Wendover Cut-off
| Wendover Cut-off | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Route information | |
| Maintained by Tooele County Road Department | |
| Length: | 40.3 mi (64.9 km) |
| Existed: | June 13, 1925 – present |
| Major junctions | |
| West end: |
  I-80 Bus. / SR-58 in Wendover
|
| East end: |
 I-80 in Knolls
|
| Location | |
| Counties: | Tooele |
| Highway system | |
|
|
The Wendover Cut-off, also called the Wendover Road or Wendover Route, is a two-lane highway in the western part of Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. Stretching 40.3 miles (64.9 km) from Wendover to Knolls across the Bonneville Salt Flats, a part of the Great Salt Lake Desert, the cut-off was once part of the primary link between the Nevada state line and Salt Lake City. In 2012, between 240 and 250 vehicles used the cut-off near its western terminus in Wendover on an average day.
The first roadway across the Great Salt Lake Desert was completed in 1917 as a single-lane highway. It was added to the Utah state highway system in 1919, and replacement plans had begun to arise as soon as 1921. In 1923, the current cut-off was approved for construction and was opened to the traveling public in 1925. The United States Numbered Highway System brought the arrival of the U.S. Route 40 (US-40) designation to the highway, on the same day the Lincoln Highway Association agreed to abandon their southerly route to Ely, and route the Lincoln Highway along the cut-off. Later, the cut-off was also designated as part of US-50 and US-50 Alternate (US-50 Alt). Upon the completion of the parallel Interstate 80 (I-80), the previous U.S. Route designations were deleted from the United States Numbered Highway System, and the cut-off was turned over to the county.
The Wendover Cut-off begins at a T-intersection with concurrent Utah State Route 58 (SR-58) and I-80 Business in the eastern portion of Wendover, south of Danger Cave. The cut-off travels due east by I-80 to the north and the now Union Pacific Central Corridor railroad tracks to the south. Leppy Pass Road, exit 4 on I-80, provides access to the Bonneville Speedway north of the Interstate. Between SR-58 and Leppy Pass Road, the highway is designated Federal Aid Route 2654. Further south, a rest area was built along the southern side of I-80, however no road access was provided between the rest area and the cut-off. Metaphor: The Tree of Utah was built on the northern side of I-80 in the middle of the salt flats further east from the rest area. Before terminating at I-80 the highway veers north and forms a diamond interchange in the unincorporated community of Knolls. A frontage road continues on the northern side of I-80 after this interchange. The land that the cut-off was built upon was once compared to as being "as flat as a billiard table." Unlike more traditional steel or iron culverts, the cut-off uses all timber culverts, as the salt erodes the metal ones too quickly.
...
Wikipedia