UDOT Finishes Construction In I-15 Tech Corridor
Oct 30, 2020, 6:49 PM | Updated: 8:27 pm
LEHI, Utah – The commute in Utah County just got a lot easier: the rebuilt Interstate 15 Tech Corridor is finished and open for traffic.
You’ll still see a few orange barrels around the edges but, the expansion is a huge improvement for people on the interstate and in the community.
The area in and around Lehi continues to be one of the fastest-growing areas in the state for businesses and neighborhoods. According to officials with the Utah Department of Transportation, the upgrades should cut the average travel time in half along the four-mile stretch.
“It’s really going to help people get to where they need to go,” said Boyd Humpherys, the UDOT project manager on the I-15 Tech Corridor project.
The @i15techcorridor project added 2 lanes, built 17 bridges, redesigned the interchanges at S.R. 92 and 2100 North; and added a new-to-Utah one-way frontage road system and several new on- and off-ramps between those two interchanges.
— Utah DOT (@UtahDOT) October 30, 2020
Nearly 200,000 vehicles drive that stretch of I-15 in Utah County on an average day. I-15 had already been expanded to the north and south of Lehi, during the last decade. This was the missing piece.
“It’s critical because this was really the last area of I-15 that we hadn’t widened,” said UDOT spokesperson John Gleason.
Before UDOT started on the expansion from four to six lanes about 2.5 years ago, gridlock was the norm.
“It was a bottleneck,” said Humphreys. “We only had four lanes in each direction.”
During peak travel times, cars regularly got stuck on the interstate and at the two main interchanges.
That is why UDOT widened the interstate, built 17 bridges and redesigned the interchanges at state Route 92 (Timpanogos Highway) and 2100 North.
“We rebuilt those interchanges so they can accommodate the traffic,” said Humphreys. “But, just the whole system in and of itself is really going to help alleviate congestion.”
If it used to take you 12 minutes to get through this four-mile stretch, UDOT said it will now take six minutes.
“It means a lot to the quality of life for everybody that has to travel on I-15 every day,” Gleason said.
The @i15techcorridor project is scheduled for completion by late 2020.
— Utah DOT (@UtahDOT) October 30, 2020
