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OGDEN — The first West Davis Corridor segment will open in less than a month, serving as a relief valve to I-15 congestion, but don't expect the extension northward through Clinton into western Weber County anytime soon.
Roy Mayor Bob Dandoy, for one, suspects it may not be until 2030 that work in Weber County begins. Still, a preliminary corridor has been identified through western Weber County, tying into I-15 in Box Elder County, just north of the Weber County line. Moreover, Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Mitch Shaw said the agency will begin the formal study into extending the West Davis Corridor north of the endpoint at state Route 193 in West Point to 1800 North in Clinton in 2025.
"That's actually the next step that has a timetable to it," he said.
Most immediately, the nearly complete 16-mile West Davis Corridor section west of Farmington, Kaysville and Syracuse to West Point is set to open on Jan. 6 after more than 2½ years of work. The work has a $750 million price tag. Looking beyond that, there's already a lot of talk and anticipation about its northward extension into Weber County, where planners start calling it the West Weber Corridor.
Dandoy is a supporter of the northward expansion, already bracing for congestion on 3500 West in Roy from motorists traveling north beyond the West Davis Corridor endpoint at S.R. 93 to his city once the new road opens next month. Weber County Commissioner Gage Froerer is also a backer. "Long-term, it has to happen for a number of reasons," Froerer said.
For one, housing growth is expected in the area through Hooper and west of West Haven and Plain City, where the corridor is tentatively planned. Developers mulling 1,500- to 2,000-home developments are already eying the area, Froerer said. What's more, he said, Weber County officials have been pushing for more industrial growth in the area, including the creation of a Utah Inland Port Authority project. Both housing and industry would benefit from a quicker north-south connection through Davis County to the Salt Lake City area given increased I-15 congestion.
"It'll be a game-changer once we get that on the books," Froerer said.
Wasatch Front Regional Council planning documents show the proposed West Weber Corridor alignment is still subject to change. Froerer said that Weber County commissioners have asked UDOT to prioritize completion of the environmental impact study into the proposed roadway extension, a key planning step ahead of actual construction.
"Hopefully within the next two to three years, they'll start the study and go from there," he said.
Shaw, for his part, acknowledges UDOT is buying rights-of-way for the proposed northward extension into Weber County but says little more about future plans. "There's not really any timetable for that," he said.
The West Davis Corridor, also called the West Davis Highway but officially known as state Route 177, is to be a divided, four-lane, limited-access roadway. It will tie into I-15 and Legacy Parkway south of its southern endpoint around Glovers Lane in Farmington for motorists heading further south toward Salt Lake City.
Planning for the West Davis Corridor years ago prompted plenty of controversy among environmentalists worried about how it would impact the undeveloped abutting expanses west of the Farmington area, where wetlands are located. Weber County officials suspect that while there may be naysayers about corridor development in Weber County, most will likely be OK with it, in part because it's been contemplated for so long.
"I think most people understand it's going to come," Froerer said.
