Davis now has the Wasatch Weave

FARMINGTON — California has the MacArthur Maze. Colorado has the Full House and the Mousetrap. Salt Lake County has the Spaghetti Bowl.

And Davis County now has the Wasatch Weave.

Utah Department of Transportation officials unveiled the name of the Legacy Parkway interchange in Farmington following a naming contest among Farmington residents.

More than 500 entries were submitted to UDOT, though many had to be eliminated because of poor taste, duplication or had been submitted by nonresidents.

After narrowing the field to the 30 top choices, UDOT officials convened a judging panel that included Farmington Mayor Scott Harbertson and Farmington Councilwoman Paula Alder.

Each member of the panel was asked to select three favorites.

Kesley Clampitt and Dawn Flynn, who didn't know each other before Friday's unveiling ceremony, managed to be at the top of the list for the name each had chosen independently: Wasatch Weave.

It's the only officially named interchange in Utah selected through a public vote.

Clampitt and Flynn said they wanted the interchange to reflect more than just Farmington and its environs, such as Lagoon, and both wanted to make the name alliterative.

But they both recognized that the interchange, which connects I-15, U.S. 89 and the new 14-mile Legacy Parkway, involves strategic bridge work to function correctly.

"It's a very complicated weave to put this together," said UDOT executive director John Njord before the unveiling. Nevertheless, he'd asked Clyde-Geneva Constructors to "lift heaven and earth" to get the bridge work done in 22 months.

Now it's done, and at about 5 p.m., Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will lead a motorcade of Utah Highway Patrol motorcycles and motorists onto the Legacy Parkway with its new Weave.

Or would it have been better called Legacy Loop, as Farmington resident Anne Wiese suggested?

Others that lost included Harbertson's favorite, Farmington Noogal (Lagoon spelled backward;) and Njord's favorite, The Fly (a reference to Lagoon's roller coaster The Spider and the way traffic flies over the other roadways.)

Those aren't the only names Wasatch Weave overcame.

The Snake Pit, String Cheese, The Corset and The Swarm were tossed.

So was The Davis Dreadlock, Davis County Bog Buster and The Jet Star Junction (another Lagoon reference).

Miraculously, TGIF: Thank Goodness It's Finished didn't get the nod, but some may feel miffed that The Chuck Norris Highway was roundhouse-kicked to the trash. The submitter had explained to UDOT that martial arts actor Norris is "the coolest guy ever and he represents American ideals."

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