page_title: Utah State Route 201
section_title: Route description
hierarchical_section_title: Utah State Route 201 / Route description
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial image of the "spaghetti bowl", the junction of SR-201, I-15, and I-80 in South Salt Lake, Utah. This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: Shields added to base map. Modifications made by CountyLemonade.
context_page_description: State Route 201 is an east–west expressway and freeway located in Salt Lake County in the U.S. state of Utah. Colloquially known as the 21st South Freeway, the route serves as an alternative to Interstate 80 through Salt Lake City. From the western terminus of the route west of Magna, the highway heads east through Kennecott Copper property as an expressway before running through the western suburbs of Salt Lake City as a freeway. Shortly after the route returns on a surface route, SR-201 terminates on its eastern end at State Street.
  The history of the route predates the invention of the automobile; the Donner Party, California Trail and Pony Express all followed the present-day path of the highway. During the 1910s, the route was designated a state highway and, in 1939, State Route 201 was officially written into law, running from Magna east to the mouth of Parley's Canyon. At one point, the highway carried US-50 Alternate west of State Street and both US-40 and US-40 Alternate east of that road, though all were truncated from Salt Lake City by the late 1970s. Construction of the freeway portion of SR-201 west of I-15 commenced in the mid-1960s and was fully completed by 1986.
context_section_description: At its western terminus, SR-201 begins at a partial interchange at I-80. Heading generally east with two lanes in each direction, the expressway passes by the Kennecott Smokestack, the tallest structure in Utah. Past its intersection at SR-202, the route takes a turn to the southeast, bypassing the Kennecott tailings pond. Now exiting Kennecott property, the route exits unpopulated terrain and enters the urban Wasatch Front, beginning with the Salt Lake City suburb of Magna. Past junctions at 9200 West, 8400 West, 8000 West and 7200 West, the route veers northerly three blocks and becomes a limited-access freeway. East of 7200 West, SR-201 is routed at approximately 2100 South in Salt Lake County's grid system, giving the freeway its nickname of "21st South Freeway".
  Now with three lanes in each direction, the highway straddles the boundary between Salt Lake City and West Valley City, another suburb of the former. The road continues due east with diamond interchanges at 5600 West (SR-172) and Bangerter Highway (SR-154). Immediately following a single-point urban interchange (SPUI) at 3200 West, the freeway intersects I-215 in the form of a cloverleaf interchange. The road dips to the south slightly and, following two SPUIs at Redwood Road (SR-68) and 900 West, the freeway terminates at the Spaghetti Bowl interchange, giving eastbound motorists on SR-201 the option of continuing to I-15, I-80, 1300 South and 900 South. However, an eastbound traveler wanting to continue on the surface portion of SR-201 to State Street must exit on 900 West, head north briefly and then turn eastbound on 2100 South; a westbound traveler on 2100 South wishing to connect to the freeway must take an on-ramp from the surface street just before 900 West. Prior to 1997, this connection was direct. Now on the four-lane 2100 South, a secondary surface street, the route runs along the Salt Lake City-South Salt Lake border. State maintenance of 2100 South ends at the intersection of State Street (US-89).
caption: The intersection of SR-201, I-15, and I-80, locally known as the "Spaghetti Bowl"
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