Public invited to learn more, comment on study for potential highway interchange at open house

I-15 spans the Main Street underpass in Washington City. The location is one speculated to be considered for a highway exit in the future, an idea area residents are opposed to, Washington City, Aug. 10, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Washington City residents have the opportunity Tuesday to learn more about and comment on an environmental impact study related to a potential road project that some fear will put a highway interchange in the heart of the downtown area.

The open house will be held at the Washington Elementary School at 300 N. 300 East, in Washington City, and will run from 4:30-7:30 p.m.

Sometimes referred to as the MP 11 Project (MP 11 referring to milepost 11 on Interstate 15), the general location between I-15 exits 10 and 13 – Green Springs and Washington Parkway respectively – has been identified by county road planners as the possible site of a new highway interchange.

The purpose of the proposed interchange is to help lessen congestion at the Green Springs/Exit 10 interchange.

In order to help determine whether an interchange would be the best option to achieve this goal, an environmental impact study has been ordered.

Those attending the open house will be able to learn more about the planning process by Utah Department of Transportation representatives who will be on hand.

The public will also be able to voice any concerns during two 30-minute, open-microphone comment periods held at 5:30-6 p.m. and 6:30-7 p.m.

Some Washington City residents, particularly those in the downtown area, aren’t exactly thrilled with the possibility of having an interchange built in what they have called “the heart of Washington City.”

Sign on a lawn across the street from the Washington City Offices, Washington, Utah, July 11, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Worries of decimated property values, losing homes, destroying the character of the area and traffic safety have arisen during public City Council meetings and even as a campaign issue.

Currently, none of the Washington City Council candidates favor the idea of an interchange and would like to see alternatives seriously considered.

Speculation about the proposed interchange’s location have placed it at Main Street and 300 East. Neither location has not been met with enthusiasm by area residents.

There is currently no solid location picked for the interchange as the environmental study that would make that recommendation has just began, both road planners and Washington City officials have said.

Once completed, the study will identify possible solutions to improve traffic. An interchange in the downtown area is seen as only one possibility, provided that option survives the study process. Other alternative will also be considered by the study and recommended accordingly.

The entire planning process is estimated to take a little over a year, with a final decision issued in winter of 2018.

Resources

Open house info recap

  • When: Tuesday, Aug. 29, 4:30-7:30 p.m.
  • Where: Washington Elementary School, 300 N. 300 East, Washington City

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

 

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7 Comments

  • tcrider August 29, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    The exit is a bad idea, I agree with the Washington city council and compliment them for apposing this bs project, the only people this is going to benefit are a couple of developers and some corrupt planners.
    The people of Washington city do not want to learn more about this idea period, the idiots that did the planning from Washington city are only lobbying for green springs and do not care about the people and their properties that live near
    the proposed project, the planners need to pull their heads out of their behind and start caring about the people that are from
    Washington city, and not the people that own houses in green springs and only live their part time and use the golf course that has been losing money since it was built and posts the trails as private property so the local tax citizens cannot go on the trails around the golf course. After all the flooding problems of main street are around Washington not being addressed, now they want to make it a main thoroughfare . How about sticking with the original plan of using exit 13 for an alternate??
    How about quit screwing the local tax paying people of Washington city so a handful of developers and planners can benefit ?
    Quit having these stupid meetings that the local city residents and their council do not want to support.

  • tcrider August 29, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    meant to write opposing,

  • beacon August 29, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    It’s unfortunate that the City of St. George and Washington City have created such a bottleneck nightmare at the Green Springs intersection. Now the burden of poor city planning decisions has fallen on transportation planners to help deal with the mess, but it’s pretty clear they won’t be able to do that. The growth that leaders like to encourage at every turn so their children and grandchildren can continue to live here, newbies telling all their on-the-verge-of-retirement buddies about how great this place is, migration from northern Utah and more are putting pressure on this area that will continue to make traffic a continuing problem. It may be manageable at this point when we don’t have holidays and special events, but it will only get worse even on those manageable times as this area grows. The planned interchange at MP 11 will not solve the problem, nor will the one at MP 13 (the proposed Northern Corridor). The Northern Corridor will be in court for years and MP 11, if built, will just become another problem. Perhaps some type of “flyover” to get traffic above the business area might help but I’m not a transportation planner.

  • Foxyheart August 29, 2017 at 4:29 pm

    Washington people, you don’t stand a chance. Once that lagoon thingy goes in (in a space too small for what they want), the exit 10 interchange will be so congested, there will be total gridlock. You will be paying for it in ruining a residential area and creating a very very bad situation at exit 10 just so St. George can gather the tax monies.

  • utahdiablo August 29, 2017 at 9:50 pm

    Oh, you can go and attend the meeting, and get mad as a hornet….but nothing is going to stop the greed of the “Good ol’ boys”….nothing but the next housing depression and / or a stock market crash, and both those events will hurt the entire nation….too bad really, southern Utah used to be such a great place to live….but we are doomed to gridlock sooner than later….and don’t forget about how your going to all pay for the new Lake Powell Pipeline, just wait until that hits your monthly water bill along with your property tax bill….fun times ahead for sure

    • comments August 30, 2017 at 11:33 am

      pretty well sums it up. Can’t stop “progress”….

  • Greg August 30, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    The problem is Green Spring exit and has been for 20 years. No oversight as usual as to what was being built. Poor (future) planning as usual. The problem, again incompetent planners, is getting traffic in and out to the Fields Same thing happened in West/South Jordan. No east/west traffic corridors. Idiots that they cannot imagine that population will increase. Are these the same idiots that issue building permits? It is too late to turn a 2 lane surface road into a 4-lane freeway to get people out to the south where thousands of homes are going in. Here’s a free hint to the County delegates…..plan for the future. Secure a freeway corridor going north at MP11 & 13 before it’s too late. As far as the current problem, get used to traffic jams unless they sweep the area with the eminent domain broom.

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