State Route 103 (SR-103) is a urban minor arterial
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 ...
. It branches off from
SR-126 (Main Street) in downtown
Clearfield and extends east to
Interstate 15
Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...
(I-15), with the roadway continuing to the
Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park, just outside
Hill Air Force Base
Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force (USAF) base located in Davis County, Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adja ...
. The entire route is located in
Davis County and was formed in 1965 coinciding with the construction of I-15.
The western terminus, in a stretch of fourteen years from its inception, has gone from SR-1 in 1965, to SR-106 in 1967, to SR-84 in 1969, and SR-126 in 1979. In 1979, the moniker of the roadway for SR-103 was changed from 600 North to 650 North. SR-103 is one of four Utah state highways that connect to Hill Air Force Base, the others being
SR-97,
SR-168, and
SR-232. Only SR-168 has a lower
average daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...
count, with roughly 1,000 vehicles-per-day traveling along the highway compared to SR-103's approximately 16,000 vehicles-per-day. The highway has been largely unchanged since its formation, except for the addition of
traffic lights
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control the flow o ...
at the on and off ramps for I-15, and a slight truncation of the east end from the air force base gate to I-15.
Route description
State Route 103 (SR-103) begins at an intersection with
SR-126, locally known as Main Street in
Clearfield. At this intersection, 650 North, which continues the right-of-way, lengthens from a two lane local street into a four lane arterial boulevard at SR-126. SR-103 begins its progression eastward, passing between two commercial complexes. After a crossing of the
Davis-Weber Canal, the sidewalk on the southern side of the roadway turns to the south to follow the canal forming the
Clearfield Canal Trail. SR-103 highway turns to the northeast, intersecting with the southbound on-ramp and off-ramp to
Interstate 15 (I-15). After this intersection, SR-103 expands to five lanes, and crosses under the southbound and northbound lanes of I-15.
After the overpasses, SR-103 intersects with the northbound on-ramp and off-ramp from I-15. At this point, the SR-103 designation ends. However, the 650 North roadway progresses straight for about , passing a gated fence on the north side of the highway leading to a rail stub, and the dead-end of Aspen Avenue, before reaching the entrance to the Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park, just outside Hill Air Force Base. From there, the right-of-way continues on the arterial in the base itself.
SR-103 serves the function of connecting the town of Clearfield and residents along I-15 to Hill Air Force Base. The base, , was the sixth largest employer in the state of Utah and is the third largest employer which is neither the state government nor a state-funded higher education institution.
[
] SR-103 is one of four Utah state highways that connect to Hill Air Force Base, the others being
SR-97,
SR-168 and
SR-232,
Only SR-168 has a lower
average daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...
count, with roughly 1,000 vehicles-per-day traveling along the highway compared to SR-103's approximately 16,000 vehicles-per-day. This is a decline from previous years (in 2007 the average on SR-103 was 22,525; in 2006, the average was 22,215; in 2005, 21,275). Four percent of this traffic was composed of trucks.
The measurement point for the traffic counts is at the eastern terminus of SR-103, the entrance to the Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park. The highway is codified as Utah Code §72-4-116, and is designated as a minor
arterial
An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...
,
which the
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...
defines as linking major arterials at a lower volume than a primary arterial.
History
SR-103 was originally on a road from West Ogden north to the junction with
US 89 (then cosigned with US-91 and SR-1) at North Ogden Hot Springs. In 1935 the state of Utah and the
Utah Department of Transportation
The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is an agency of the state government of Utah, United States; it is usually referred to by its initials UDOT (pronounced "you-dot"). UDOT is responsible for approximately 5,900 miles (9,495 kilomet ...
(UDOT)
decommissioned this alignment of SR-103. The SR-103 designation was rewritten in the Utah Code as a highway following Harrison Street in
the city of Ogden. Between 1964 and 1965, the state of Utah and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) decommissioned the alignment of SR-103 on Harrison Street, renumbering the portion of Harrison Street as SR-203. The SR-103 designation was soon rewritten in the Utah Code as an access road to Hill Air Force Base on April 19, 1965.

The new alignment, which the state felt was a major connector to a federal military institution, Hill Air Force Base, from
U.S. Route 91 (US-91) and I-15 was chosen as a state highway
US-91, before the formation of I-15, was the major thoroughfare through Utah, connecting it to
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and
Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
.
SR-103 was then designated onto its alignment, adding to the Utah state route system.
Prior to designation, the alignment of 600 North went from U.S. Route 91 and uninterrupted until the Hill Air Force Base. In 1964, a year prior to designation, a concrete culvert bridge was constructed over the Davis Weber Canal.
The two bridges for I-15's southbound and northbound roadways were built in 1966 and are two concrete continuous
tee beam
A T-beam (or tee beam), used in construction, is a load-bearing structure of reinforced concrete, wood or metal, with a capital 'T'-shaped cross section. The top of the T-shaped cross section serves as a flange or compression member in resisti ...
overpasses.
[
]
The route has been mostly unchanged since its formation, except for the moniker of the highway and the western terminus, of which SR-103 progresses. The western terminus, in a stretch of fourteen years from its inception, went from SR-1 in 1965, to SR-106 in 1967 to SR-84 in 1969 and SR-126 in 1979. In 1979, the moniker of the roadway for SR-103 was changed from 600 North to 650 North. In 1998, the legal definition of SR-103 was changed in the state codes.
The alignment of SR-103, outside of the roadway renumbering, has received some technical changes as well. In November 1992, UDOT confirmed that the interchange of I-15 and SR-103 (exit 335) was to be given
traffic lights
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control the flow o ...
to help monitor traffic. The mayor at the time, Neldon Hamblin, approved of the project, and put the project up for bids for construction. The interchange was holding up motorists needing to turn left up to 20 minutes.
The most recent change to SR-103 came in March 2019, when the
Utah State Legislature
The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term ...
approved a slight truncation of the east end of the route. The segment of 650 North between I-15 and the base gate was removed from the legal definition of SR-103 at that time, bringing the eastern terminus back to the I-15 interchange.
Major intersections
See also
*
*
*
List of Utah State Routes shorter than one mile
References
External links
Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park
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103 103 may refer to:
*103 (number), the number
*AD 103, a year in the 2nd century AD
*103 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
* 103 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Field Squadron, a territorial regiment
* 103 (Newcastle) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers
* 103 ...
Clearfield, Utah
103
State Route103