Roy’s 5600 South to be widened, houses coming down ahead of road work
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- The foundation of a home that once sat in the 2900 block of 5600 South is removed Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Demolition of homes along 5600 South has started in anticipation of the widening of the busy roadway from Interstate 15 west to 3500 West.
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- 5600 South in Roy, photographed Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Demolition of homes along the roadway has started in anticipation of the widening of the busy roadway from Interstate 15 west to 3500 West.
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- A vacant lot at 2950 West and 5600 South, photographed Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Demolition of homes along 5600 South, including the one that sat here, has started in anticipation of the widening of the busy roadway from Interstate 15 west to 3500 West.
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- The foundation of a home that once sat in the 2900 block of 5600 South is removed Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Demolition of homes along 5600 South has started in anticipation of the widening of the busy roadway from Interstate 15 west to 3500 West.
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- A vacant lot at 2950 West and 5600 South, photographed Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Demolition of homes along 5600 South, including the one that sat here, has started in anticipation of the widening of the busy roadway from Interstate 15 west to 3500 West.
ROY — Homes are starting to tumble down along 5600 South in Roy in anticipation of the long-awaited widening of the busy thoroughfare.
“Three (homes) are gone. They’ve leveled them,” Roy Mayor Bob Dandoy said late last week. Seven more homes, he said, will soon meet the wrecking ball.
The project, earlier tabbed by Utah Department of Transportation officials at $238 million, calls for the widening of 5600 South from Interstate 15 west past 3500 West from three to five lanes. As is, the roadway — a key link to I-15 for western Weber County residents — has a single travel lane and a center turn lane. To accommodate growing traffic, it’ll be widened to two travel lanes each way, retaining the center turn lane.
While demolition of structures on the land that’ll be used to widen 5600 South is ongoing, actual road work is expected to start in the spring and finish in the fall of 2026, UDOT spokesperson Mitch Shaw said. The earlier $238 million cost estimate, which includes right-of-way acquisition, could rise.
According to earlier projections, as many as 15 businesses and 63 homes along the project corridor would have lost real estate or would have been leveled to make way for the wider roadway. Because of design adjustments, not as many property owners will ultimately be impacted, according to UDOT, though roads officials are still finalizing the figures.
That said, plenty of homes will have to make way for asphalt, and online Weber County property records offer a glimpse into the potential impact. Some businesses — a far smaller number than homes — will also have to be razed, according to Dandoy, including a Wells Fargo Bank branch and Wendy’s restaurant on the southwest corner of 1900 West and 5600 South.
According to the online records, UDOT currently owns 39 parcels of property abutting the south side of 5600 South in the project area, from I-15 west to 3500 West, and six parcels on the north side, or 45 in all. The vast majority of those are residential.
On top of that, UDOT owns numerous smaller strips of property in the project area, mostly on the north side of 5600 South.
Acquisition of right-of-way, though, continues, so UDOT will be taking ownership of even more parcels and demolishing the structures on them to allow for the widening project.
“The right-of-way process began in July of 2022 and will continue through spring of 2024,” Shaw said. “As properties are vacated and cleared, demolition will take place. This could take another year to complete.”
Dandoy is sympathetic to homeowners who have had to pull up roots to allow for the 5600 South widening. “I know a lot of these people. I feel really bad this happened to them,” he said.
That said, he hasn’t heard complaints from any of the displaced residents, some of whom have relocated to West Haven. UDOT officials, Dandoy went on, have been “more than fair with them” in crafting compensation packages.
Likewise, though the 5600 South project will be disruptive to motorists who use the roadway and nearby residents, Dandoy said the project isn’t a surprise. It’s been discussed and deliberated for years.
“We’ve been telling people this is going to be a two-year adventure,” he said. “They say they’re ready for it.”
UDOT officials have said they’ll maintain two-way traffic flow on 5600 South throughout the project, though there will undoubtedly be orange-and-white construction barriers and signage to navigate around. Likewise, even if people have known the project is coming, Dandoy suspects there’ll be an uptick in complaints once work begins in earnest.
In addition to the widening of 5600 South, the 5600 South/1900 West intersection and the 5600 South/I-15 interchange will also be upgraded.
“Intersection improvements at 5600 South and 1900 West include new sidewalk, pedestrian ramps, turn-lanes and signals,” Shaw said. Design specifics for the 5600 South/I-15 interchange are still being finalized.