UDOT reopens I-80 off-ramp ahead of schedule

By Jed Boal | Posted - July 15, 2009 at 6:49 p.m.

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

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SALT LAKE CITY -- Road builders on Interstate 80 this summer are steam rolling towards completion of the reconstruction project. The 13th East westbound off-ramp from I-80 re-opened Wednesday, two weeks ahead of schedule.

I-80 construction manager Mark Allington says they adjusted schedules with the paver to get the job done early. That's good news for the heavy flow of residential and business traffic in the Sugar House area.

"The biggest thing we're looking at with this project is minimizing the impact to the traveling public and helping make sure that we get traffic into the Sugar House business district," Allington said.

Along the entirety of the project, motorists can see a lot of progress. The Utah Department of Transportation and the road builders aim to have all lanes open on the new construction by Thanksgiving.

"The biggest goal that we have is to do everything possible to make sure that we have the ramps open, business access open for the holiday shopping season," Allington said.

**Ramp closures:**

Location	Ramp	Closed Through
State Street	Eastbound On-Ramp	Late Summer
700 East	Eastbound On-Ramp	Mid-August
700 East	Eastbound Off-Ramp	Mid-August
1300 East	Westbound Off-Ramp	7/15/09
1300 East	Loop Ramp	Late Summer

Sound walls are going up on the south side of the interstate, bridge work is moving along steadily, and we'll start to see concrete paving in the next few weeks. "Once people start seeing that concrete paving go down, they'll realize how much work we've done through the winter," Allington said.

UDOT says the crews worked every day they could during the winter and the wet spring.

"We had an incredibly wet spring. Ralph Wadsworth and Harper Excavation worked through those issues, and we're right on schedule for where we want to be," Allington said.

The reconstructed I-80 will have five lanes in each direction -- that includes an auxiliary lane that runs from exit to exit. That lane enables motorists to enter and exit the interstate much more easily.

E-mail: jboal@ksl.com