DAVIS COUNTY, Utah -- Drivers commuting on I-15 in Davis County will soon see a mess of orange cones and construction signs as the Utah Department of Transportation works on a $117 million project.
Construction will start in mid-April to add express lanes and reconfigure two interchanges along an 11-mile stretch from North Salt Lake City to Farmington.
UDOT Spokeswoman Elizabeth Weight spoke about the scope of the project.
“Once this is done, we’ll have the longest continuous stretch of express lanes in the entire country, and we’ve seen really good use, so we think it will be a good benefit,” she said.
At 500 South in Bountiful, construction crews are already getting ready for the new interchange that will be built here, and UDOT said, although this will be new to some drivers, it should be easy to understand.
“It feels a little odd because you’re on the wrong side of the road, but we’ve designed it so it’s very intuitive; the signing is very helpful, and it’s pretty hard to end up in the wrong place,” Weight said.
UDOT officials said they will be using new Bluetooth technology to monitor traffic and plan to have all lanes open during peak commute hours. They also want to reduce travel on the roads by offering free seven-day FrontRunner passes to those who live in the project area.
“One of our top priorities at UDOT is helping keep our people moving,” Weight said. “We’ve come up with a system that is meant to get people where they’re going safely. That includes during construction projects, so that remains a top priority for us.”
UDOT hopes to have the project completed by 2015.
