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Jed Boal ReportingMild winter weather in the valley is good news for UDOT and motorists who travel between Salt Lake and the west side of the valley. But travel is about to get temporarily more difficult with a major construction project on State Route 201.
SR 201 is the other highway headed west, a main artery for people in West Valley. Drivers in the area will run into delays and orange barrels in the short-term, but upgrades are on the way. The best news? UDOT will widen the route from two to three lanes in each direction from 900 West to I-215.
Brent Wilhite, UDOT: "One, it's going to increase the capacity. Two, it's going to improve the safety. Three, it will make the system work better."
In addition to the extra lane, UDOT will add lanes for cars entering and exiting the freeway, plus several interchanges will be improved.
Brent Wilhite, UDOT: "The weather's pretty good right now, so we're going to try to get what we can done so we can finish it up before fall next year."
The biggest part of the project is the Redwood Road interchange where crews are already rebuilding storm drains. That's where you'll run into the worst delays; if you can take a different route, take it.
Monday the Redwood Road southbound on-ramp to eastbound S-R 201 will be relocated for construction. In a week crews will start to demolish the westbound bridge over Redwood Road.
Brent Wilhite, UDOT: "Any time we have construction, it's not easy to deal with. But we're trying to minimize that as much as possible."
Two lanes will remain open during peak hours. Overnight one-lane restrictions could affect your driving between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. UDOT expects to wrap up this phase of the project in August 2006.
