Highway construction paves way for economic recovery.

• Author: Mischel, Marie
• Position: On the Road Again

The state's most expansive--and expensive--road construction season in history is drawing to a close, and officials are heralding it a success in terms of maintaining jobs in the hard-hit construction industry as well as positioning Utah to emerge successfully from the recession.

All Those Orange Cones

More than 250 Utah Department of Transportation road construction projects were active throughout the Beehive State this year, says Carlos Braceras, deputy director of Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). "We have more projects under construction and we have a larger dollar value put to work than we ever have before," he says.

Funding has come from several sources: the state's general fund is paying for road widening and adding new roads, such as adding a lane to Interstate 15 at Beck Street in Salt Lake City and adding a passing lane on U.S. Route 6.

One of the most high-profile projects was the widening of I-80, which required moving bridges. "It's going to be one of these projects that, when we open it up, people are going to go 'Wow. It made a noticeable difference,'" Braceras says, adding that reconstruction of 3500 South in West Valley City also had a significant impact and will give residents in that area some relief from traffic congestion.

On the other end of the scale are more than 100 rehabilitation and preservation projects statewide paid for by federal stimulus money. Though smaller than the road-widening projects, these projects are necessary, Braceras says. "Utah continues to be one of the fastest-growing states in the country; our population is continuing to increase and no one is telling us that's going to change in the future."

In addition, people are driving more; that rate in the last 10 years has increased faster than population, he says. "You put that on top of the population increase and there's an increased need. That's a big driver for us."

UDOT intentionally scattered these projects across the state. "The reason we did that is because we wanted to have work throughout the entire state to try to get as many people to work as possible," Braceras says.

Economic Impact

"The road construction in Utah has helped maintain construction workforces in our area of the business," says Wilford Clyde, president and CEO of Clyde Companies, which is a partner on a number of road projects in the state. Because home building is at low levels, and new large commercial building projects aren't materializing, these two areas of the...