Carrying out a project that’s long been in the works, West Bountiful is currently adding sidewalks on 1100 West to fill an existing gap.

“The idea here is to help residents,” said Duane Huffman, city administrator for West Bountiful. “This one’s particularly for ones that are walking or biking. We view 1100 West as one of the best routes south out of the city, going to the FrontRunner station or just getting out to 5th South in general, we view 1100 West as the best route for pedestrians and folks on active transportation like bicycles. So that’s the whole goal here is just to provide a safe route for them.”

The gap – which lies between 400 North and 500 South – is 780 feet long and includes seven properties, according to Huffman. The city’s first efforts for the construction were made in 2021, when they began applying for grants. Today, the budget funding this project includes financial resources from the Davis County Third Quarter Transportation Grant program as well as the Wasatch Front Regional Council. 

Though these funds were previously available, West Bountiful was forced to delay the project to take care of other endeavors, such as construction on 660 West. Now, they’re approaching a deadline to spend the grant money for the project.

“If you go back and you look over our agendas from 2024, you’ll see that we discussed the 1100 project several times trying to figure out what design would be the least impactful for the residents there, whether we wanted to do full sidewalk with park strips and curb and gutter, whether we would limit park strips, the width of the sidewalk, so we spent time trying to figure out the correct design," said Huffman. “660 West was a much bigger project. It took a lot of design time, and it did make it difficult to try to do both at the same time.”

According to Huffman, the city had discussed construction with several residents before the matter was voted on. Each household on the street was sent a letter to attend a special neighborhood meeting – where they were able to address concerns as well as recommend certain design choices.

Despite these efforts, some residents aired their frustrations about the project during an April 15 city council meeting, attributing their grievances to a lack of notice and discussion. After the close of a public hearing, James Ahlstrom, Kelly Enquist and Mark Preece voted to approve a motion to allocate funds for the project. Dell Butterfield was the only council member in opposition. Jenn Nielsen was not in attendance.

At the meeting, Mayor Ken Romney told residents that those who may lose trees during construction will be entitled to financial compensation. Individuals in the area were encouraged to film and photograph their properties before and after the conclusion of the project.

According to Romney the city hopes to complete the project in an eight-week time frame. The contractor Post Construction was awarded the project and is overseeing efforts.