Dixie Drafts $1.6B Plan for Roads
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News
ST. GEORGE — Current and future transportation projects in Utah’s Dixie could cost as much as $1.6 billion, according to a draft regional transportation plan now in its final stages.
“We have about $150 million in funds for the first phase,” said Lowell Elmer, who directs the Dixie Transportation Office for the Five County Association of Governments.
The plan includes a list of proposed, phased projects and detailed maps with supporting data, including projected population and traffic volumes for the region.
There are nine transportation projects identified within the first phase of the plan, which runs through 2015. The second phase takes the plan through 2025 and includes 18 projects with an estimated cost of $558 million. In its third phase, the plan calls for more than $900 million to be spent on nine projects.
During the first phase, funds are earmarked for major transportation projects, like a $48 million Southern Parkway that would link River Road to an interchange leading to the new St. George Airport site.
Other big-ticket items outlined in phase one are:
— $20 million for an interchange at mile marker 2 on I-15 that will provide another access to the new airport location.
— The widening of several heavily traveled roads in St. George, including Dixie Drive and Brigham Road.
The regional transportation plan includes projects in other Washington County cities. Improvements are proposed for state Route 9 through Hurricane and Telegraph Street in Washington City.
Elmer and other transportation planning officials with the state, local cities and various engineering firms were available at the Dixie Transportation Expo, held Tuesday at the Dixie Center in St. George. Nearly 800 people attended the day-long event, which showcased more than a dozen major transportation projects either in the works or on the planning boards.
Major participants in the expo included the Utah Department of Transportation, the cities of St. George, Ivins, Hurricane and Washington, and the Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization.
E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com
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