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WEST JORDAN -- We don't know how many people walked across the old pedestrian bridge over Bangerter Highway on 7800 South. We only know no one ever will again.
The bridge was taken down early Thursday morning, forcing UDOT crews to close Bangerter between 7800 east and 9000 south. Bangerter is being widened, and the bridge just didn't fit anymore.
"The reason the pedestrian bridge doesn't fit is because Bangerter is going to go over the top of 7800 and we have the clearance issue," said UDOT engineer Shawn Lambert, "there will be traffic lights underneath Bangerter for east-west traffic, but north-south movements are going to be free flowing."
A new pedestrian bridge is already in place just south of where the old bridge was.
Many children walk across the bridge to get to Columbia Elementary School.
The old bridge was lowered onto a big rig, and then slowly taken to a field near Bangerter and 6200 south.
Here's the neat part; it'll be used again. Soon, the old pedestrian bridge will be in a new location, stretching over U-111 in the western part of Salt Lake County at 8200 South.
Currently, children there have to walk across the busy highway to get to school.
"The pedestrian structure out there was scheduled to be built well into the future. Now, they can accelerate that and it'll be constructed in the fall of 2012," said Lambert, "it's just a safety issue and it's peace of mind for everyone."
The Bangerter Highway project at 7800 South should be finished in the summer of 2012.
UDOT says it's all part of trying to keep up with development in this part of the county.
"When we reconstruct an intersection like this, we're always looking 20 to 30 years ahead to make sure it'll meet capacity in the future as well," said Lambert.
Email: [acabrero@ksl.com](<mailto: acabrero@ksl.com>)