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Jed Boal reporting Slow-and-go rush hours are normal every weeknight for drivers heading north on I-15. Legacy Parkway will ease congestion when it opens in the fall, and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) also plans to add an Express Lane.
Each day 106,000 vehicles travel the stretch of I-15 from Davis County into Salt Lake. That's nowhere near the 197,000 that roll through Sandy and Midvale daily, but still heavy traffic.
Adding an Express Lane, or HOV lane, in each direction should improve the flow, especially during peak hours. UDOT plans to rebuild the interstate from 500 North to the I-215 interchange. "We're going to be adding a lane. We're going to re-pave all that stretch of road and [be] rebuilding the five bridges that go across the road in that area," explained Nile Easton, spokesman for UDOT.
The project will cost the state $125 million. "The existing lanes will remain the way they are. All the people that are carpooling or buying the Express Lane pass will move into that extra lane, freeing up the traffic in the other three, similar to what we saw in Salt Lake County when we did it," Easton said.
Construction would start in about a year. UDOT says it will keep three lanes open in both directions for the entirety of the project. There will be sporadic overnight closures to deal with the bridge replacement.
HOV lanes opened in Salt Lake County four years ago. Starting a year and a half ago, you could pay for the privilege of using them. UDOT says the lanes help traffic flow 10 to 20 percent.
Longterm, the plan is to extend the Express Lanes to Kaysville and Layton. "You combine this with light-rail, Legacy Parkway, fixing this choke point, and I think in a couple of years Davis County commuters will have a lot different commute," Easton said.
The biggest challenge will be replacing the bridges at Beck Street and U.S. 89, some of the oldest bridges on the Wasatch Front.
A public open house is going on right now at the North Salt Lake City Hall, located at 20 S. Highway 89. It ends at 8 p.m.
