Layton interhchange project is ahead of schedule

LAYTON (Deseret News) — On its way south to I-15, Layton's Main Street sneaks through a temporary one-lane-wide gap between two mounds of earth about 25 feet high.

Cars line up single file during intermittent interruptions as trucks hauling even more dirt make their way to the construction site that will become a new full interchange where only a partial interchange exists.

The traffic delays at the onramp are brief, and the construction zone is quite the attention grabber for northbound I-15 motorists.

The $97 million Utah Department of Transportation project is designed to provide more efficient traffic through southern Layton. It will eliminate the need to drive through a railroad crossing for some residents.

And it's expected to be completed by December.

Motorists passing through Layton whiz past a pile driver emitting puffs of smoke with its constant ffff-BLANG, ffff-BLANG, ffff-BLANG. A sparse forest of steel piles — H-shaped beams — is grouped on both sides of I-15.

Sometimes, the sound can be heard miles away. Eventually, those beams will support a bridge over the freeway, a bridge whose construction is just now beginning.

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