SOUTH JORDAN – The orange barrels that constantly seem to be all over the Bangerter Highway are being set to move to a new location. However, UDOT’s proposal isn’t sitting well with nearby homeowners.
Lane Larkin has only lived in his home near Bangerter and 104th South for a couple of years. However, during a city meeting, he saw his home was on the list of properties that could be demolished to make room for a freeway style off-ramp.
Larkin says, “I was heartbroken because we love it here.”
Larkin says he was originally told by his realtor that UDOT may eventually add more sound walls near their homes, but he didn’t know the intersection could be completely modified.
“Utah is growing. Salt Lake County is growing. We understand the growth. We wish we would have known that before we purchased a home,” Larkin says.
If the plan proposed by UDOT is approved, construction would start in 2022. Spokesman John Gleason says they try to use eminent domain a little as possible, but he says “Unfortunately, that’s not always possible because of the amount of growth and the need for these projects, there is not always open space that we can develop.”
Gleason says the department’s eventual goal is to change every intersection along Bangerter to a freeway off-ramp formation. However, the funding for these projects has to be found on a case-by-case basis.
“That development is going to continue and these freeway-style interchanges… we’re going to continue to put those in as funding becomes available,” Gleason says.