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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
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Claim to fame: at about 25 miles in length, US 530 was the shortest-ever mainline US route. (Some would point to US 630, which would have been only three miles long, but it is unlikely that route was ever signposted; more here). US 530 was definitely signed, and it functioned as a connector between US 40 and US 30S:
c. 1927, Rand McNally
Kimball Jct.
An original 1926 route, the south terminus of US 530 was at Kimball Jct. Today that is where modern UT hwy. 224 has an interchange with I-80 at exit 145, north of Park City...
...but before the interstate was built, it was eastbound US 40 that approached this junction from Salt Lake City. At far left in the previous photo, a pedestrian overpass is visible -- this photo was taken from there:
That was looking along the eastbound offramp. Right about at that junction, US 40 continued by turning right (south) and going through Park City along what is now U-224. Straight ahead (along what is now eastbound I-80) was the south beginning of US 530.
Here, we are looking north at the end of U-224. This was westbound US 40, which continued to the left towards Salt Lake. To the right was the south beginning of US 530:
Echo Jct.
The other (north) terminus of US 530 was at its junction with US 30S in Echo Jct. This map was made when the interstates were under construction through this area, but long before that, US 530 had been swallowed up by a much-longer US 189. Despite those changes, it seems quite likely that the junction where this map shows US 189 meeting US 30S was historically the north end of US 530:
c. 1967, USGS
This photo was taken looking west on Echo Canyon Road, which was formerly US 30S. The Weber River runs from left to right across the foot of the Wasatch Mountains in the background; the town of Echo is about a mile ahead: down into the valley and then right. The road going off to the left and disappearing under the railroad is Echo Dam Road. Historically that was US 189, and prior to that it served as US 530:
I-80 is not visible in that photo, because it runs along the opposite side of the railroad; interchange 169 is just beyond the railroad underpass.
This photo was taken from that interchange, looking north at what was formerly the north end of US 530:
To the right is the onramp to eastbound I-80. The first two overpasses are the twin barrels of I-80; the one beyond that is the railroad.
This photo was taken from just a bit ahead, just past the I-80 bridges; to the left is the onramp to westbound I-80 (which immediately encounters the east beginning of I-84):
That railroad overpass was built in 1928, but prior to that there was probably an at-grade railroad crossing at the same location (based on the fact that the nearby bridge over Echo Creek was built in 1924). So the T-junction straight ahead is where US 530 ended at US 30S. Here, we are looking northeast on what was formerly eastbound US 30S:
US 530 began to the right. Upon turning that direction, the view looks like this:
That was probably the north beginning of US 530. That designation was decommissioned in 1938, when it became part of the longer US 189.
Research and/or image credits: Dale Sanderson; Tom Silas; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2001;last updated Sep. 3, 2025.
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