“As it is, I-80 is clearly the example of bare-bones aesthetics,” Jim Horrocks, an engineering consultant to the Utah Department of Transportation, told members of the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday. “We are committed to making it look nice, but we are constrained by our budget.”

Engineers updated council members on UDOT's plan, which is currently being studied for cost and environmental impacts. Transportation specialists have spent the past month meeting with Salt Lake City residents to get their input on the plan that includes:

l Closing off the east end of Driggs Avenue, which runs parallel to the 1300 East off-ramp, in order to create a free-flowing exit lane onto 1300 East. The closure would likely result in the demolition of two homes.

l Narrowing or closing 600 East to automobile traffic where the street runs under the busy interstate. The street would remain open to bicycles and pedestrians. By doing so, officials estimate they could save $3 million by building a shorter bridge.

l Shaving off a few feet from Elizabeth Sherman Park, near 2400 South and Highland Drive.

l Installing sound barriers along most of the corridor from State Street to 1300 East.

Council member Soren Simonsen, who represents the Sugar House area, said he had attended several of the neighborhood meetings and stressed the resident's concerns over adequate walkways. Residents must cross the interstate to get to Sugar House, near 1300 East, and to use several public parks and trails.

“These need to be a primary consideration and not a second thought,” he said.

Horrocks said the resident reaction to the changes along 600 East were mixed.

Officials report that the public mostly welcomes incorporating sound barriers into the design. The task now will be to find something that will be the most pleasing to the most residents.

The state is expected to fund the project, which will stretch from State Street to 1300 East. Design on the new look could begin in fall with construction set to begin in spring 2007.