State Route 162 (SR-162) is a state highway located in San Juan County, Utah, United States. It begins at US-191 east of Bluff. It then follows the former alignment of SR-163 to Montezuma Creek. There, it intersects UT-262 at its southern terminus. Afterwards, it follows SR-262's former alignment past Aneth to the Colorado state line. Colorado State Highway 41 takes over in the Centennial State, ending at a junction with US-160 6 miles east of the Four Corners Monument.
 State Route 162 | ||||
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by UDOT | ||||
| Length | 31.852 mi[1] (51.261 km) | |||
| Existed | 2004[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  US 191 near Bluff | |||
 SR-262 in Montezuma Creek | ||||
| East end |  SH 41 at Colorado state line | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Utah | |||
| Counties | San Juan | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
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The road begins at U.S. Route 191 in Bluff in a desert area. Paralleling the San Juan River along Mission Road, the road winds eastward along the north border of the Navajo Nation. Travelling through the city of Montezuma Creek, the road intersects State Route 262. The route then travels through the city of Aneth along the Trail of the Ancients, entering the Navajo Nation. SH 162 meets its east end at the Colorado state line, where State Highway 41 continues into the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation.[3]
History
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The State Road Commission created SR-262 in 1958, running from SR-47 (now US-191) north of Bluff east and south for 20.0 miles (32.2 km) to a point in the Aneth Oil Field about a mile (1.5 km) beyond the bridge over Montezuma Creek, near the curve to the south-southwest. In 1961, the route was extended to just beyond its present end in the settlement of Montezuma Creek, where the road to Aneth (now SR-162) turns east, and in 1965 it was extended further to the Colorado state line, connecting to SH 41 across the border.[4] A road from Montezuma Creek west to US-191 at Bluff was added to the state highway system in 1986 as SR-163.[5] At the time, Utah was considering making the road part of an extension of US-163 into Colorado,[6] but plans fell through, leaving an overlap with US-191 and Route 163 near Bluff that became US-163 to the west and SR-163 to the east. To fix this issue, SR-163 was renumbered SR-162 in 2004, and the part of SR-262 east of Montezuma Creek also became SR-162.[4]
Major intersections
editThe entire route is in San Juan County.
| Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluff | 0.000 | 0.000 | US 191 | Western terminus | |
| Montezuma Creek | 14.543 | 23.405 | SR-262 | ||
| | 31.852 | 51.261 | SH 41 | Eastern terminus | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
See also
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References
edit- ^ "Route 162" (PDF). Highway Reference. Utah Department of Transportation. May 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ "State Route 162 highway resolutions" (PDF). Utah Department of Transportation. November 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ Microsoft; Nokia. "SH 262" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ a b Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: "Route 262". (2.26 MB), updated December 2007, accessed May 2008
- ^ Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: "Route 163". (14.8 MB), updated November 2007, accessed May 2008
- ^ Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Resolutions: "Route 666". (6.00 MB), updated December 2007, accessed May 2008, pp. 23-24
External links
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Media related to Utah State Route 162 at Wikimedia Commons