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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's Department of Transportation hosted a public meeting on Monday for the part of the planning stage of reimagining Bangerter Highway in Salt Lake County.
UDOT spokesman John Gleason said getting to the airport by taking Bangerter Highway is taking longer than it should for drivers, with stoplights being a possible problem.
"In the years since we began the interchanges, we have shaved off a number of minutes from the drive time from the south end of the valley, south end of Bangerter, to the airport, and with these additional interchanges and the ones that we are studying, that's going to continue to improve," Gleason told KSL-TV.
Since 2012, UDOT has been working on converting Bangerter Highway into a freeway by removing stoplights. So far, 10 intersections have been replaced with freeway-like interchanges, but Gleason said more work needs to be done.
"We need to make sure that Bangerter Highway, which is one of our most heavily traveled highways in the western part of the valley, is equipped to handle that growth. We currently see about 60,000-plus vehicles on Bangerter Highway every day," he said.
To get closer to those freeway speeds, UDOT plans to remove stoplights from four more intersections between 4100 South to California Avenue.
"There are a lot of people that live in this area that will be affected in some way, and we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to communicate and communicate early with them," Gleason said.
If you would like to weigh in, head over to UDOT's website to give your opinion. You have until July 12 to offer your statements.
