UDOT Study for Road Realignment
Main Street traffic congestion will help be alleviated by realigning S.R. 30 up to 400 N., which would redirect traffic from 200 North to 400 North, said Jeff Gilbert, Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization (CMPO) Transportation Planner.
USU students will benefit from the increased mobility around Logan because many of them work in Logan or travel in and out of Logan frequently, Gilbert said.
The CMPO has worked with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to identify its long-range priorities and this is one of them, Gilbert said.
The need for this realignment is apparent to people traveling to either USU or Logan Canyon, Gilbert said. It is a very congested route, but by directing traffic down 400 North, which is better equipped road for high volumes of traffic than 200 North, the traffic will flow faster and smoother, he said.
The proposal is a direct connection of S.R. 30 and U.S. 89 by way of 400 North to help improve east-west traffic flow, said Andy Neff, UDOT Public Involvement Coordinator. An impact study is underway from the 1.7 mile long area along 400 North and 1400 West to Main Street, Neff said.
“Based on preliminary information this is a viable project but a collection of traffic data and an impact study is necessary first,” Neff said.
Neff said that UDOT needs to develop a purpose and need for the road, evaluating the environmental impacts such as wildlife, wetlands, surrounding buildings, the noise level and traffic counts and patterns.
This realignment project has been in the works for 10 years; it has been on UDOT’s and the CMPO’s list of projects but an environmental impact study began the week of March 31st in order to determine the benefits of the realignment, Gilbert said.
There will be multiple opportunities for the citizens in the community to participate and share their thoughts on the situation, Neff said. There will be a public open house in July and another in the fall for involvement and public feedback, he said.
The study should conclude in spring 2009, and if all goes well, construction on the realignment can start shortly after Neff said.
“There’s no one silver bullet to traffic problems but this realignment is one important thing that the CMPO can do to improve it,” Gilbert said.
CMPO is committed to making this project the best that they can to help the community by getting traffic to flow faster and more smoothly, Gilbert said.