‘I don’t want to start over’; Residents voice concerns about proposed highway interchange at 700 South

ST. GEORGE — Residents of downtown St. George who live in the area of a proposed freeway interchange on 700 South packed the Atwood Innovation Plaza Wednesday with questions and concerns for state road planners.

A view of 700 South from 700 East toward the I-15 underpass, St, George, Utah, May 6, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Organized by the Utah Department of Transportation, the open house was held as a part of the 30-day public comment period that started mid-April. It will be applied to an environmental assessment UDOT is conducting to determine the impacts that the proposed interchange could have on the area.

The projected need

Road planners say the potential interchange – which would be built in the location of the Interstate 15 underpass at 700 South – is needed to help cut down on current and future traffic congestion being experienced at the St. George Boulevard/Exit 8 and Bluff Street/Exit 6 interchanges.

“What we’re looking at is a way to relieve the pressure from those two interchanges and we feel that a lot of people are coming to destinations on 700 South and River Road,” Ryan Anderson, UDOT project manager, told St. George News during the Wednesday open house.

According to traffic data UDOT shared at the open house, southbound motorists at the St. George Boulevard/Exit 8 interchange currently experience a 33-second delay with a queue length of 1,650 feet. Northbound motorists coming off the highway experience the same delay with a queue length of 275 feet.

If a 700 South interchange or other alternative is not provided by 2050, the delay jumps to 83 seconds with traffic backup reaching onto the interstate at 5,300 feet on both south and northbound sides, according to UDOT projections.

UDOT Project Manager Ryan Anderson speaks about the projected need for the 700 South interchange and how public input can help guide the overall design and impact of the project, St. George, Utah, May 4, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

The Bluff Street/Exit interchange doesn’t fare much better. While conditions are manageable for now, by 2050 the northbound traffic queue jumps to 3,175 feet from its current 450 feet. Southbound traffic also jumps from 175 feet to 225 feet, with an increase in the delay to 91 seconds from the current 21 seconds.

Regional destinations Anderson said people coming off I-15 at 700 South would find it easier to reach include Dixie State University (soon to be Utah Tech University), St. George Regional Hospital and the St. George Temple.

Speculation has been made among area residents that the university and hospital have had a hand in pushing for a new interchange at 700 South. Anderson and other UDOT personnel on hand at the open house said that was not the case.

The push for the new interchange comes from the state as it falls in line with plans to widen I-15 between the Bluff Street and St. George Boulevard interchanges. Road planners want to build the interchange in conjunction with the road widening, Anderson said.

Environmental assessment

Before any interchange or alternative can be built, it much first undergo an environmental assessment regarding the potential impacts the project may have on the area for better or worse. The study area for this analysis includes I-15 and property on the immediate east and west side of the road, and on 700 South between 600 East and River Road along with properties on either side of the road.

Information UDOT is hoping to acquire from the public during the scoping period for the 700 South interchange project | Slide courtesy of the Utah Department of Transportation, St. George News | Click to enlarge

Elements the analysis must consider include land use, the cultural significance of the area, noise, wildlife, community impacts, air quality, right-of-way, underrepresented populations and various other factors an interchange may affect.

Public input helps planners with this analysis, said Carissa Watanabe, environmental program manager for UDOT.

“We want to hear how you use the area, work here, what is important to you,” she said. “This will help us in developing our alternatives (planning options) to help avoid and minimize impacts to those important areas.”

The results of the environmental assessment aren’t expected to be released until the end of the year. At that time, the public will have a chance to comment on the assessment’s findings, which will include potential designs for the proposed interchange.

700 South improvements and some suggestions

As a part of any new interchange, the roadway it will be connecting to must also be improved and reconstructed to accommodate the new infrastructure and influx of traffic. For 700 South, this will most likely involve widening the road between 700 East and Bluff Street to five lanes.

At the proposed 700 South interchange project hosted by the Utah Department of Transportation at the Atwood Innovation Plaza, St. George, Utah, May 4, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

While this may be done either to accommodate an incoming interchange or in response to increasing traffic due to population growth, it will be a project overseen by the city of St. George and not UDOT.

Cameron Cutler, St. George’s public works director, who attended the open house, has said the widening of 700 South is a part of the city’s future plans for the roadway. This may be achieved by re-striping the current roadway and eliminating street parking in the process, he said.

As for the city’s stance on the possibility of an interchange at 700 South, the city doesn’t have one, Cutler said. Rather, the city wholeheartedly supports the use of public comment to help determine the course of the project, he said.

“The city is in favor of getting input from residents and talking it out and looking at the options,” Cutler said.

Open house attendees made various suggestions for alternatives to the proposed interchange while speaking with UDOT representatives. Suggestions included the widening of 700 South, as well as additional underpasses along I-15 in order to provide better east-west access. Suggestions were also made to move the interchange to 400 South or 600 South.

Some attendees said the interchange should be moved to the underpass by the Red Cliffs Mall.

Resident concerns

Concerns residents in the vicinity of the proposed interchange were much the same as those expressed by Washington City residents when UDOT held open houses for the pending I-15 interchange that will connect to Main Street.

700 South resident Ursula Davies said she fears she may lose her home if a new interchange at the nearby 700 South-I-15 underpass is built, St. George, Utah, May 4, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

These concerns included fears over losing the sense of community in the area, general safety for children and teens who attend nearby schools, lowered property values, worries of increased crime and for some, the possibility of losing their homes to the interchange.

“My number one concern is losing my home,” 700 South resident Ursula Davies said. Her home sits just over a block west of the highway underpass and also happens to be in in UDOT’s impact study area.

“I understand something has to happen, but moving an off-ramp to a population-dense area is not well thought out – it’s not the right move,” she said. “At my age, I don’t want to start over. I don’t want to go someplace else.”

Davies said she was in her mid-70s, and wasn’t alone as many of the open house attendees appeared to be senior citizens who had lived in the neighborhood for several years if not decades. The vicinity around the proposed interchange is also home to university students living in off-campus housing and young families. A handful of businesses and a medical clinic are also located in the immediate area.

The twin-bridges carrying I-15’s north and southbound lanes over 700 South, St, George, Utah, May 6, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“In this area, there’s not a good place for an interchange,” said Julie Thompson, whose family lives on the east side of the 700 South underpass. “The widening of 700 South makes sense, but an interchange makes no sense at all.”

Thompson said she and her neighbors want the neighborhood to remain close and tight-knit as it is now. Tearing up the area and bringing in more traffic will destroy that while also increasing public safety issues, she said.

Anderson said he believes the interchange will not only benefit travel on I-15, but also on 700 South on nearby River Road. However, when he and other UDOT personnel were pressed for more detailed information, they couldn’t provide it due to the process having just begun. The answers residents and others want – like whose homes and businesses may be impacted – won’t be available until the environmental assessment is released near the end of the year.

“Again, it’s too early in the timetable to look at those impacts,” Anderson said.

Not a formality and not a foregone conclusion

An attitude of “the state has already made up its mind about the interchange” and the open house simply being a check box formality required by law was common among some of the attendees. Despite this, UDOT personnel and a state legislator who were present at the open house said that wasn’t the case, and UDOT really does care about the people who may be impacted by their projects.

“This is something we take very seriously,” Anderson said. “(Public comment) has a ton of impact. To say this is a formality would be wrong. That is not the case… The goal here is to be as impactful as we can.”

At the proposed 700 South interchange project hosted by the Utah Department of Transportation at the Atwood Innovation Plaza, St. George, Utah, May 4, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

With the more data UDOT receives from the public, the easier it is to see where the positive and negative impacts of building an interchange at 700 South lies, he said.

“This is not a formality,” Anderson repeated.

State Rep. Walt Brooks, who represents that part of St. George and has a business in a building located near the interchange, also attended the open house. He agreed with Anderson’s statement that UDOT is authentic in its desire to hear from the public and not simply humor them because it is a required part of the environmental assessment process.

“My experience working with UDOT has been pretty good,” Brooks said. “They really are concerned about what happens to the area. I think there are multiple options they are looking at and I’m looking forward to see what comes from this.”

For the time being, whether or not there will be an interchange at 700 South – let alone what it may look like – remains unknown, Anderson and other UDOT personnel at the open house told attendees.

No decisions have been made and UDOT wants to hear from the public so they can help guide whatever decisions are made.

How to comment

Comments can be submitted online on the study website, emailed to [email protected], or mailed to I-15 Study Team, 6605 S. Redwood Road, #200, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84123.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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