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AMERICAN FORK — The Utah Department of Transportation hosted a celebration of the completion of two of the largest highway projects in Utah history with dual events on Saturday.
As part of the celebration, residents participated in a Polar Bear 5K Fun Run, where they had the opportunity to run on the new Mountain View Corridor road before it opened to traffic.
"For the next foreseeable future, we're going to have this facility that will grow up over time and really serve a tremendous need for the residents on this side of the valley," said UDOT Executive Director John Njord.
The festivities also included an up-close look at UDOT snowplows and music performed by the Copper Hills High School Marching Band. Governor Gary Herbert also attended the event.
The Utah County I-15 Corridor Expansion (I-15 CORE) was the fastest billion-dollar highway project ever built in U.S. history. Construction crews reconstructed 24 miles of I-15 from Lehi to Spanish Fork, widening the freeway by two lanes and rebuilding 10 interchanges. All lanes were open on Nov. 5 and full completion took place Dec. 12.
The Mountain View Corridor in west Salt Lake County is a new roadway stretching 15 miles from 16000 South to 5400 South that will eventually extend to I-80. In addition to two lanes in each direction, it also includes 15 miles of trails for walking and biking.