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SALT LAKE CITY — The temperatures are getting warmer and the days are getting longer, which means Utah's road construction season is here.
This year figures to be yet another busy one for Utah's capital city as it reaches the final year of its major road improvement bond. It's helping fund five major projects happening across the city this year, while crews will also work on 17 smaller local streets, according to Salt Lake City engineer Mark Stephens.
"This is an exciting year," he told KSL.com. "This is the culmination and the end of all the construction related to the general obligation bond."
2025 also figures to be a complex year after Utah lawmakers passed a bill this year that limits some projects from going forward until the Utah Department of Transportation completes a study on proposed measures.
Big projects this year
Salt Lake City officials said Wednesday that a handful of projects are slated to begin this month on top of ongoing work to reconstruct 2100 South in Sugar House. Those include:
- A project to repave 1300 East from 2100 South to Elgin Avenue. The project also calls for a new sidewalk and other improvements in the area.
- A project to reconstruct 600/700 North from 800 West to Redwood Road. City officials previously warned the two-year project could lead to significant impacts once it begins.
- A project to repave and improve 300 North from 300 West to 1000 West. The project, on track to be completed by the end of summer, also calls for new bike lanes and raised crosswalks at larger intersections, including by West High School.
Other projects, like a plan to replace the aging pavement on 100 South by the University of Utah, and work to install the 400 South Viaduct Trail, will begin later this year — possibly as early as May in some cases. All of the city's projects can be found online.
Many of the projects are paid for through the $87 million Funding Our Future bond that Salt Lake City residents approved in 2018 to fix some of the city's busiest streets that needed repair. Other key projects tied to the bond have already wrapped up, including massive changes to sections of 200 South, 300 West and 900 South, as well as Highland Drive/1100 East.
On top of making the ride much less bumpy, city officials say crews have added close to 20 miles of "improved" bicycle and pedestrian facilities, as well as dozens of new pedestrian crossings. Many of the projects also helped the city install new underground utility lines which have been an issue.
Once complete, Stephens said the city will have completely rebuilt many of its most-traveled roads.
"What this signifies is our ability to go through and upgrade a large number of our streets ... and our dedication to create safer and more accessible streets, prioritizing the needs of all residents — pedestrians, bicyclists, transit and multimodal forms of transportation," he said.
What won't be built
However, there are now some smaller projects that won't be constructed this year because of a bill passed by the Utah Legislature. SB195 was an omnibus transportation bill that gained controversy after it was amended to include a one-year moratorium on roadway safety projects in Salt Lake City while UDOT conducts a study on their pros and cons.
That led to a few weeks of back-and-forth negotiations before bill sponsors and Salt Lake City were able to reach a compromise that narrowed the size and scope of the study. It narrows the focus to some roads west of Foothill Drive, north of 2100 South, east of I-15 and south of 600 North, and allows projects "advertised on or before" Feb. 25 to move forward.
Salt Lake City and UDOT are preparing to launch that study now, but the city was also "fortunate" for those changes because it allows many large projects to continue, Stephens said.
However, it will pause some other projects that could have happened this year.
For example, Salt Lake City was gearing up to complete a road safety project along Sunnyside Avenue through its resident-led capital improvement program. It called for a new median and crosswalk, along with a raised crosswalk and lane configurations on Guardsman Way near Rowland Hall and East High's athletics facilities. But it's now on hold until the study is completed this fall, according to the city's website.
It wasn't immediately clear how many other projects are now on hold, but Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall cited the bill as one of a few from this year that seemed to restrict the city's "ability to function as a municipality" as she recapped the 2025 legislative session last month.
The mayor said UDOT already served as the technical adviser or even the funder for some of the city's recent transportation projects. She added that the bill ultimately hindered the city's ability to add traffic-calming measures, which has become the top infrastructure request the city has received in recent years.
"This (was) another instance in this legislative session where the state inserted itself, where local elected (officials) are meant to lead," she said at the time. "We are closest to our people. We know unequivocally that Salt Lakers want traffic-calming methods."
