UT 103
State Route 103 (SR-103) is a 0.225-mile-long (0.362 km) urban minor arterial state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. It branches off from SR-126 in downtown Clearfield and extends east to Interstate 15 (I-15), terminating at Hill Air Force Base. The entire route is located in Davis County and was formed in 1965 coinciding with the construction of I-15. The eastern terminus has changed hands in the same location several times since its designation, and the route was eventually given the moniker of 650 North in 1979.
SR-103 is one of four Utah state highways that connect to Hill Air Force Base, the others being SR-97, SR-168 and SR-232, and has the second lowest average daily traffic, higher only than SR-168.
State Route 103 begins at an intersection with SR-126, locally known as Main Street in Clearfield. At this intersection, 650 North, which continues the right-of-way, lengthens from a two lane local street into a four lane arterial boulevard at SR-126. State Route 103 begins its progression eastward, passing to the south and north of two commercial complexes. After a small crossing of the Davis Weber Canal, the highway turns to the northeast, intersecting with the southbound on-ramp and off-ramp to Interstate 15. After this intersection, State Route 103 expands to five lanes, and crosses under the southbound and northbound lanes of I-15.
After the overpasses, State Route 103 intersects with the northbound on-ramp and off-ramp from I-15. The highway progresses straight for several hundred feet before reaching the opening gate of the Hill Air Force Base, which is the designated eastern terminus of State Route 103. From there, the right-of-way continues on the arterial in the base itself.
SR-103 serves the important function of connecting the town of Clearfield, and residents along I-15 to Hill Air Force Base. The base, as of 2002, was the fifth largest employer in the state of Utah. It is the second largest employer which is neither the state government or a state-funded higher education institution. For the year 2007, a daily average of 22,525 cars traveled along SR-103, representing only a slight growth from previous years (in 2006, the average was 22,215; in 2005, 21,275). Three percent of this traffic was composed of trucks.
State Route 103 was originally on an alignment of Harrison Street in the city of Ogden. In the late half of 1964 and the beginning half of 1965, the state of Utah and the Department of Transportation deleted the alignment of SR-103 on Harrison Street from the state highway system. The route was then transferred to the city of Ogden for maintenance. The highway's designation, State Route 103, was soon removed from the alignment.
On April 19, 1965, the state of Utah proposed the takeover of the alignment of 600 North in Clearfield as a state highway. The alignment, which the state felt was a major connector to a federal military institution, Hill Air Force Base, from U.S. Route 91 and Interstate 15 was chosen as a state highway. U.S. Route 91, before the formation of Interstate 15, was the major thoroughfare through Utah, connecting it to California and Montana. State Route 103 was then designated onto its alignment, adding 0.50-mile (0.80 km) to the Utah state route system. Prior to designation, the alignment of 600 North went from U.S. Route 91 and uninterrupted until the Hill Air Force Base. In 1964, a year prior to designation, a 26.9-foot (8.2 m) long concrete culvert bridge was constructed over the Davis Weber Canal. The two bridges for Interstate 15's southbound and northbound were built in 1966 and are two 159.1-foot (48.5 m) long concrete continuous tee beam overpasses.
The route has been mostly unchanged since its formation, except for the moniker of the highway and the western terminus, of which SR-103 progresses. The western terminus, in a stretch of fourteen years from its inception, has gone from State Route 1 in 1965, to State Route 106 in 1967 to State Route 84 in 1969 and State Route 126 in 1979. In 1979, the moniker of the highway for State Route 103 was changed from 600 North to 650 North. In 1998, the alignment of State Route 103 was adjusted in the state highway law.
The alignment of State Route 103, outside of the roadway realignments, have received some technical changes as well. In November 1992, the Utah Department of Transportation confirmed that the interchange of Interstate 15 and State Route 103 (Interchange 103), was to be given traffic lights to help monitor traffic. The mayor at the time, Neldon Hamblin, approved of the project, and put the project up for bids for construction. The interchange was holding up motorists needing to turn left had to wait, at times, about 20 minutes.
The entire route is in Clearfield, Davis County.
