Mountain View Corridor to extend into Kearns

OGDEN — The Mountain View Corridor will now stretch into Kearns.

At a Utah Transportation Commission meeting in the Weber County Commission chambers Wednesday, the project manager for the corridor announced there is enough money to stretch the first portion of the road five miles farther north than originally anticipated.

The first section of the road was expected to be 10 miles long, from Redwood Road in Bluffdale to 9000 South. The price tag will be about $670 million.

"The change in design to frontage roads, along with lower material prices and lower labor rates will allow us to stretch the project farther to the north," said Teri Newell, UDOT project manager.

To take the road from 9000 South to 5400 South means the corridor in its first incarnation will span 15 miles.

The federal government has approved the environmental-impact statement for the corridor. All the property has been purchased or donated up to 9000 South. With the realization that the project will stretch to 5400 South, Newell and her team are obtaining property in the new section right now, she said.

For years, planners have discussed the need for a west-side freeway between Salt Lake and Utah counties. The Mountain View Corridor is envisioned to run from the Lehi Main Street exit on I-15 to I-80, roughly between 5000 West and 5800 West, in Salt Lake County.

The corridor will be built in phases. In less developed areas, the frontage roads will be built first, with the freeway paved as population growth and funding permit.

For now, there is only funding for one portion in Salt Lake County and one portion in Utah County. The Salt Lake County portion involves both frontage roads and quasi-freeway aspects, including on-ramps and off-ramps. From Redwood Road in Bluffdale to the Old Bingham Highway, there is space to build the frontage road. The cities can incorporate access into their city grids, Newell said.

From the Old Bingham Highway to Kearns, it will be a highway with stoplights at the interchanges.

The funded Utah County portion will be a frontage road at 2100 North in Lehi, stretching from Redwood Road to the I-15 1200 West Lehi exit. Someday, a freeway may be built between the frontage roads, Newell said.

Construction for the Salt Lake County portion of the corridor will begin in the spring and last four construction seasons, while the Utah County section begins in December and is expected to finish in fall 2011.

While some west-side residents feel the corridor is desperately needed, Kearns resident Darrell Wood worries how traffic will spill out of the corridor onto 5400 South. He also noted that people live between Bangerter Highway, which is surrounded by sound walls, and the corridor, which could also have sound walls.

"We will then have to navigate two brick walls going east or west instead of just the one we have now," he said.

e-mail: lhancock@desnews.com