The Utah Department of Transportation is about to give the public something that doesn't come along every day: a new stretch of four-lane road.
The final two segments of the Bangerter Highway - totaling 6.5 miles - are scheduled to open in November.The first of the two sections, 3.5 miles from 12600 South to Redwood Road in Riverton, should open to traffic in time for the Monday evening commute - but only if it doesn't rain this weekend. Crews still need two days of good weather to paint stripes on the pavement.
The last part of the highway, three miles from Redwood Road to the new interchange with I-15 at 13500 South in Draper, is set to open Nov. 19.
That connection will provide a less-congested alternative for motorists wishing to flee the I-15 reconstruction corridor. It also should provide some bumper room for those who remain on I-15.
"Any road going north and south west of I-15 that can be used in lieu of I-15 will provide a great relief," said Will Jefferies, executive director of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, the agency that oversees long-term transportation planning on the Wasatch Front.
"It's extremely important. That project has been a part of our long-range plan for many years."
When the new interchange opens next month, it will mark the completion of the 20.6-mile Bangerter Highway from 2100 South to I-15. Construction has taken place in segments since 1990.
Back then, the road was known as the West Valley Highway. The name was changed in 1993 to honor former Gov. Norm Bangerter, the man who pushed for the highway's creation and the money to fund it.
The final segment, including a new single-point urban interchange similar to the new I-15 interchange at 600 North, will cost about $35 million. That's more than it cost to build the first four sections of the highway, eight miles from 2100 to 7800 South, earlier this decade.
The 12600 South-to-Redwood Road segment will cost about $18.5 million. The price tag for the entire 20.6-mile Bangerter Highway should end up at about $113.5 million.
UDOT expects the new segments of the Bangerter will be put to use right away.
On an average weekday, 86,500 vehicles travel on I-15 between the 12300 and 14400 South interchanges. UDOT transportation planner Bob Parry said the department anticipates 17,000 of those vehicles will divert onto the Bangerter when the freeway-to-highway connection opens next month.
Other motorists will abandon 12600 and 14600 South to take the Bangerter, putting a total of 22,000 to 25,000 cars on the southernmost segment of the road, Parry predicted.
That's a lot of cars but less than now use other portions of the Bangerter. At 2400 South in West Valley City, the Bangerter is carrying 50,900 vehicles on an average weekday.
"If they're going all the way to Salt Lake International Airport, they'll run into pretty heavy congestion," Parry said. "But in Draper, Riverton and South Jordan, it should be very nice. It should be a pretty free-flowing movement for them."
The new segments will feature four lanes of travel - two in each direction - but could be expanded to six lanes in the future. Currently, the Bangerter is a six-lane highway from 2100 to 10500 South and a four-lane road from that point south.
Calvin George, UDOT project manager for the 12600 South-to-Redwood Road segment, said the department won't know until late this week when that segment will be ready for traffic. He said Meadow Valley Contractors of Layton will receive an additional $225,000 if it completes the work by Sunday.
The Redwood Road-to-I-15 segment was originally scheduled for completion on Oct. 1.
"We've had delays for a multitude of reasons. It's a very complex project," said Betty Purdie, project director for the Redwood-to-I-15 segment. "We've had things you'd normally encounter in construction but nothing the customer needs to be worried about."
I-15 has been restricted to two lanes of travel in each direction, from about 13000 to 14000 South, since work on the interchange began last year. Purdie said the northbound side could be restored to three lanes by the end of this weekend.
The speed limit on the Bangerter is 50 mph but is routinely exceeded, particularly in the long open stretches between traffic signals. Skid marks are commonplace at intersections.
City officials and residents along the Bangerter's path have long complained about the high speeds and too-often tragic accidents that have occurred on the highway. In particular, pedestrians trying to cross the road have been at risk.
The January 1997 death of 15-year-old Chad Riding at the 3100 South interchange prompted a grassroots effort to get UDOT and West Valley City to build a pedestrian skywalk above the interchange. It is the only pedestrian overpass on any of the Bangerter's northern eight interchanges, but others will follow.
"Our long-term goal would be to have pedestrian overpasses at all of these locations as funding becomes available," UDOT spokeswoman Andrea Packer said of several problematic interchanges in West Valley City.
There are four existing pedestrian overpasses south of 5400 South. The new segment to open next week has one at 2700 West.
UDOT plans to build a skywalk above the soon-to-open 13400 South/Bangerter interchange next year, then build one at 4100 South within two years. A third, planned for the 12600 South/Bangerter interchange, is likely to be constructed in 2001.