Utah State Route 87 (SR-87) is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
in the U.S. state of
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
. Over a span of , it connects the communities of
Altamont,
Boneta,
Bluebell, and
Upalco to
Duchesne and
US-40
U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...
/
191
Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 191 for this ye ...
in
Duchesne County
Duchesne County ( ) is a county in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 19,596. Its county seat is Duchesne, and the largest city is Roosevelt.
History
Much of Duchesne County ...
.
Route description
The route begins on
US-40
U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...
/
191
Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 191 for this ye ...
as Center Street in
Duchesne and runs North across Blue Bench five miles to the intersection with
State Route 35, continues north seven miles then turns east near
Talmage and
Mountain Home through the community of
Boneta then
Altamont. The road then turns southeast through the community of
Upalco, and near the communities of
Altonah and
Bluebell. The road then turns east onto Ioka Lane that connects back into US-40/191 five miles west of
Roosevelt, Utah
Roosevelt is a city in Duchesne County, Utah, United States. The population was 6,747 at the 2020 census, an increase of 701 (11.6%) from the 6,046 counted in the 2010 census.
The proper pronunciation of the city's name is based on how Pre ...
.
History
The stretch of road from
Upalco to
Ioka Junction at present day
US-40
U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...
was designated as Route 87 in 1935.
The western terminus in Upalco was an intersection with the now deleted route of
SR-86. At the time, the current-day route of SR-87 was a patchwork of other small routes, encompassing parts of, starting from
Duchesne,
former SR-134,
SR-35,
former SR-221, former SR-86, and what is now the easternmost portion of SR-87.
In 1964, the route was significantly expanded to more or less its current alignment when large portions of other highways in the area were consolidated into the current SR-87. The old SR-86 which ran from
Bridgeland on present-day US-40 north through Upalco to
Altamont and
Altonah had the stretch from Upalco to Altamont transferred to SR-87, and the northernmost stretch from Altamont to Altonah was transferred to the former SR-221, leaving SR-86 as a short connector between Upalco and Bridgeland. The entire former route of SR-221 from
Mountain Home to Altamont was also transferred to SR-87, while SR-221 was
realigned as a short road from Altamont to Altonah. The stretch of SR-134 from SR-35 to about 3 miles south of Mountain Home, and the stretch of SR-35 from Duchesne to its junction with SR-221 was also transferred to SR-87 at this time. With the exception of SR-35, this left all of these routes (SR-134, SR-221, and SR-86) as short connector or access roads, and they were all subsequently
deleted from the state route system in 1969.
Major intersections
References
{{reflist
087
087