Idaho State Highway 81

State Highway 81 (SH-81) is a state highway in Cassia County, Idaho. The highway runs for 33.978 miles (54.682 km) from SH-77 in Malta to U.S. Route 30 (US-30) in Burley. It also has a short spur route connecting the highway to Interstate 84 (I-84) at the Yale Interchange.

State Highway 81
Route information
Maintained by ITD
Length	33.978 mi[1] (54.682 km)
Existed	1972–present
Major junctions
South end	SH-77 in Malta
Major intersections	SH-77 in Declo
North end	US 30 in Burley
Location
Country	United States
State	Idaho
Counties	Cassia
Highway system
Idaho State Highway System Interstate US State
← SH-79 → I-84

Prior to its designation as SH-81 in 1972, the highway was part of U.S. Route 30S (US-30S), a multi-state national highway that traveled from Burley to Granger, Wyoming.^[2]

Route description

State Highway 81 begins at an intersection with SH-77 in Malta, located north of the Utah state line. The highway travels north, following the eastern foothills of the Cotterell Mountains and the Raft River valley, through Idahome to Interstate 84, which it parallels for several miles heading northwest. SH-81 completes its turn west and heads towards Declo, intersecting SH-77. The highway continues west along the southern side of the Snake River, parallel to the Eastern Idaho Railroad. It terminates at an intersection with US-30 (co-signed with Interstate 84 Business) south of Burley Municipal Airport on the banks of the Snake River, just east of downtown Burley.^[1][3]

History

U.S. Route 30S, which traveled from Burley to Granger, Wyoming via Logan, Utah, was established in 1926 as an alternative route to U.S. Route 30N.^[4] It was moved to the completed Interstate 80N (later I-84) in 1970,^[5] and decommissioned entirely in 1972.^[6] SH-81 was established by the Idaho State Board of Highway Directors on September 12, 1972, to preserve state maintenance of the highway between Burley and the Utah state line.^[2][7]

In 1983, the Idaho Transportation Board studied an extension of SH-81 from Burley to Twin Falls to replace an existing section of US 30.^[8] It was later truncated in the early 1990s to its current terminus at SH-77 in Malta.^{[citation needed]}

Major intersections

The entire route is in Cassia County.

Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Malta	0.000	0.000	SH-77 north (Center Street) – Albion
​	15.166	24.407	SH-81 Spur (Yale Road) to I-84
Declo	26.216	42.191	SH-77 (Clark Street) to I-84 – Albion, Rupert
Burley	33.978	54.682	US 30 / I-84 BL – Burley, Heyburn
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Spur route

State Highway 81 Spur
Location	near Idahome, Idaho
Length	0.337 mi[1] (542 m)
Existed	1972–present[2]

ID-81 has a spur route connecting the main highway to Interstate 84, traveling 0.337 miles (0.542 km) east along Yale Road to the Yale Interchange.^[1][3]

See also

• U.S. Roads portal

• List of state highways in Idaho