U.S. Route 187

U.S. Route 187
Country	USA
Type	US
Route	187
Direction a	South
Direction b	North

U.S. Route 187 is a decommissioned designation formerly assigned within the United States Numbered Highway System that saw proposals and partial implementations in the 20th century. The designation intersected corridors associated with major corridors such as Interstate 80, U.S. Route 30, U.S. Route 6, U.S. Route 20, and regional arteries near metropolitan centers like Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Omaha, and Denver. Over time, alignments tied to railroad right-of-ways like the Union Pacific Railroad and the Burlington Northern Railroad influenced routing decisions and ultimate removal.

Route description

The historical corridor attributed to the designation connected segments adjacent to Interstate 25 and parallel to freight lines of the Union Pacific Railroad through plains and continental divide approaches near Rocky Mountain National Park. Along its path, it served municipalities comparable in scale to Fort Collins, Laramie, Casper, and Rawlins, and provided linkages to federal lands administered by the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. It ran near transcontinental rail junctions including Ogden Yard and river crossings at tributaries of the North Platte River and the Bear River, intersecting established state routes such as those maintained by the Wyoming Department of Transportation and the Utah Department of Transportation.

History

Proposals for the designation emerged during planning phases contemporaneous with the expansion of the Federal Highway Act of 1921 and later adjustments from the American Association of State Highway Officials deliberations. Early 20th-century surveys referenced by engineers collaborating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and cartographers from the United States Geological Survey documented potential corridors that paralleled the Lincoln Highway and the Oregon Trail wagon ruts in Wyoming and Utah. Subsequent federal and state-level truncations reflected competing priorities championed by figures in offices like the United States Secretary of Transportation and governors of Wyoming and Utah, and were influenced by shifts toward the Interstate Highway System initiatives championed during the administrations of presidents such as Dwight D. Eisenhower and policy advisors associated with the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.

Realignments interacting with routes such as U.S. Route 287 and U.S. Route 189 occurred amid corridor rationalizations led by state highway commissions and advocacy from municipal leaders in Cheyenne and Salt Lake City. The designation was eventually removed or absorbed into state and federal numbering schemes following reviews by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and administrative orders from state departments like the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

Major intersections

Historically noted junctions associated with the corridor included intersections proximate to Interstate 80 at major interchanges serving Evanston, Wyoming and Salt Lake City International Airport approaches, crossings of U.S. Route 30 near historic segments of the California Trail, and connectors to U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 20 near agricultural hubs around Idaho Falls and Pocatello. The route interfaced with rail-served logistics centers such as Salt Lake City Rail Yard and interstate freight terminals serving Denver International Airport cargo corridors.

Special routes

Planned spur and business route concepts paralleled practices seen with designations like U.S. Route 20 Business in urban cores such as Casper and Laramie, proposing truck bypasses comparable to those of U.S. Route 285 around Santa Fe. Proposed alternate routings sought to connect to park access roads near Yellowstone National Park and to provide relief for seasonal congestion managed by agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration and the National Park Service. None of the proposed long-distance alternates survived comprehensive state-federal audits led by transportation planners affiliated with universities like the University of Wyoming and the University of Utah.

Traffic and usage

During periods of use, the corridor accommodated a mix of long-haul freight traffic associated with carriers coordinating with terminals like the Port of Los Angeles intermodal complexes and regional commuter flows into metropolitan labor markets including Salt Lake County and Weld County, Colorado. Traffic engineering studies mirrored methodologies used in analyses for Interstate 80 improvements and safety programs administered under standards from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Seasonal tourism volumes tied to destinations such as Yellowstone National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park imposed peak demands managed by state transportation agencies.

Future developments

Although the designation no longer functions as an active trunk route, corridors once considered for the number remain candidates for capacity enhancements, interchange modernization, and multimodal integration involving Union Pacific Railroad corridors, regional transit proposals evaluated by metropolitan planning organizations like the Wasatch Front Regional Council, and potential freight diversion strategies connected to the National Highway System. Policy shifts driven by legislation such as later amendments to the Federal-Aid Highway Act and investments by entities like the U.S. Department of Transportation could prompt corridor redesignations, but any formal revival would require concurrence from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and cooperating state departments.

Category:Former United States Numbered Highways Category:Transportation in Wyoming Category:Transportation in Utah