Utah State Route 95

Last updated

Utah 95.svg
State Route 95
Bicentennial Highway
Utah State Route 95
Route information
Maintained by UDOT
Length121.351 mi [1]  (195.296 km)
Existed1935–present
Major junctions
West endUtah 24.svg SR-24 in Hanksville
Major intersectionsUtah 276.svg SR-276 twice near Lake Powell
Utah 275.svg SR-275 near Natural Bridges National Monument
Utah 261.svg SR-261 near Abajo Mountains
East endUS 191.svg US 191 south of Blanding
Location
Country United States
State Utah
Highway system
  • Utah State Highway System
← Utah 94.svg SR-94 → Utah 96.svg SR-96

State Route 95 or Bicentennial Highway is a state highway located in the southeast of the U.S. state of Utah. The highway is an access road for tourism in the Lake Powell and Cedar Mesa areas, notably bisecting Bears Ears National Monument and providing the only access to Natural Bridges National Monument. The highway does not serve any cities, but the small town of Hanksville is its western terminus. Although the highway has existed since the 1930s as a primitive dirt road, it received its name at its dedication as a paved state highway coincident with the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976. The highway forms part of the Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway.

Contents

Hite Crossing Bridge and Colorado River Hite Crossing Bridge, Glen Canyon.jpg
Hite Crossing Bridge and Colorado River

Route description

SR-95 approaching SR-276 Utah State Routes 95 and 276.jpg
SR-95 approaching SR-276

It runs 121 miles (195 km) west from the junction of U.S. Route 191 (4.3 miles south of the town of Blanding), to the junction of SR-24 in the town of Hanksville. It crosses Cottonwood Wash just west of the US-191 junction; follows and crosses White Canyon; and crosses the Colorado River and the northeast end of Lake Powell at Hite Crossing Bridge, near the confluence of the Dirty Devil River, which it crosses just two miles (3 km) later.

29 miles (47 km) west of the US-191 junction it meets State Route 261 on Cedar Mesa, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of there State Route 275 spurs off to the northwest to Natural Bridges National Monument, and it intersects with State Route 276 twice, on either side of Lake Powell.

It passes by the now closed Fry Canyon Lodge in Fry Canyon, which opened in 1955 and closed in 2007. Fry's Canyon (also referred to as Fry's Gulch) contained the only gas station between Hanksville and Blanding, but it has since closed and there are no services on the route itself. A seasonal gas station is in operation at the Hite Marina area during the summer months.

History

Vista along SR-95 Highway 95.JPG
Vista along SR-95

SR-95 was added to the state highway system in 1935 as a spur connecting SR-47 (now US-191) near Blanding with Natural Bridges National Monument. [2] It was extended in 1949, crossing the Colorado River at Hite and continuing to SR-24 at Hanksville. [3] Except for a short piece near Blanding, the road remained unpaved through the 1960s. [4] The first major realignment was approved in 1962 and completed in 1966, [5] bypassing the old crossing at Hite, which is now flooded by Lake Powell, in favor of the new Hite Crossing Bridge. [6] The highway was improved and paved in time for the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, and has since been known as the Bicentennial Highway. [7]

Hite Crossing Bridge HWY95 view2 MC.jpg
The Hite Crossing Bridge spanning the Colorado River

Major intersections

CountyLocation [8] mi [1] kmDestinationsNotes
Wayne Hanksville 00.0Utah 24.svg SR-24  – Green River, Torrey
Garfield ​26.07641.965Utah 276.svg SR-276  – Lake Powell
​33.323153.6283Hog Springs Rest Area
Glen Canyon National
Recreation Area 		41.17666.266Hite Overlook View Area
43.17969.490Information Area
43.82370.526Campgrounds
San Juan 52.90785.146 Lake Powell
​56.71491.272View Area
​83.517134.408Utah 276.svg SR-276  – Lake Powell–Bullfrog Marina
​91.137146.671Utah 275.svg SR-275  – Natural Bridges National Monument
​92.931149.558Utah 261.svg SR-261  – Mexican Hat, Bluff, Cedar Mesa, Moki Dugway
​96.995156.098Salvation Knoll View Area
​101.425163.228Indian Ruins
​107.170172.473Arch Canyon Campgrounds
​110.768178.264Indian Ruins
​115.001185.076 Manti-La Sal National Forest Access
​121.351195.296US 191.svg US 191  – Blanding, Bluff
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. 1 2 "Highway Descriptions - Route 0095". Utah Department of Transportation.
  2. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1935). "Chapter 37: Designation of State Roads". Session Laws of Utah. Route 95. From Blanding westerly to Natural Bridges National Monument.
  3. ↑ Utah State Legislature (1949). "Chapter 48: Designation of State Roads". Session Laws of Utah. Route 95. From Blanding on route 47 westerly via Natural Bridges National Monument to Hite; thence northerly to route 24 at Hanksville.
  4. ↑ H.M. Gousha Company, Road Atlas Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , 1967
  5. ↑ Jack Goodman, New York Times, Unnatural Arches; Utah to Dedicate 3 Man-Made Spans In Natural Bridges Area on Friday, May 29, 1966, p. XX17
  6. ↑ Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions Archived September 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine : "Route 95". (6.99 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008
  7. ↑ "Bicentennial Highway". U.S. Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  8. ↑ Utah Road and Recreation Atlas (Map). 1:170000. Benchmark Maps. 2002. p. 88–91. ISBN   0-929591-74-7.
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