FILE: Workers construct a bridge over I-15 on the West Davis Corridor near Farmington on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. UDOT officials, citing multiple trespassing events, are asking people to stay away from the construction area (©Scott G Winterton/Deseret News 2023)
DAVIS COUNTY, Utah— A recent string of trespassing incidents has UDOT asking people to stay away from the West Davis Corridor construction area.
Kaysville Police tweeted Thursday that they responded to 23 trespassing incidents in that area of the corridor within the last month.
But, UDOT’s West Davis Project Director Rex Harris told KSL Newsradio the trespassing is happening everywhere from Centerville to West Point.
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“We’ve had a lot of individuals wanting to … access our project which is not safe,” Harris said. “There’s still open holes … (and) places that can really cause problems with people.”
Harris said they had particularly bad problems with the damage left behind by trespassers during the winter, and it’s costing a lot of taxpayer dollars.
“People would come out with their snowmobiles … ATV’s … and they would tear up a lot of the work that we had done,” Harris said. “The costs are amounting into the millions of dollars.”
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Harris said they have been able to stay on schedule despite the setbacks.
Most recently, crews have been working to install flyover ramp beams that’ll connect the future highway to southbound I-15.
UDOT expects to finish the 16-mile highway by the summer of 2024.
“It’s really enticing … they see new asphalt out there … new trails being built,” Harris said. “We want (people) to be able to utilize this project, but we want to have it in a condition that’ll be safe.”