All the pundits save me have had their say on the nearly completed reconstruction of I-15, and many of you readers also have weighed in.
The new freeway is rapidly becoming old news, but as the DN's designated car guy (I write those auto reviews each Friday), I can't let another week go by without throwing my two cents into the pot.
Near as I can tell, opinions on the freeway's new do are split between those who view it as the eighth wonder of the Western world and those who contend it's a $1.59 billion boondoggle worthy of a congressional investigation.
Fellow columnist Lee Benson took the high road last month when he wrote an upbeat piece on the new 17-mile drive through the heart of Salt Lake County. He was quickly taken to task by readers who told him they are bitterly disappointed with the I-15 redo and want their money back — cash, no checks.
My take on the subject falls somewhere in between those two extremes, but I lean more toward bodacious than boondoggle.
I suspect that's because the I-15 commute between my home and downtown doesn't take me any further south than the I-215 interchange at 6200 South, well north of where the new freeway meets the old and it's suddenly 1997 again and motorists find themselves trying to stuff a 10-pound cat into a 5-pound bag.
Back in the pre-renovation era, I timed my commute several times and found that, barring unexpected surprises, I could get from my house to my parking space next to the DN building in 25 minutes by taking 20th East south to the I-215 on-ramp at 6500 South, west to I-15 northbound and then off at the 6th South exit.
I recall feeling sick to my stomach the first time I saw that sign on I-215 proclaiming that the ramp onto I-15 northbound would soon close for four years!
Like most of you back then, I began searching for alternatives. I tried several — State Street, Van Winkle/7th East, Highland Drive — and finally settled on a circuitous route eastward on Creek Road to Wasatch Drive, then winding around the foothills until I could get on I-215 northbound to I-80 westbound, then off at 7th East or State Street, where I would then make the stop-light, school-zone slog north to town.
It took about 35 minutes on good days and an ice age on bad ones, but I liked it better than the other routes because for a few minutes on I-215 I had the illusion of making progress.
Now the I-215 to I-15 northbound connection is open (and it only took 3 1/2 years, not 4) and I'm back to my old route. I've timed it several times, and it now takes me 22 minutes, three minutes less than before the renovation. I admit, $1.59 billion seems a bit pricey for three minutes, but this is America and time is money.
I'm not sure how I'm gaining those three minutes on the new I-15. The speed limit is the same, so I can only surmise that I accumulate them from smoother traffic flow stemming from the additional lanes and less slowing for cars merging on the highway en masse thanks to those new "one car per green light" pacemakers on the entry ramps.
My major slowdowns now come from running the 4th South TRAX construction gauntlet, as well as sundry projects in which the various utility companies and their Men in Orange take turns tearing up the streets — 2nd South is one of their favorites.
Here's a thought. We have a porn czar, so why not appoint a streets czar? The streets czar would coordinate the concrete cutters and backhoe operators so that the utilities would all put their pipes, wires and cables into the same holes at the same time.
A radical idea, I know, but it just might work. Otherwise, we can try to hang on until the February Olympics. I don't expect to see an orange cone or barrel anywhere in sight once the world comes to town.
E-MAIL: max@desnews.com