 mileage increasing from west to east. The old alignment of U.S. 40 through Park City was renumbered Utah 248.

References:

  1. UDOT Highway Resolutions: U.S. Route 40 - reference a letter dated June 18, 1975, from AASHTO to the Utah Department of Highways. A directive was issued on July 7, 1975, by the department to staff advising them to remove all U.S. 40 signs west of Silver Creek Junction. This truncation also eliminated Alternate U.S. 40 in Salt Lake City, which today is mostly designated as Utah 186.
  2. "11.2 MILLION PROJECT WILL WIDEN 3 MILES..." Salt Lake Tribune, The (UT), October 10, 1992.
  3. "Summit, Wasatch Road Work Nears End - Silver Creek Junction last of major projects to be completed." Salt Lake Tribune, The (UT), May 24, 2001.

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Page Updated Thursday September 15, 2016.