Utah State Route 56

Infobox road
state=UT
type=SR
route=56
section=111
maint=UDOT


length_mi=61.502
length_round=3
length_ref=cite web | title=State Route 56 Highway reference | publisher=Utah Department of Transportation | url=http://www.dot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=6996606609220620 ]
established=1931
direction_a=West
terminus_a=jct|state=NV|NV|319 near Modena
junction=jct|state=UT|SR|18 in Beryl Junction
jct|state=UT|I|15 in Cedar City
direction_b=East
terminus_b=jct|state=UT|SR|130 in Cedar City
previous_type=SR
previous_route=55
next_type=SR
next_route=57

State Route 56 is a highway completely within Iron County in southwestern Utah going from the Utah/Nevada border to Cedar City.

Route description

From its western terminus on the Nevada border near Modena, the route heads northeast until reaching Modena, where it turns southeast. It continues this direction until Newcastle, where it begins heading east and then southeast. After a junction with Pinto Road, the route heads northeast until entering Cedar City, where it runs east until its eastern terminus.

History

The road from Beryl Junction west to Modena became a state highway in 1918,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=200609121827371 Route 18] |2=2.49 MB, updated September 2007, accessed May 2008] Utah Department of Transportation, [http://www.udot.utah.gov/download.php/tid=1348/StateRouteHistory.pdf State Route History] , accessed July 2007] and in 1927 the legislature extended it west to the Nevada state line (at SR 25) and numbered it as part of SR-18. [cite UTSR law|year=1927|quote=18. From Enterprise Junction near St. George, northerly via Central, and Enterprise to Modena, thence, westerly to the Nevada State line.] A connection from SR-18 at Beryl Junction east to SR-1 (US-91, now SR-130) in Cedar City was added in 1931 as State Route 56, [cite UTSR law|year=1931|quote=(56) From Cedar City westerly via Newcastle to Enterprise junction on route 18.] and in 1935 that route absorbed the segment of SR-18 to the state line. [cite UTSR law|year=1935|quote=Route 56. From Cedar City westerly via Newcastle and Modena to the Utah-Nevada state line.]

SR-56 originally crossed the mountains between Cedar City and Beryl Junction via Desert Mound, following the present Desert Mound Road. Two branch from SR-56 to Iron Mountain were added in 1935: State Route 120 directly south from about the midpoint (never builtFact|date=June 2008), and State Route 198 from near the Cedar City end southwest via Iron Mountain to the Dixie National Forest in the direction of Pinto. [cite UTSR law|year=1935|quote=Route 120. From junction with route 56 west of Cedar City southerly to Iron Mountain." "Route 198. From route 56 to Dixie National Forest en route to Pinto.] Both routes were deleted in 1945, and SR-56 was realigned via Iron Mountain, [cite UTSR law|year=1945|quote=Route 56. From Cedar City on route 1 westerly via Iron Mountain, Newcastle and Modena to the Utah-Nevada state line.] with the portion of SR-198 east of that settlement becoming part of the new route. A 1953 law restored part of the old alignment to the state highway system as State Route 253, from the junction west of Cedar City to Desert Mound, and also created State Route 254 as a branch to Iron Springs. [cite UTSR law|year=1953|quote=Route 253. From a point on route 56 approximately six miles west of Cedar City westerly to Desert Mound. Route 254. From a point on route 253, approximately two miles west of junction with route 56, northerly to Iron Springs.] Both were given back to the county in 1969.

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=22 April
accessmonth=
accessyear=2008] !Mile!Junction!Notes
-Jctint
state=UT
county=Iron
cspan=4
location=Modena
lspan=1
type=
mile=0.000
road=jct|state=NV|NV|319|city1=Panaca
notes=Nevada/Utah border
Western terminusJctint
state=UT
location_special=Beryl Junction
lspan=1
type=
mile=25.111
road=jct|state=UT|SR|18|name1=Beryl Highway|city1=Enterprise|city2=St. GeorgeJctint
state=UT
location=Cedar City
lspan=2
mile=60.514-60.529
road=jct|state=UT|I|15|city1=St. George|city2=ParowanJctint
state=UT
mile=61.502
road=jct|state=UT|SR|130|name1=Main Street
notes=Eastern terminus

References