Utah

[Kniwt]

The new George Washington Blvd. interchange with SR 7 (Exit 12) has opened.
https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2024/08/12/sdw-moving-traffic-keeping-up-with-growth-new-southern-parkway-interchange-gives-drivers-bypass-option/

Traveling between the eastern and western portions of Washington County has become smoother with the completion of the interchange at Southern Parkway and George Washington Boulevard.

Jordan Hess, a spokesman for Washington City, told St. George News the project was years in the making. The interchange will make it easier to access the Washington Fields, Sand Hollow and Hurricane areas via the parkway, also known as state Route 7.

Hess said the project was initially estimated to cost about $8 million. However, with inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic, the price tag was closer to $13 million. So the city of Washington went to the Utah Legislature and asked for an appropriation, and lawmakers responded with $2.5 million to help cover the price increase.

[The Ghostbuster]

Exit 12 on UT 7 is not shown on Google Maps, although the latest update to Google Maps Street View has some good images of the then-nearly complete interchange.

[roadman65]

Is the Mountain Range I-80 between I-84 at Echo to the Wyoming Border part of the Great Wasatch Mountains or is it part another range connected to it?

Rand McNally shows that particular mountain range to be north of I-80 but Wiki says it extends into Central Utah being the boundary between the Rockies and the Great Basin to the west of it. Plus pretty much the topography changes all along I-15 south of Salt Lake where one side is flat while the other side rugged.

Also mountains do change names at certain points as well.

[kernals12]

Were there ever any plans to build a freeway roughly along Wasatch Blvd between Draper and Cottonwood Heights? Seems like a pretty big gap in the network

[Rothman]

Were there ever any plans to build a freeway roughly along Wasatch Blvd between Draper and Cottonwood Heights? Seems like a pretty big gap in the network

Wut.

[US 89]

Were there ever any plans to build a freeway roughly along Wasatch Blvd between Draper and Cottonwood Heights? Seems like a pretty big gap in the network

Wut.

There was a plan for another east-side highway in the Salt Lake Valley about halfway between I-15 and the base of the mountains. It was proposed as an expressway along Highland south of I-215 (then proposed as I-415) and a freeway roughly along 13th East north of it. North of I-80, the intent was for it to head northwest and tear directly through downtown Salt Lake City before ending at I-15 and 600 North.



That would have been a disaster for downtown so it is a good thing that it didn't happen. The only element of this that actually got built was the Cottonwood Diagonal, now better known as the Van Winkle Expressway (which even today does not connect directly to any other expressways or freeways and so kind of sticks out like a sore thumb). It also explains some of the direct ramps that were present at the original 600 North interchange before that was converted into a SPUI in 1998.

[US 89]

Conventional wisdom for several years now has held that UDOT is trying to get rid of the surface segment of SR 201 along 2100 South between 9th West and State. Signage was spotty anyway, probably to avoid confusion with trailblazers for the 201 freeway, but over maybe the past 10 years just about all remaining references to 201 were removed along that segment, and there isn't even a posted mile marker 17 or 18. The only clue you were on a state highway was the street signs at most traffic lights, which are the UDOT spec used from maybe the late 1980s through the early 2000s.

Until now. As part of the seemingly never ending construction along 300 West in this area, the light at 21st South was replaced, and this is now shown in both directions:



Clearly, they aren't ready to lose surface 201 *just* yet. I do wonder if its location directly on the Salt Lake City-South Salt Lake boundary complicates matters any.

[Rothman]

Lose it to the City or County?

[Rover_0]

Conventional wisdom for several years now has held that UDOT is trying to get rid of the surface segment of SR 201 along 2100 South between 9th West and State. Signage was spotty anyway, probably to avoid confusion with trailblazers for the 201 freeway, but over maybe the past 10 years just about all remaining references to 201 were removed along that segment, and there isn't even a posted mile marker 17 or 18. The only clue you were on a state highway was the street signs at most traffic lights, which are the UDOT spec used from maybe the late 1980s through the early 2000s.

Until now. As part of the seemingly never ending construction along 300 West in this area, the light at 21st South was replaced, and this is now shown in both directions:



Clearly, they aren't ready to lose surface 201 *just* yet. I do wonder if its location directly on the Salt Lake City-South Salt Lake boundary complicates matters any.

I drive that segment pretty regularly and noticed that too. The surface street segment of SR-201 (from 900 West to US-89/State St but not 900 West between the freeway and 2100 South) is a prime candidate to be transferred to local jurisdiction, depending on what exactly that jurisdiction is.

I don't see why it couldn't get a different number (plenty of numbers between 205-255 to use) if it remains under state jurisdiction.

[US 89]

UDOT is about to begin a project to build its most visible roundabout yet: on SR 186 at the intersection of State Street and 300 North, at the top of Capitol Hill right in front of the state capitol building. This is a substantial undertaking for a number of reasons, including a relative lack of space at the intersection and the fact that the "State of Utah" wall just behind the end of State is a prime photography spot. The current intersection is configured such that northbound traffic on State does not have to stop except for pedestrians, except for a confusingly-signed merge with westbound traffic on 300 North.

The project will replace the current two-way stop with a 95-foot diameter single-lane roundabout. In coordination and to make room for the roundabout, the Utah Division of Facilities and Construction Management is relocating the entire State of Utah wall to the north to allow more space for pictures. The new roundabout should be more pedestrian friendly and hopefully will move traffic through the area a little better than the current configuration.

Some renderings from the project website:




Compare to what's there now, looking north and east. That "no stop required" isn't true if there are pedestrians...

[US 89]

Was reading through some Transportation Commission meeting minutes from earlier this year and noticed that SR 299 has been decommissioned as of the May 2024 meeting. SR 299, as a typical "institutional" state route, was an unsigned route that consisted of the driver's test course at the Driver License Division office in West Valley, plus a connection to 4700 South:



Not only was the state highway deleted, but the entire roadway has been abandoned as the land has been transferred for construction of the West Valley Veterans Nursing Home. The driver license division moved a half-mile north to a new site on Constitution Blvd, and now lacks a separate driving range.

Interestingly, this move was more or less ordered by the state legislature. Buried in an appropriations bill signed into law in 2023, in item 250 (of 566!), is the following text:

The Legislature intends that in conjunction with the construction of the Department of Veterans Affairs West Valley Veterans Nursing Home, the Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) relocate the Department of Public Safety driving range to other state-owned property. The Legislature further intends that the Utah Department of Transportation transfer the 14.8-acre parcel which the driving range encumbers to DFCM for the West Valley Veterans Home.