User:Highway 89/Utah State Route 287

State Route 287 (SR-287) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. It connects the former Utah State Prison with 14600 South (SR-140) via Bitterbrush Lane and Pony Express Road.

Route description
SR-287 begins in eastern Bluffdale at the intersection of 14600 South (SR-140) and Pony Express Road, the west-side frontage road for Interstate 15 in the area. The route proceeds northeastward on Pony Express Road, crossing into Draper. It then turns west on Bitterbrush Lane, the access road for the Utah State Prison. After passing through the prison control gate, the route ends at the entrance to the prison parking lot.

History
In 1935, a state route was created to connect SR-4 (signed as US-40) to the Sugar House Prison in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City, numbered SR-187. However, due to that prison's close proximity to growing residential neighborhoods, a plan was approved to move it to a then-rural area near Draper in 1937, and construction began soon after. SR-187 was moved to the new Utah State Prison location in 1941, although the new prison did not open until 1951.

SR-187 in Draper began at US-89/US-91 (legally SR-1) and proceeded west on Bitterbrush Lane to the prison. In December 1968, the Utah State Road Commission clarified the definition of the route, adding 0.3 mi of roads to SR-187 such that it consisted of the Bitterbrush Lane access road as well as a peripheral road around the prison complex. The next year, the route was renumbered to SR-287.

Interstate 15 was built directly over the old US-89/91 through Draper. Since the new freeway did not include an interchange at the prison, in 1971 SR-287 was extended southward on the new west-side frontage road (now Pony Express Road) and eastward on 14600 South to an interchange at I-15. This extension was cut back slightly in 1984, when the portion on 14600 South became part of a new SR-140.

By 1988, the prison had assumed full maintenance and control responsibilities for the portion of SR-287 past the gate, including the entire prison perimeter portion of the route. As a result, the directors of the Utah Department of Corrections and district 2 of the Utah Department of Transportation recommended that SR-287 be truncated to the prison gate and vehicle control stations. This was approved by the transportation commission and thereafter by the state legislature, but only the perimeter road was removed from the state system; a small portion (0.05 miles) of roadway beyond the gate remains as part of SR-287.