Centennial Highway Fund projects nearly complete

SALT LAKE CITY — One project remains.

Before the end of the year, the Utah Department of Transportation will complete the 11400 South interchange project on I-15.

With the final expense of $91 million during the past two years, the department will complete the final project from the Centennial Highway Fund.

The Utah Legislature and then-Gov. Mike Leavitt created the fund in 1997.

Through an increase in the gas tax and vehicle registration fees, the fund paid for the $1.5 billion reconstruction of I-15 in the run-up to the Olympics, the nearly $700 million building of Legacy Parkway and the $64 million widening of U.S. 6 among its 42 projects, said Carlos Braceras, UDOT's deputy director.

It total, the fund accomplished $3.8 billion worth of projects since 1998.

Of course, the end of the fund won't mean the end of projects. In 2005, the Legislature created the Transportation Investment Fund — the source of the bonding for the $1.7 billion I-15 Core project and the $860 million Mountain View Corridor.

In 2007, the Legislature created the Critical Highway Needs Fund, which paid for the Southern Parkway in St. George.

— Joseph M. Dougherty