UDOT identifies Alternative C as preferred option in Kimball Junction draft EIS; public comment period open

The Utah Department of Transportation presented the draft environmental impact statement for the Kimball Junction study at a virtual public hearing and identified Alternative C, the “intersection improvements with pedestrian enhancements” option, as the preferred alternative. UDOT announced the 45-day public comment period runs from March 14 through April 28, 2025, and said it intends to issue a final EIS and record of decision later this year.

UDOT Project Manager Becky Stromness said the draft EIS compared three alternatives developed from the 2021 Kimball Junction Area Plan and screened them against purpose-and-need metrics, environmental and regulatory constraints and cost. “Alternative C, known as intersection improvements with pedestrian enhancements, has been identified as the preferred alternative,” Stromness said during the hearing.

The agency said Alternative B (grade‑separated intersections with one‑way frontage roads) was eliminated early in the screening because it did not meet the project’s pedestrian and bicyclist mobility and comfort goals, would require the most property impacts and carried the highest cost without substantially greater benefits. Alternatives A (split‑diamond interchange with intersection improvements) and C were…