Bluffdale officials foresee Porter Rockwell project as a good balance for traffic flow

In the entire Salt Lake Valley there is no single road that directly connects the east benches to the west benches. The state has north to south transit, but nothing to carry travelers from the east side of the valley to the west side in a straight shot.
Bluffdale officials hope that completion of the proposed Porter Rockwell Blvd. will help solve this problem.
The boulevard will be constructed starting at Redwood Road and about 16000 South to the north end, connecting at 14600 South and I-15. The road will skirt the currently developed area of Bluffdale. Since the growth of the Herriman area, Bluffdale has suffered from heavy traffic flow to Interstate 15. City officials hope to have the road eventually provide a connection from the Mountain View Corridor to I-15.
Part of this plan includes taking a piece of land that Bluffdale purchased inside of Herriman and moving the road a little further south. This section of road was transferred to UDOT to facilitate this alignment. This will hopefully cut costs of building the road over the Jordan River drastically. It is estimated that the road will cost close to $100 million to build. But by moving the road a little further south, the city will be able to cut the cost on the bridge over the river. It is estimated that by doing this, the cost would be reduced about $20 to $30 million.
The city will also have to face crossing several other obstacles. These include large power lines and the Kern River gas line.
"This will be a road that is very needed for the whole southern area," Mayor Dirk Timothy said. "It will take pressure off of the main city roads that is greatly needed."
"We only have small, rural roads running from east to west with really no way to turn them into a big transportation corridor," Mark Reid, Bluffdale city manager, said.
Reid says that by building Porter Rockwell Blvd. where traffic will be going through will help prevent the small rural section from being taken over by all the traffic generated from the Herriman area.
Also included in the plan for Porter Rockwell Boulevard is to connect to the Mountain View Corridor as it is constructed. Porter Rockwell Boulevard will eventually become the southernmost part of the corridor. However, Bluffdale officials have bigger plans in mind for the project.
Another part of the plans for the Porter Rockwell project is to connect the road with the FrontRunner line. Bluffdale also has plans to put in a FrontRunner station on the road Bluffdale City funded a comprehensive transportation study to determine the city's future transportation needs. This study showed that the road will reduce mid-city traffic. It also indicated that if a FrontRunner station is built in the area, the most likely place would be in Bluffdale.
The high cost of the road, although great, is seen as a needed expense by the city officials. With the help of monies from grants from the Federal Highway Administration and the Economic Development Administration, the project will become more affordable to the city.
"We have done everything we can to get the funding needed through Wasatch Front Regional Council," Mayor DerkTimothy said.
Additional funding for the project will come from impact and connection fees as well as some bonds.
Although the timeline of the project will be determined based on the rate of growth for Bluffdale, the Porter Rockwell Boulevard will skirt the current southern edge of Bluffdale to complete the connection of the Mountain View Corridor with I-15. The anticipated result is easier traffic flow for Herriman locals and less traffic flow through Bluffdale City.

By Alisha Tondro for The South Valley Journal

Published in June 2011 in Riverton, Utah