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LAYTON — Brace for congestion if you plan on using U.S. 89 or I-15 in northern Davis County over the weekend.
The northbound lanes of U.S. 89 are to be closed from Friday night through early Monday afternoon at state Route 193 in Layton, also known as 3000 North, to accommodate the installation of a water pipeline across U.S. 89 in the area. Southbound U.S. 89 traffic won't be impacted, but northbound U.S. 89 motorists will be diverted at the location to S.R. 193 and funneled west through Layton toward I-15.
"Drivers should expect significant delays throughout the duration of the work. On Saturday afternoon, drivers could encounter delays of up to an hour on both U.S. 89 and I-15 and are strongly encouraged to use alternate routes," the Utah Department of Transportation said in a statement. UDOT spokesman Mitch Shaw said I-15 will likely experience congestion in northern Davis County and southern Weber County.
The northbound U.S. 89 closure is to start at 8 p.m. on Friday and the roadway should reopen to traffic at 1 p.m. on Monday. Southbound lanes of U.S. 89 in the area — closed last weekend — won't be impacted this go-round.
The closure, like last weekend's closure, is meant to allow a Weber Basin Water Conservancy District contractor to install a water pipeline across the roadway. "We typically don't allow for a closure like this, but under the circumstances we granted a permit for this work to Weber Basin because there's really no other way for them to install this pipeline," Shaw said.
The Weber Basin pipeline project, with a price tag of $81.4 million, is meant to bolster "the resiliency" of the Davis Aqueduct, originally built in the mid-1950s. The plans call for the installation of 2.2 miles of new pipeline along and across U.S. 89 and two new pump stations. The new pipeline section, to haul water meant both for culinary use and secondary irrigation, will end at the North Davis Water Treatment Plant in Layton.
"The new pipeline will provide a more reliable conveyance of water to Davis County as part of the district's resiliency preparedness," reads an online Weber Basin explanation of the project.
As part of the pipeline project, the southbound lanes of U.S. 89 were closed at South Weber Drive in South Weber between April 26 and 29, wreaking havoc on area traffic.
That closure caused "major delays," Shaw said. Much of the traffic apparently diverted to nearby Riverdale Road, a busy commercial thoroughfare in Riverdale, as traffic on the roadway came to a standstill at times during last weekend's closure, according to Riverdale City Administrator Steve Brooks.
"We had massive amounts of traffic," Brooks said. The U.S. 89 closure last weekend, he noted, came during graduation ceremonies at Weber State University in nearby Ogden on April 26 and 27, likely compounding traffic issues.
