Highway officials unveil longer-term road projects

Taylorsville • Unveiling some of the longer-term plans that begin in 2017, the Utah Transportation Commission took a first step Tuesday toward spending millions more to widen Interstate 15 between Lehi and Draper, extend the new Mountain View Corridor into West Valley City and widen University Parkway between Orem and Provo.

Those are among major updates it included Tuesday as it approved a draft annual update to its six-year State Transportation Improvement Program. It will now take comments on that plan before finalizing it in August. The commission said the full plan should be online by Thursday at www.udot.utah.gov.

The 115-page document lists every highway project proposed to receive state or federal funds in any year between 2014 and 2019. Most projects have been listed for years as they stood in line awaiting money. But the plan adds a few new projects in the later years of the plan, or shows addtional funding for already planned projects.

For example, it proposes adding $82.5 million in 2017 funding to widen I-15 from SR-73 in Lehi to 12300 South in Draper —a project envisioned to cost $247 million and beginning next year. That will begin just north of the recently completed $1.73 billion rebuild of 24 miles of I-15 from Spanish Fork to Lehi.

Another addition is $50 million in 2017 funding to extend the Mountain View Corridor from its northern end at 5400 South in Kearns to 4100 South in West Valley City. The total for that project is envisioned to be $180 million, and funding begins in 2015.

The first phase of Mountain View, which cost $730 million, opened last year and offers a 15-mile stretch of two lanes in each direction between 16000 South and 5400 South at roughly 5800 West. Lanes are widely separated now, and lanes of a future freeway will be built in the now-super-wide median.

Also in the plan is adding $43 million in 2017 and 2018 to widen University Parkway from State Street in Orem to University Avenue in Provo.

Some other additions for 2017 and 2018 include $20 million to widen Redwood Road between Bangerter Highway and 12600 South; $17 million to add a westbound truck lane on Interstate 80 between Parleys Summit and Jeremy Ranch; $25 million to add northbound passings lanes on I-15 between the Leeds and Toquerville exits; and $6 million to add passing lanes on US-40 between Duchesne and Roosevelt.

ldavidson@sltrib.com