We will be teaming up with the Utah Department of Transportation to complete a $10.5 million project that will dramatically improve traffic flow and safety through our city’s most important and most heavily-used intersection. Nearly 40,000 cars travel through this intersection daily and that number continues to grow as private property owners exercise their rights as Americans to develop property throughout the city into additional homes. Whether we wish it or not, our city is growing rapidly. We are very sorry about the difficult choices we have to make to plan for this growth and for the negative effects they have on certain areas. We need to ensure that we have safe and adequate roads to handle the traffic as our city grows. Currently, both 400/450 E. and 2600 N. have exceeded their recommended daily capacity of cars, and the problem gets worse every year. Hence, the need for this project.
The details of the project and the exact scope are still being finalized with UDOT; however, we project that the following projects will be undertaken in 2019:
Intersection Improvements: Installation of dual left turn lanes at the intersection itself, in order to facilitate more vehicles turning left; also increase the number of vehicles which can pass through intersection during each light cycle
Widen 400/450 E (aka Washington Blvd.) to 5 Lanes: The widening will occur from 2650 N. to 2850 N., where Elberta Dr. and 2850 N. will be re-aligned to eliminate the current offset intersection. A future phase of the project will widen to 3100 N., which will follow a few years after 2019 (pending funding). No further widening is contemplated at the current time on 400/450 E., although the long-range master plan calls for widening to the future 4300 N.
Widen 2600 N. to 5 Lanes: This widening will occur from Washington Blvd. to 475 E (City Hall/Library). The purpose of this project is to improve flow on 2600 N. through the commercial area on into the intersection. No further widening is contemplated at this time on 2600 N., although that road has long been planned to eventually be widened to 1050 E. in the city’s long-range transportation plan.
We will hold another Open House meeting in a few months to further update residents about the situation. We also welcome any questions or your concerns you have during the process.