Utah State Route 269

State Route 269
State Route 269
500 South & 600 South
	SR 269 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by UDOT
Length	0.904 mi (1,455 m)
Existed	1960–present
Major junctions
West end	I-15 / I-80 in Salt Lake City
East end	US 89 in Salt Lake City
Location
Country	United States
State	Utah
Counties	Salt Lake
Highway system
	Utah State Highway System; Interstate; US; State; ; Minor; Scenic;

State Route 269 (SR-269) is a

one-way streets that connect I-15 and I-80 to downtown Salt Lake City.^[1]

SR-269 was designated in 1960 and constructed later that decade, coinciding with the construction of I-15 in the area.

Prior to 2000, SR-269 began and ended with viaducts that were longer than they are now. From the western terminus, the viaduct extended from I-15/I-80 to 200 West, two blocks east of where the viaduct ends presently. The other segment's viaduct began at 300 West (also two blocks east of where it begins now) and extended to I-15/I-80. As a part of I-15's reconstruction and then-Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini's project that included The Gateway, the viaducts were drastically shortened.^[2]^[3] This was possible primarily because the Union Pacific Railroad was making much less use of the rail lines over which the eastern portions of the viaduct passed than it and its former competitor, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad were when the highway was originally constructed.

The route connects the city center with the freeway. As the settlers of Utah

laid their towns with amply wide streets, one-way streets are rare in the city, SR-269 being one of two such pairs in existence. As part of I-15's construction in the 1960s, planners felt that two one-way streets with many lanes leading to and from the freeway would be better utilized. The one-way streets continue (as non-state highways) east of US-89 to the block west of Trolley Square before becoming two-way and then intersecting SR-71.^{[citation needed}

]

Route description

SR-269 has two separate segments that lie a block apart, both one-way streets; the eastbound segment is known as 600 South (ceremoniously Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard), while the westbound segment is named 500 South (officially Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard).[1]

The highway begins its eastbound stint from two exits from eastbound I-80 and northbound I-15. The ramps merge above the small rail yard that runs along the west side of 600 West, and the combined viaduct carries five eastbound lanes on a route aligned with 600 South (which exists as a frontage road below). The viaduct reaches grade-level at 400 West in the Granary District area of the city. Past 200 West, the road loses one lane. The highway continues east three blocks (intersecting SR-270 and Main Street, including a light rail route used by all three lines of the TRAX light rail system) before state maintenance ends at US-89 (State Street).

The westbound section begins at an intersection with US-89 (at the southwest corner of

SR-270 and another at 200 West. At 400 West, it passes a grain elevator that is served by a railroad spur running in the block between SR-269's two at-grade segments (connecting to the rail yard over which the elevated segments pass). After 500 West, the highway elevates to above grade-level with four lanes and dips southwest before two lanes default onto southbound I-15/eastbound I-80 and the two other lanes default onto westbound I-80.^[4]

The entirety of SR-269, as well as the city-maintained portions of 500 and 600 South between State Street and 700 East/

SR-71, is included in the National Highway System.^[5]

History

Looking east on 600 South, before the viaduct was replaced

As I-15 was being constructed through the

Rio Grande station

; Union Pacific, however, had no alternative route for its 400 West mainline.

The initial extent of SR-269 was only the elevated viaducts, stretching from I-15 east to 300 West (

US-89) in 1969.^[6]

As Salt Lake City won the bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics in 1995, I-15 was reconstructed. As part of the reconstruction, SR-268 and SR-269's viaducts into the city were set to be reconstructed and shortened. Mayor Corradini wanted to revitalize an industrial portion of Salt Lake City with her Gateway project. A part of her project included demolishing the almost mile-long viaducts of SR-269, as she felt a freeway bridge passing over the area she was trying to revitalize would be a hindrance to the project. The pair of viaducts were demolished in late-1998–early-1999, replaced with much shorter viaducts in 2000.^[2]^[3]

This replacement was made possible by the agreement of

Union Pacific stations, both of which are now isolated from the former mainlines that connected to them from the south by traffic streaming to and from I-15 on SR-269 (as part of The Gateway

development, the lines from the north were cut too).

Major intersections

Note:

Mileposts

are measured from west to east on the eastbound roadway, then continue east to west along the westbound roadway. Both figures are given in the table, eastbound above westbound. The entire route is in

Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County. ^[8]

mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
0.000 1.807	0.000 2.908	I-15 south / I-80 – Las Vegas, Cheyenne, Reno, Salt Lake City International Airport	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
0.311 1.494	0.501 2.404	To I-15 north / 300 West	Former SR-176
0.612 1.192	0.985 1.918	SR-270 (West Temple)
0.904 0.905	1.455 1.456	US 89 (State Street)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi