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LAYTON — Joy Petro raised her hands in celebration Tuesday morning as she removed one of the last remaining cones blocking traffic onto a new U.S. Highway 89 interchange at Antelope Drive.
Soon after, cars began to use the new interchange for the first time.
Petro, the mayor of Layton, as well as other local and state leaders, celebrated the opening of a new interchange — the last of four interchanges along the highway in northeast Davis County. The Utah Department of Transportation opened interchanges at Oak Hills Drive and Gordon Avenue in Layton last year, as well as another at 400 North in Fruit Heights.
The mayor said she believes the changes to the highway will help handle population growth in the city and the surrounding region, even though there were doubts when the project was first announced.
"This is a nice feel, right now — and, hopefully, this is all we're going to need," she said.
The interchanges are a part of the agency's larger U.S. 89 reconstruction project from Farmington to I-84, which began in early 2020. In addition to adding four interchanges, the project features widened lanes in each direction from Main Street in Farmington, to state Route 193 in Layton, as well as a 3-mile extension of Gordon Avenue to the highway.
The project also includes two new bridges at Nicholls Road in Fruit Heights and Crestwood Road in Layton, as well as new signs and sidewalks in the area. It's all in an effort to improve traffic flow in the region.
"This is a safer solution," said UDOT executive director Carlos Braceras. "It will handle more people, provide better mobility and will actually accommodate what we call 'all users,' so bikers and walkers now can have a safe place to cross the facility, as well."
The cost of the entire project is listed at just over $525 million, as of Sept. 30. UDOT officials say it's currently on track to be completed by the end of 2023.
