LAYTON–It was a day of celebration last week as the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) completed the US-89 highway, its largest project in the last decade. The approximately 10-mile stretch from Main Street in Farmington to SR-193 in Layton took just over three years to complete, hitting its target date despite the pandemic and supply chain issues.

“We widened the whole stretch from two lanes to three lanes in each direction,” said Mitch Shaw, UDOT Senior Communications Manager. “We also added a frontage road that runs parallel to US-89 that’s wide enough for bikers or walkers. It’s a big improvement.”

There were a series of traffic lights on the road, said Shaw. “With the growth we’ve seen it slowed traffic down and there were safety concerns. You had to make left hand turns. This eliminates those traffic lights. Now there are none on 89.”

The project included the creation of four new interchanges, he said. “People can get off or on at 400 North in Fruit Heights, Oak Hills Drive, Antelope Drive and Gordon Avenue.”

The original plan was for the highway to go over top of the freeway, Shaw said. “The community didn’t like the idea so we did just the opposite and went underneath. It actually worked better. The project added three new pedestrian tunnels to enable future city and county trail expansions and built a new multi-use trail to connect the South Weber frontage road to Valley View Drive, he said.

The US-89  project:

• Removed the old pavement on approximately nine miles of the highway and replaced it with new asphalt.
• Constructed a total of six new bridges crossing the highway at the four interchanges and at Nicholls Road in Fruit Heights and Crestwood Road in Kaysville to improve connections between communities.
• Added a new right-turn lane from eastbound I-84 to southbound US-89 that allows drivers to continue through the intersection without stopping, and extended the on-ramp entrance for drivers traveling on northbound US-89 to eastbound I-84.
• Extended Gordon Avenue to create a new east-west connection from I-15 to US-89 and accommodate Layton City’s plans for a future town center.  

“This is a big deal to everyone,” said Senate President Stuart Adams. “The EIS (Environmental Impact Study) was not done a couple of years ago. It started in 1990. It’s the oldest EIS active in the state.”

In the 70s Utah’s population was 1 million, he said. “Now it’s 3.3 million. If you’re commuting, going from 1 million to 3 million – that’s a big deal.”

There’s always been a safety issue on 89, said Adams. “I’ve had friends killed or injured on it. What's most exciting is making it safer while maintaining our quality of life.”

“I was on the planning commission when my oldest son started driving,” said Commission Chair Lorene Kamalu. “He had to cross 89 with a stop sign and make a left hand turn at a busy time. As a new driver that was horrible. A lot of people live along 89 so there was a big concern.”

There were a number of deaths, she said. “It was more dangerous than I-15 by a long shot.”

Kamalu said there was also a problem of deer crossing 89. “That was another concern for safety that someone might hit a deer.”

UDOT held a series of open houses to get public input, she said. “I attended some and residents wrote down their concerns and UDOT made changes to address their concerns. Yay for the public showing up. Yay for UDOT listening. Yay for a beautiful road.”