The I-215 West bridge-replacement project is 60% complete, and the nation's top federal highway official came to see it Monday, Oct. 26.
Federal Highway Administrator Sean McMaster toured the construction zone and watched a bridge deck demolition, ABC4 reported. The project received $190 million in federal funding and is replacing 18 freeway bridge decks, repairing 12 more bridges and paving 14 miles of ramps along I-80 and California Avenue. Construction will continue through summer 2027.
Millcreek commuters who use I-215 West can expect periodic ramp closures to continue for months. But the finished project should reduce the pothole problems that have dogged the corridor for years.
"Over time, the water, the salt that we use to melt the snow gets down into the steel … and as the freeze-thaw happens, it pops the concrete," UDOT Commissioner Carlos Braceras said, according to ABC4. He said crews have been patching potholes for years and that the core work involves replacing old bridge decks and sealing them with a new material that will "hopefully" keep water out for a longer period.
Braceras, who said he worked on the original roadway design, is overseeing a project that also adds a southbound auxiliary lane from 700 North to westbound I-80.
Crews are using what UDOT calls highly modified asphalt, a weather-resistant mix developed by the Utah Department of Transportation's (UDOT) engineers that uses more polymer than traditional asphalt. It can be laid in one layer instead of two, cutting paving time in half, according to ABC4.
McMaster said interstates carry a quarter of all vehicle travel in the country and called the I-215 project exactly the kind of work federal dollars should support. He praised UDOT crews for keeping traffic moving during construction, saying they work around the clock.
As of Monday, crews had completed work on 14 bridges. Several ramps at the I-215/I-80 interchange, California Avenue and the SR-201/I-215 interchange were set to reopen Tuesday, Oct. 27.
UDOT is also working with software to share real-time construction alerts through Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze, and plans to use the system on more projects in the future.
