It is complicated trying to get around Davis County if you live west of I-15.
There is the new West Davis Corridor, state Route 177, that offers relief for those trying to jump on the interstate to avoid the congestion.
But it is not enough. Struggling to address the amazing growth that is happening in western Weber and Davis counties has been a slow moving tidal wave, shocking residents and motorists who simply enjoyed a simpler life. But growth means new homes, new stores and new traffic patterns. Towns are trying to grapple with the impacts.
For now, 1800 North in Davis County is a mixture of constant construction and impatient drivers. It changes every day.
“One of the catalysts, if not the main catalyst here is Hill Air Force Base,” said Mitch Shaw, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Transportation.
“Hill Air Force Base is the largest single site employer in the state of Utah, and they have over 20,000 employees, civilian and military.”
Shaw said there may be other employers who are bigger, but none has a single site like Hill Air Force Base.
Shaw said it is like a city of its own.
“So you’ve got that influx of people going to one place every day. There’s limited ways to get in there.”
The UDOT construction plan includes adding a new interchange on I-15 and a new entrance to Hill Air Force Base.
Currently, employees and the military access the base through three entrances: 5600 South in Roy, also known as the west gate, 650 North in Clearfield, and the south gate via state Route 193 in Layton.
It is a congestion nightmare.
If you add that traffic on top of everyday commuters trying to get to Salt Lake City, or travel north into Ogden, it makes for a lot of traffic.
The grand design
“This is a project that we’ve been looking at for a long time, and it’s something that is kind of desperately needed because for a lot of reasons,” Shaw said.
Shaw said 1800 North will be seven lanes when work is complete — three in each direction with a middle lane to 250 West. From there, it will be five lanes.
“It will take pressure off the existing interchanges, with the north and the south.” Shaw said. “That will take a lot of traffic off of those two interchanges, which is a big deal. And then, from Hill Air Force Base’s standpoint, they have plans to build a new gate, so that’ll be the fourth gate that people will be able to access.”
This new project not only will assist in the ability for motorists to get where they need, but provide walking and biking trails for alternative transportation opportunities.
“It’s important to know that UDOT’s philosophy has changed over time to think about much more than just cars. So in order for us to accommodate the transportation and population need, we have to change,” Shaw said.
Be patient
It takes time, money and a great deal of planning to make roadway construction work, which is something everyday motorists may not fully understand.
Updates as well as helpful and kind advice is available at the UDOT website.
“It’s an absolute fact of life that nobody likes road construction when it’s happening, they don’t. We acknowledge it’s inconvenient, it’s a hassle,” Shaw said.
The end point is moving people around, and not to take it out on the construction workers who are simply trying to make that happen, Shaw said
“We know it can be frustrating. If there’s traffic at a standstill, if there’s some sort of impact where you have to change your driving habits, or go out of your way, take a detour, whatever it is,” Shaw said.
But these workers are just trying to do their job and hoping to get you to where you want to be, he emphasized.
“They’ve got families to go home to and they want to get home safe. So, when you are in a construction zone, everything’s really dynamic.”
