OGDEN — Ogden city wants the state to fix Interstate 15 at 24th Street.
On Tuesday night, the city council approved a resolution to support the Utah Department of Transportation’s “action alternative” for a full interchange at 24th Street on I-15 and for improvements to other surface streets west of the freeway near the would-be interchange.
UDOT and the city have been working to identify possible alignments and configurations for the new interchange for the past few years.
Initially the project included the entire 24th Street corridor from I-15 to Wall Avenue and the viaduct over the railroad tracks.
But in January 2012, the Federal Highway Administration reassessed the project area, resulting in a reduced project scope that removed from the project the corridor and the viaduct.
The corridor and viaduct will be improved later when funding is available.
The current 24th Street interchange serves only as an off-ramp for northbound traffic and an on-ramp for southbound traffic.
Ogden City Engineer Justin Anderson said a full interchange will better serve the Ogden Industrial Park and West Ogden and provide better direct access to downtown Ogden.
In addition to the full interchange, the action alternative would widen 24th Street from two lanes to four from Pennsylvania Avenue to 900 West and include a new alignment to the southeast of Midland Drive at Pennsylvania Avenue connecting to the intersection of 1900 West and Midland Drive.
It has also been determined that the project can proceed using an environmental assessment instead of a full environmental impact study.
The EIS takes longer and costs more money.
The final EA is expected to be completed and submitted later this year.
Ogden Chief Administrative Officer Mark Johnson said the city’s endorsement of the project will be beneficial in securing federal funds for the project.
Information on the project can be found on UDOT’s website at udot.utah.gov/24thstreetea.
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