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Roy police to use homes to be razed for 5600 South project for training

By Tim Vandenack - | Mar 22, 2023

Photo supplied, Roy Police Department

In this photo taken Tuesday, March 21, 2023, members of the Roy Police Department conduct a training exercise at one of the abandoned homes along 5600 South that are to be razed for the planned widening of the roadway.

ROY — Dozens of homes will be demolished along 5600 South in Roy so the roadway can be widened.

The Utah Department of Transportation has already taken ownership of 59 parcels along the impacted corridor from Interstate 15 west to 3500 West, 52 of them on the south side of the road, according to online Weber County property records.

Before the many structures are actually razed, though, the Roy Police Department will get use out of at least some of them, conducting exercises on executing search warrants and carrying out building searches.

“It allows us to do a little bit more dynamic training,” said Officer Stuart Hackworth, the department spokesperson. Since the structures to be used will be demolished anyway, officers can practice more aggressive entry techniques that might result in damage.

The training exercises started Tuesday and will continue for the next two months or so as demolition of homes on UDOT’s newly acquired property proceeds. “Roy City Police will be taking advantage of the vacant homes slated for demolition on 5600 S. You may see a large police presence in the next few weeks,” reads a police department Facebook post from Tuesday on the plans.

Most of the parcels acquired by UDOT contain homes. The residents, compensated by the agency, have departed.

The 5600 South project, earlier estimated at $238 million, calls for the widening of 5600 South between I-15 and 3500 West from three to five lanes to accommodate increasing traffic. The 5600 South/1900 West intersection and the 5600 South/I-15 interchange will also be upgraded.

Actual road work is to start sometime later in the spring with the project to be done by the fall of 2026.

Hackworth said the Roy Police Department has used abandoned homes slated for demolition previously for exercises. Once, officers used a school to be demolished for exercises.

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