State Route 179, also known as the Midvalley Highway, is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 runs through the northern part of the

Tooele Valley Tooele ( ) is a city in Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 35,742 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tooele County. Located approximately 40 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City, Tooele is known for Tooele Army ...

, located in eastern

Tooele County Tooele County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 72,698. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organized the following year. Tooele Coun ...

Route description

The Midvalley Highway is proposed to begin at SR-36 south of the city of

Tooele Tooele ( ) is a city in Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 35,742 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tooele County. Located approximately 40 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City, Tooele is known for Tooele Army ...

, proceeding to the northwest. After crossing the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

's main line, it will turn to the northeast, passing the east side of the

Utah Industrial Depot Utah is a landlocked state in the 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 northeast, Idaho to the ...

. After passing the depot, it will turn to the northwest again before crossing SR-112 at 1000 North. The route will cross Sheep Lane and Erda Way before reaching SR-138, where it will turn back to the northeast. It will proceed northeast to a trumpet interchange at

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

, where it will end. At full build-out, the highway will be approximately long, consisting of of arterial and of freeway.

History

Planning

The need for a highway running down the center of the Tooele Valley had been identified by 2001, when it was recognized that the existing SR-36 would not have enough capacity for future traffic volumes. Although initial remedies included widening SR-36 and a new 1000 North extension (now part of SR-112), planners knew the Midvalley Highway would eventually be needed as a long-term solution. By January 2011, UDOT released an Environmental Impact Statement defining a Preferred Alternative for the route. A Travel Demand and Crash Data Review was completed in November 2013. On May 11, 2018, the

Utah Transportation Commission The Utah Transportation Commission serves as an independent transportation advisory committee within the State of Utah, United States. In cooperation with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and municipal planning organizations (MPOs), the ...

signed a resolution designating State Route 179 as the official number for the Midvalley Highway, defining SR-179 as the proposed highway from SR-138 north to I-80. The same resolution also mandated that SR-138 end at the Midvalley Highway; the segment between there and SR-36 will revert to

jurisdiction. However, these changes are contingent on the construction of the relevant segment of the new Midvalley Highway, and as such were not included in the 2019 Legislature's annual state highway amendments bill.

Construction

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 ...

is currently working with Tooele County to design Phase 1 of the project. This phase will consist of a

two-lane freeway A two-lane expressway or two-lane freeway is an expressway or freeway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes ri ...

from Interstate 80 to the current SR-138, a distance of . In addition, the existing SR-138 roadway will be realigned, and a new intersection will be constructed at Sheep Lane. Pre-construction work will begin in summer 2019, but major construction is not expected until 2021.

Future

Plans call for the segment between I-80 and SR-112 to be eventually upgraded to a four-lane

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

, with the portion between SR-36 and SR-112 becoming a four-lane

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 ...

. Interchanges are proposed at I-80, SR-138, 1000 North (SR-112), and the future 3400 North parkway, with

at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections ar ...

s planned for Utah Avenue (former SR-112) and SR-36. Grade separations will be provided at the Union Pacific Railroad line, Erda Way, Sheep Lane, and the future Midvalley Trail.

Major intersections

This table reflects the full proposed routing.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:State Route 179

179 Year 179 (Roman numerals, CLXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Veru (or, less frequently, year 932 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

179