Utah State Route 45

Infobox road
state=UT
type=SR
route=45
alternate_name=
section=110
maint=UDOT


length_mi=40.028
length_round=3
length_ref=cite web | title=State Route 45 Highway reference | publisher=Utah Department of Transportation | url=http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=7006528903236554 | accessdate=2008-07-06]
established=1925 as a state highway; 1927 as SR-45
direction_a=South
terminus_a=Dragon Road near Bonanza
direction_b=North
terminus_b=jct|state=UT|US|40 in Naples
previous_type=SR
previous_route=44
next_type=SR
next_route=46

State Route 45 (SR-45) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. It runs from Dragon Road south of Bonanza in Uintah County north to US-40 in Naples, south of Vernal. The route spans convert|40.03|mi|km|2 south–north.

The route was added to the state highway system in 1925 and numbered in 1927, originally running from US-40 southeast to the Colorado state line. Subsequently, the highway was moved to a new road in 1943, truncated to Bonanza in 1968, and again moved and extended in 1982.

Route description

The route begins at the intersection of Dragon Road south of Bonanza as a two-lane undivided road. From there, it heads north-northwest and passes through Bonanza. Past the settlement, the route goes in a northwest direction for the rest of its path and enters in Naples as 1500 East, where it terminates at US-40.cite web | title=Google Maps | publisher=Google | url=http://maps.google.com ]

History

The road now known as Snake John Reef Road, running southeast from SR-6 (US-40) to the state line, was added to the state highway system in 1925 [cite UTSR law|year=1925|quote=(k) From Heber City [...] to Duchesne. From a point approximately eight (8) miles west of the "K" ranch on the Victory highway, thence in a southeasterly direction to the Colorado State line, a distance of ten and four tenths (10.4) miles.] and numbered SR-45 in 1927. [cite UTSR law|year=1927|quote=45. From a point on the State highway east of Vernal and approximately eight (8) miles west of the Utah-Colorado State line, thence in a southerly direction about ten and a half (10½) miles to the Utah-Colorado State line.] Across the state line, this connected with the original alignment of State Highway 64. [Colorado Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.co.us/environmental/CulturalResources/ArchaeologyPublications.asp Highways to the Sky: A Context and History of Colorado's Highway System] : PDFlink| [http://www.dot.state.co.us/environmental/History/HistoryDoc/Appendices.pdf Appendix C2: Scheme for Colorado State Highways, Federal Aid System, May 14, 1923] |245 KB: "No. 64: Meeker down White River via Rangeley, to Utah State Line."] Rand McNally & Company, Texaco Road
http://www.davidrumsey.com/detail?id=1-1-23818-920003&name=Road+map+Idaho,+Mont.,+Wyo. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming] , 1937] In 1943, the route was shifted west, now following Old Bonanza Highway from US-40 south to Bonanza. [cite UTSR law|year=1943|quote=Route 45. From Junction on route 6 east of Vernal at Powder Springs Wash south to Bonanza, approximately 23 miles.] An extension south to the state line via Dragon was added in 1945, [cite UTSR law|year=1945|quote=Route 45. From route 6 east of Vernal at Powder Springs Wash south via Bonanza, Watson and Dragon to the Utah-Colorado state line.] with an unnumbered unimproved road (briefly State Highway 395Fact|date=July 2008) continuing over Baxter Pass to US 50 near Mack, Colorado.Utah State Road Commission (Rand McNally), Utah Official Highway Map, 1956] The same year, State Route 207 was created as a short spur, now Bitter Creek Road, to Rainbow. [cite UTSR law|year=1945|quote=Route 207. From Watson on route 45 southwesterly to Rainbow.] The State Road Commission removed these 1945 additions from the state highway system in 1968, cutting SR-45 back to Bonanza.Utah Department of Transportation, [http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=100:pg:5285268476414239680:::1:T,V:1348, Highway Resolutions] : PDFlink|1= [http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=200609191558471 Route 207] |2=1.24 MB, updated November 2007, accessed May 2008]

The commission proposed in 1957, and the legislature approved in 1961, the creation of State Route 264 from the Red Wash Oil Field north to US-40 at Jensen. [cite UTSR law|year=1961|quote=Route 264. From the Red Wash Oil Field Housing Development, northerly to route 6 near Jensen.] However, the road was given back to Uintah County in 1969.Utah Department of Transportation, [http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=100:pg:5285268476414239680:::1:T,V:1348, Highway Resolutions] : PDFlink|1= [http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=200609201353401 Route 264] |2=1.62 MB, updated December 2007, accessed May 2008] Subsequently, the county constructed and improved two roads, one running southeast from US-40 near Naples to former SR-264, and the other continuing from old SR-264 west of the oil field to SR-45. Both of these became part of SR-45 in 1982, when that route was moved farther west, keeping only a short piece of the 1943 alignment near Bonanza. It was simultaneously extended back south from Bonanza, across the White River, to its present terminus near the White River Mine (oil shale).Utah Department of Transportation, [http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=100:pg:5285268476414239680:::1:T,V:1348, Highway Resolutions] : PDFlink|1= [http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=200609140948481 Route 45] |2=3.25 MB, updated October 2007, accessed May 2008]

Major intersections

{|class=wikitable!County!Locationcite web
publisher=Utah Department of Transportation
title=State Highway Map
url=http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=100:pg:2117854713443240831::::V,T:,346
accessdate=6 July
accessmonth=
accessyear=2008] !Mile!Junction!Notes
-Jctint
state=UT
county=Uintah
cspan=2
location=
type=
mile=0.000
road=Dragon Road
notes=Southern terminusJctint
state=UT
location=Naples
mile=40.028
road=jct|state=UT|US|40|name1=Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway|city1=Vernal
notes=Northern terminus

References