Utah State Route 279 - History

History

The State Road Commission approved a new State Route 279 in 1960, connecting US-160 (now US-191) northwest of Moab with Dead Horse Point State Park. The route would be mostly new construction, following the right (northwest) bank of the Colorado River to Day Canyon, where it would climb to the southwest onto the plateau containing the park. Within the park, an existing roadway, then its primary access road, would become part of SR-279. The state legislature approved this highway in 1961. Later that year, the commission added a second route—State Route 278—that would continue south alongside the river from SR-279 to the Grand-San Juan County line. However, when it approved the addition in 1963, the legislature made it part of SR-279, renumbering the spur to the park through Day Canyon as SR-278. In addition, the south end of SR-279 was changed to Potash, a point north of the county line where the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company was building a potash plant. SR-279 was soon built, but the road through Day Canyon was never constructed. In 1975, the legislature deleted SR-278 in favor of a new SR-313, which followed the existing county road to Dead Horse Point through Sevenmile Canyon.

In 1963, Parade Magazine held the third of an annual competition for most scenic highway that opened to traffic that year. SR-279 was one of four finalists in the competition. The others finalists were I-93 between Windham and Londonderry in New Hampshire, I-84 near Southington, Connecticut and I-405 near Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles, California.