South Jordan has billed itself as the city "just off the fast lane." Unfortunately, that's a difficult claim to hold onto. The fast lane is making a beeline toward town, and no one can stop it.

The Bangerter Highway, which already stretches to 9000 South, is scheduled for construction to 12600 South next summer. Right now it sits on the edge of town the way the industrial age once poised over Europe or, some would say, the way Hurricane Andrew once swirled off the coast of Florida.Either way, it's bound to bring a lot of change - mostly good sprinkled with heartache - in a city already writhing under some intense growing pains.

The Bangerter is a highway with an identity crisis - not quite a freeway and not quite a major artery. Posted speed limits are near freeway levels, but motorists are forced to stop at intersections every seven blocks or so, resulting so far in a high rate of accidents along its path.

Its presence is intensifying an identity crisis of sorts in South Jordan, which until recently had seemed so secure in its role as a placid residential community with a rural flavor. The city's population, measured at 12,215 in 1990, is growing by nearly 20 percent each year.

The crisis is hitting hardest at the folks who live along 9800 South, a residential street with an identity problem of its own. The City Council once again is considering putting an intersection with the Bangerter Highway there. That would mean widening 9800 South from two to five lanes, taking 14 feet away from the front yards of upscale houses to the west and perhaps removing some newly constructed fences from subdivisions still under construction to the east.

Earlier this week, 16 people representing various sections of 9800 South sat in a circle on folding chairs in a back yard near the proposed intersection and tried to devise a strategy. They were angry and suspicious - a group of adults who have lost faith in their local government. And their feelings are not without merit.

One year ago, City Administrator Tony Murphy tried to reassure them their road never would be more than a minor traffic collector.

"With sidewalks on both sides and the close proximity of the homes to the road, there is no way the road could be turned into a four-lane artery - even if we wanted it," he told the Deseret News at the time.

Times change. So do city administrators. This week, the new one, Dave Millheim, told me the road always has been planned as a major collector and would have to be widened if it bisects Bangerter. While the council has yet to decide on whether to build an intersection, Millheim said a decision not to build it would upset a lot more people.

Without an intersection, the already heavy traffic at the 9000 South intersection would become even worse there and at the next stop at 10400 South. His contention is backed by a traffic study the city commissioned from Horrocks Engineers. In addition, the city would lose the ability to respond rapidly west of the highway with its firetrucks if 9800 South becomes a dead end.

"Why would we knowingly exacerbate the problems we already have?" he asked.

It's a strong argument.

View Comments

Last week the city held a hearing of sorts to take the community's pulse. It wasn't a hearing in the traditional sense. There were no microphones; no elected officials wincing from the attacks of their constituents. Instead, officials from Horrocks Engineers took the public on a tour of displays explaining the city's options and the findings of their own study. Each member of public was given a sheet of paper on which to pen a comment.

Millheim said it was a deliberate attempt to spread information without unpleasant and unproductive confronta- tions. But those confrontations may be inevitable. This is a difficult problem, one that will repeat itself in one way or another as the highway continues southward through Riverton and Bluffdale.

Perhaps the city could have planned better by halting the construction of new subdivisions until the matter was solved. Perhaps it should have confronted the problem more directly a year ago instead of issuing hollow promises.

Or perhaps a highway as brawny and awkward as the Bangerter is impossible to adequately prepare for, particularly when it insists on stopping every few blocks.

Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.