More elbow room on I-15
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No comments [ Add Comment ]When it comes to driving in the Top of Utah, there are fewer sweeter words than "ahead of schedule" and "under budget."
That was the language used in Standard-Examiner headline last week on a day when two news stories told of early completion dates for the Legacy Parkway in Davis County and the I-15 NOW project in Weber County. For the thousands of us who spend parts of our days tied up in traffic between Box Elder and Salt Lake counties, that's just what we were hoping to hear.
In Davis, the news that Legacy will be opening a month earlier than originally planned has been a long time coming. Gov. Mike Leavitt announced his vision for the Legacy in 1996, and it's been almost a decade since construction first began. (It was interrupted for several years due to an environmental lawsuit, running up the price from $450 million to $685 million.)
And, in fact, there's irony in the announcement that Legacy will open early: Over the past few months, driving between Layton and Farmington has been a teeth-gritting, dash-pounding exercise due to lane restrictions on an I-15-widening project, turning that section of the freeway -- miles north of the Legacy parkway cut-off -- into a stop-and-go ordeal. It'll be interesting to see whether that traffic clot will be opened by the time Legacy accepts automobiles Sept. 13.
Farther north in Weber County, between Riverdale and Farr West, the road's wide open for the first time in more than two years. The I-15 NOW project, which added lanes and rebuilt interchanges and bridges, is complete months earlier and millions under budget. The final tally on the work, originally estimated to cost $260 million, will come in somewhat less, Utah Department of Transportation officials say, although the final numbers aren't yet available.
We've noticed the past few weeks, as more lanes have opened up, drivers have increasingly ignored the 55 mph speed limits through the construction zone. There's nothing like the wide-open spaces -- relatively speaking -- to make people want to stand on their accelerators.
The open roads are great news for those who drive the I-15 corridor through the Top of Utah. There's more room in the north, there'll be an alternative roadway in the south -- although, for now, speed limits will be lower and truck traffic restricted due to the environmental lawsuit -- and the only hitch might be continued construction in the Layton-to-Farmington section.
In our car-dependent society, this is progress.
