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SALT LAKE CITY — Springtime in Utah is the season for hard hats and bright orange barrels, cones and safety vests, not to mention a few red-faced drivers who'll be frustratingly halted in heavy traffic over the next several months.
The Utah Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced its list of 180 highway construction projects scheduled across the state this year — totaling $1.3 billion.
This year’s top priorities includes three projects in western Salt Lake County that illustrate the department's goal of focusing on the transportation needs of the fast-growing area, said UDOT deputy director Shane Marshall.
Four of the top 10 projects are located away from the Wasatch Front in southern and eastern Utah, where UDOT aims to improve vital transportation links for communities there, Marshall said.
The projects are designed to increase safety for drivers and pedestrians, improve traffic flow, and ensure Utah’s roads and bridges remain in good condition, he added.
"We're really focused on keeping traffic moving today and well into the future," Marshall said. "The projects are focused on corridors that are important to commuters, tourists and the trucking industry as well."
Among the long list of projects are 10 high-priority road jobs for the 2017 construction season, including five freeway-like interchanges to be built on Bangerter Highway over the next two years that should improve the flow of traffic along the heavily used roadway, explained UDOT project engineer Brian Chamberlain. The $249 million project is scheduled for completion late next year, he said.
“By not forcing Bangerter traffic to stop (in order) to let the cross traffic through, we definitely can improve mobility and safety through the interchanges,” Chamberlain said.
When completed, the new interchanges will allow drivers on Bangerter Highway to move freely while cross traffic travels under Bangerter, allowing those drivers to move more freely as well, he said.
