Utah State Route 73

State Route 73 marker

State Route 73
Route information
Defined by Utah Code §72-4-113
Maintained by UDOT
Length: 41.177 mi[1] (66.268 km)
Existed: 1933 – present
Major junctions
West end: SR-36 near Rush Valley
East end: US-89 in Lehi
Highway system
← SR-72SR-74 →

State Route 73 (SR-73) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah, connecting the Rush and Utah Valleys.

Route description

SR-73 begins at an intersection with SR-36 in the Rush Valley, northeast of the town of the same name. It heads southeasterly, climbing slightly to the edge of the Oquirrh Mountains, and then curving between the south end of the range and the Deseret Chemical Depot. When the highway reaches Fivemile Pass, a wind gap between the Oquirrh Mountains and Thorpe Hills, it curves northeast, joining the historic Central Overland Trail (Pony Express route) through the pass and descending into the Cedar Valley. At Fairfield, SR-73 curves north, while the old trail continues its northeasterly path as Lehi-Fairfield Road. The route again curves northeast at Cedar Fort, crossing the valley and passing between the Lake Mountains and Traverse Mountains. The final segment is within the Utah Valley, as SR-73 heads east across the Jordan River and into Lehi, where it serves as that city's Main Street before ending at US-89.[2]

History

The state legislature defined State Route 73 in 1933, running from SR-68 (created in 1931[3]) west of Lehi southwest via Cedar Fort, Fairfield and Topliff to SR-36. Up until Fivemile Pass, beyond Fairfield, this followed the present route of SR-73, but at Fivemile Pass the route curved southwesterly, generally following the former Fairfield Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad.[4] Two years later, the portion west of Fairfield was dropped, in favor of a routing south from Fairfield to SR-26 (now US-6) near Eureka.[5] State Route 180 was also created in 1935, beginning at SR-36 south of Stockton and heading east through Ophir Canyon to Ophir and southeast through the Oquirrh Mountains to Mercur.[6] State Route 202 was defined in 1939 as an eastern approach to Mercur, splitting off SR-73 north of Fairfield and climbing Manning Canyon,[7] and in 1941 the portion of SR-180 between Ophir and Mercur was removed from the state highway system, with an extension of SR-202 west down Mercur Canyon to SR-180 replacing it.[8]

SR-73 was realigned again in 1945, turning southwest between Cedar Fort and Fairfield, absorbing the beginning of SR-202, and continuing southwest to a point between Fairfield and Fivemile Pass. The remainder of the route followed its present alignment to SR-36, replacing the portions of SR-202 and SR-180 that lay outside the canyons in the Rush Valley. The part of former SR-73 from Fairfield north to the junction south of Cedar Fort became State Route 191, while the part south of Fairfield was given to the county. SR-202 was cut back to only the portion in Mercur Canyon, with the Manning Canyon piece dropped. Finally, a connection from the Deseret Chemical Depot north to SR-73 near its west end, constructed with federal aid in 1942,[9] was numbered State Route 198.[10] In short, SR-73 now connected SR-36 to SR-68, with four spurs from west to east: SR-198 to the chemical depot, SR-180 to Ophir, SR-202 to Mercur, and SR-191 to Fairfield.

Over the next two decades, all four spurs disappeared. The first two to go were SR-191 and SR-202, both eliminated in 1953. This completely removed Mercur from the state highway system, but Fairfield was kept by moving SR-73 to its current alignment through that community.[11][12] SR-180 was eliminated in 1961,[13] and SR-198 was deleted in 1969.[9] Due to a southerly extension of SR-68 in 1960, splitting at the SR-73 intersection, the portion of SR-68 into Lehi was renumbered as an extension of SR-73, which gained its current length at that time.[12]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Tooele 0.0000.000 SR-36Western terminus
3.4225.507Stark RoadFormer SR-198
4.6077.414Ophir Canyon RoadFormer SR-180
15.64725.181Railroad Bed RoadFormer SR-73
UtahFairfield20.49732.98718150 WestFormer SR-73
Saratoga Springs36.42958.627 SR-68 – Salt Lake City, Elberta
Lehi39.57363.687 SR-197 (500 West)
40.81965.692 I-15 – Salt Lake, Las VegasInterchange
41.17766.268 US-89 (State Street)Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Route map: Bing / Google

  1. 1 2 Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Reference Information: SR-73 PDF (93.4 KB), updated 2008-05-01, accessed July 2008
  2. ↑ Google Maps street maps and USGS topographic maps, accessed July 2008 via ACME Mapper
  3. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1931). Chapter 55: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. (68) From junction with route 67 southerly via Redwood road in Salt Lake county to Lehi in Utah county.
  4. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1933). Chapter 29. Session Laws of Utah. (73) From Jordan Bridge on state highway number 68 southwesterly via Cedar Fort, Fairfield and Topliffe to connect with state highway number 36.
  5. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1935). Chapter 37: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. Route 73. From Jordan Bridge on state highway number 68 southwesterly via Cedar Fort and Fairfield to Eureka.
  6. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1935). Chapter 37: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. Route 180. From a point on route 36 south of Stockton southeasterly via Ophir to Mercur.
  7. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1939). Chapter 47: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah. Route 202. From a point on route 73 near Fairfield westerly to Mercur.
  8. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1941). Chapter 34. Session Laws of Utah. Route 180. From a point on route 36 south of Stockton southeasterly to Ophir." "Route 202. From a point on route 73 near Fairfield westerly via Mercur to route 180.
  9. 1 2 Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: Route 198 PDF (3.00 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008
  10. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1945). Chapter 61: State Roads and Routes. Session Laws of Utah. Route 73. From route 68 west of Lehi southwesterly via Cedar Fort and Rock Quarry Point to Fairfield station, thence westerly across Houeholder's Flat, thence northwesterly via Chemical Storage Depot to route 36 northeast of St. John station." "Route 180. From route 73 northeasterly to Ophir." "Route 191. From route 73 south of Cedar Fort southerly to Fairfield." "Route 198. From route 73 south to north entrance of Chemical Storage Depot." "Route 202. From route 73 northeasterly to Mercur.
  11. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1953). Chapter 45: Designation of State Roads. Session Laws of Utah.
  12. 1 2 Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: Route 73 PDF (2.59 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008
  13. ↑ Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: Route 180 PDF (2.42 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008
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