SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Department of Transportation prescribed the right medicine for congestion following the official opening of an additional nine miles of carpool lanes on Interstate 15 in the south part of the Salt Lake Valley as well as adding additional travel lanes.

Passing out super-sized medicine bottles to reinforce a new "Carpool: It’s the Travel Decongestant" campaign, UDOT Executive Director John Njord along with Gov. Olene S. Walker and acting Salt Lake County Mayor Alan Dayton, celebrated the importance of the freeway widening and the extension of the carpool lanes into Utah County.

"Today we celebrate a project that will go a long way in relieving congestion for Utahns on I-15 in the south end of the Salt Lake Valley," said John Njord, UDOT executive director. "One of our primary goals is to make our transportation system work better and with more than 25 miles of continuous carpool lanes available to motorists, we have taken a huge step towards doing that."

"Carpool: It’s the Travel Decongestant," is the theme of a new UDOT campaign encouraging commuters to carpool. Billboards and radio spots will remind commuters of the advantages to carpooling.

UDOT has even created a way for commuters to find carpool companions through its Web site, www.udot.utah.gov. By simply entering a zip code, work time and e-mail address, commuters can connect with others who travel at approximately the same time to approximately the same location.

Twenty-five miles of continuous carpool lanes on I-15 are now available, from 600 North in Salt Lake County to the Alpine interchange in Utah County. "People who utilize the carpool lane each day during their commute can save more than one full day of drive time over the course of a year," Njord said. "In addition, commuters will save money on gas, miles on their car, and reduce congestion on the road."

Recent research conducted by UDOT showed the following:

• 98 percent of Utahns think carpool lanes are a fair to excellent idea
• Commuters save 15 to 20 minutes during heavy commutes by using the carpool lane
• During the afternoon commute, the carpool lane carries twice the people with half the number of vehicles than a regular lane
• When asked what would make carpool lanes more attractive, more park and ride lots and assistance in finding a carpooling partner were two of the highest requested ideas
• Carpool use has grown by 35 percent since 2002

Vehicles with two or more people, motorcycles, buses and emergency vehicles can use the carpool lane.

The I-15 South project added the following lanes:

• Southbound I-15 - From three lanes to five lanes from 10600 South to the Utah County line, and from three to four lanes from the Utah County line to the Alpine interchange. The lanes are designated as follows:
• A carpool lane from 10600 South to Utah County
• An additional lane from 10600 South to Bangerter Highway
• A climbing lane from the south side of Bangerter Highway to the Utah County line
• An additional lane from the Utah County line to the Alpine interchange
• Northbound I-15 - From three lanes to four lanes from the Alpine interchange to Bangerter Highway, and from three lanes to five lanes from Bangerter Highway to the 10600 South interchange. The lanes will be designated as follows:
• A carpool lane from the Alpine interchange to 10600 South
• An additional lane from north of the Bangerter Highway interchange to 10600 South

Park and Ride Lots

In conjunction with the project, the Alpine interchange park and ride lot has been expanded, the 12300 South park and ride lot was rebuilt and a park and ride lot is under construction near the Bluffdale interchange.

Project Funding

Funding for the Salt Lake County portion of the widening project, estimated at $31 million, was raised through the quarter of the quarter sales tax approved by Salt Lake County voters. The Utah County portion, estimated at $8.5 million, was funded by federal transportation dollars.

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Salt Lake City – Through a new website provided by the Utah Division of Business and Economic Development’s Office of Rural Development, rural Utah businesses have access to information about unique resources available to rural firms.

“There is a lot of information on the Internet to help businesses,” says Ed Meyer, director of the Office of Rural Development “The problem is that rural Utah entrepreneurs can become frustrated wading through this information to find what they need. Rural.utah.gov includes a ‘Rural Resource Center’ to help them get to specific information about rural Utah business resources.”

Also included is a Rural News section that spotlights news about rural Utah and accesses a wide range of newsletters relating to rural economic development issues. For those rural entrepreneurs who just want a question answered, the site offers a Help Disk through which the businessman can ask any question and receive a personal response by email.

State Senator Tom Hatch from Panguitch sponsored the legislation creating the Office of Rural Development in July 2004. He also interacts regularly with the new office as Co-Chair of a newly created Rural Development Legislative Liaison Committee. “This new website represents exactly what the Legislature envisioned when it created the Office of Rural Development,” states Hatch. “Our intent was that the delivery of services to rural Utah would be improved and this is a great first step.”

Rural firms can find links to the Rural Resource Center at Business.utah.gov, the state’s website for information of value to all Utah businesses.

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