SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Transportation is working on some of the major steps in completing a bridge on 5600 W in Salt Lake City, where traffic sometimes stops for 45 minutes to allow trains to pass.
“There’s so much business out here so many vehicles and so we want to make sure that we’re planning ahead for that future growth and making sure that people don’t have to stop unnecessarily for trains," UDOT spokesman John Gleason told FOX 13.
The bridge, which is under construction near 800 S and 5600 W, is expected to be completed next year. This week, construction crews are placing support beams for the new bridge, which will go over a Union Pacific Railroad crossing.
"The project is also widening 5600 West from S.R. 201 to I-80 to five lanes (two lanes in each direction with a center turn lane), improving various intersections, and reconfiguring the interchange at I-80 as a diverging diamond interchange," a news release from UDOT said.
Construction crews are using a low-density material called "geofoam" in the construction project. The material provides sturdy support for roadways and allows workers to keep the existing underground utilities in place.
The bridge is expected to be completed in the summer of 2021 and the rest of the project is expected to wrap up that fall.
