I-15 Expansion and Environmental Impact Statement—UDOT and the Periphery
Personal Investigation
UTAH DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION’S INTERSTATE 15 EXTENSION
Salt Lake’s westside is an “obstacle” to city planning once again with the hotly contested I-15 expansion by UDOT, where primarily Black and Brown residents and business-owners within the project’s vicinity will receive the short end of the stick once again as well as the homeless being pushed out for urban revitalization, because business precedes the needs of the disadvantaged and “blighted” west side.
Even with the outcry UDOT plans to move forward with their approved “preferred alternative” that’d still displace relocate local businesses and homes.
“UDOT's preferred alternative would essentially expand the freeway by one or two additional lanes in each direction of the 17-mile stretch between Salt Lake City and Davis County, along with the express toll lane.
Improvements would also be made to the interchanges within the freeway stretch, while new shared-use paths would be added between North Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. There would also be new or enhanced multi-use paths and sidewalks included by existing freeway exchanges.” — Carter Williams, KSL
While UDOT has attempted to alleviate concerns about displacement and relocation, it seems that the westside is always the first, and at this point the only ones, to feel the urban growing pains in Salt Lake.
The maps provided are sourced from the Rose Park Brown Beret’s Google My Maps and UDOT’s affected parcels map.
Update: UDOT’s affected parcels map has since changed, likely due to protest from the westside and outreach by local grassroots Rose Park Brown Berets.