Utah State Route 186 partially coincident with State Street
State Route 186 (SR-186) is a state highway entirely within Salt Lake City, capital of the U.S. state of Utah. It forms a quarter-beltway connecting US-89 and I-15 leading north from Salt Lake City to I-80 leading east; as such, it effectively forms the missing (non-freeway) quarter of the I-215 belt route around the city, though it does not directly connect to I-215 at the north end. Despite this beltway role, the route passes through downtown Salt Lake City because downtown is built right up to the northern mountains surrounding City Creek Canyon. The portion of the route connecting downtown to I-80 is a high-capacity street heavily used by commuters, especially those travelling to the University of Utah or between downtown and eastern neighborhoods, but the portion on Capitol Hill north of downtown is much narrower and has sharp turns around the Capitol grounds. The roadway runs 9.34 miles (15.03 km) along Victory Road, Columbus Street, 300 North, State Street, 400 South, 500 South, and Foothill Drive.The highway, as SR-186, was formed in 1935, initially going from what is now US-89 in downtown east on 400 South, west on 200 South after a gap, and south on 1300 East to US-40, now 2100 South. Portions of this route were signed as US-40 Alternate. By 1954, Foothill Drive existed in its current state and US-40A, as well as the legislative and unsigned SR-186 designation, was routed along that road. At one point, the highway extended west to the Salt Lake City International Airport (well after US-40A was truncated), but this connection was lost in 2007 when SR-186 was aligned to cover all of former SR-184, which was decommissioned that same year.
The entire route is included as part of the National Highway System.Legal definition
The legal definition of State Route 186 is as follows:72-4-124. State highways -- SR-186, SR-189, SR-190
(1) SR-186. From Route 89 at Beck Street in Salt Lake City southerly on Victory Road and Columbus Street; then easterly on Third North; then southerly on State Street to Fourth South Street; then easterly on Fourth South, Tenth East, and Fifth South Streets; then southerly on Foothill Boulevard to Route 80.North Temple Street west of 300 West (then US-89/91, now solely US-89) was added to the state highway system in 1931 as part of SR-67. Since it was along the planned alignment for I-80, it became SR-2 (only a legislative designation that was never signed) in 1962, but the portion east of an interchange near the Salt Lake City International Airport was due to be bypassed by the Interstate, and so in 1966 that piece became State Route 267. State Route 176 was built in 1933 with federal aid and numbered in 1935, forming an alternate to US-89/91 through downtown Salt Lake City. Its original route began at South Temple Street and 300 West, and ran south on 300 West and east on 900 South to State Street. The north end was extended one block to North Temple Street in 1962, when US-89A/91A was moved from South to North Temple, and in 1967 the south end was removed from 900 South and sent down 300 West to SR-171 (3300 South). The latter extension was done in exchange for State Route 202, which followed Main Street between SR-201 (2100 South) and SR-171 from 1961 to 1967. Both of these routes - SR-176 and SR-267 - became part of SR-186 in 1969. The parts of SR-186 (400 South) west of SR-176 (300 West) and SR-176 south of SR-186 were dropped from the state highway system, and SR-186 was extended north on 300 West to North Temple and west on North Temple to I-80, replacing the remainder of SR-176 and all of SR-267.State Route 184 was created in 1963, running north from US-89A/91A at North Temple and State Streets around the west side of the State Capitol and back to SR-1 north of downtown. The roadway had previously been part of SR-181 since 1935, but with US-89A/91A moving from South Temple to North Temple, a new number was needed to avoid a one-block overlap. SR-184 remained a separate route until 2007, when North Temple west of State Street was given to Salt Lake City for the Airport extension of the TRAX Green Line. Since North Temple had carried US-89 east of 300 West, that route was realigned to use what had been SR-186 on 300 West and 400 South, cutting SR-186's west end back to 400 South and State Street. But that intersection was also the south end of SR-184, and SR-186 was extended to absorb SR-184.
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