UDOT trims 10600 S. proposal in South Jordan

SOUTH JORDAN — The Utah Department of Transportation has scaled back plans to further widen 10600 South as part of its 11400 South interchange project.

The change, requested by South Jordan city officials, means dozens of business owners who suffered during the previous widening of 10600 South — finished in the summer of 2003 — will not have to endure another two years of road construction in the near future.

UDOT had planned to widen 10600 South to seven lanes from I-15 to just west of Redwood Road. The new plan is to add the two additional lanes only from I-15 to about 700 West — a reduction of about 10 blocks. That stretch of road, from 700 West to Redwood, was widened from two to five lanes in the previous project.

"A number of businesses are set up along there and they went through two years of bad business, slow business, because of construction," said South Jordan city manager Rick Horst. "And we didn't feel like it was fair to the business community, nor did the need justify the impact on them, to put them through that again."

UDOT agreed.

"What we're trying to do is get the best solution for how the intersections (with I-15) work and how the roadway segments work," said UDOT project manager Joe Kammerer. "Obviously if you widen it (10600 South) out to Bangerter, it works better, but there are also those impacts to businesses and homes, both."

That adjustment is the only major change UDOT has made to the 11400 South project over the last five months as it completed a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 11400 South study area.

The department hopes to begin construction of a new I-15 interchange at 11400 South and several other improvements in the area in late 2005, although Kammerer said that schedule is "optimistic."

The change in the 10600 South portion of the project has reduced the total cost from $138 million to $122 million. Of that, $23 million will come from the Centennial Highway Fund. Additional funding has not been identified, but the Utah Transportation Commission in May approved UDOT's preferred alternative for the 11400 South study area. The study area stretches from 10400 South to 12600 South and from the Bangerter Highway to 700 East.

The approved alternative includes adding the new I-15 interchange at 11400 South, the widening of 10600 South from I-15 to roughly 700 West, adding a Jordan River crossing on 11400 South and widening the road to five lanes, improving the intersection of 11400 South and Bangerter Highway, adding a triple-left turn from southbound I-15 to eastbound 10600 South, and enhancing Jordan Gateway intersections at 10600 South, 11400 South and 12300 South.