Rejoice, Sugar House residents, 2100 South roadwork is finally completed after about a year and a half of construction.
Renovation of the east Salt Lake City neighborhood’s main artery began in early 2024, and the continuing construction frustrated locals, commuters and business owners.
Some vendors closed due to the construction impact, and Mayor Erin Mendenhall acknowledged that the project was “painful” for the community.
“To the public, all they know is that 21st South was inconvenient for about a year and a half,” Mendenhall said at a Thursday news conference. “… But what we had to accomplish was more than a repave and a restriping, although you’ve got that, too. It was building safer pedestrian infrastructure, better access to transit, better access to our businesses, and the kind of intimate experience that Sugar House has been known for for decades.”
Construction started in spring 2024 for an upgraded 2100 South from 700 East to 1300 East, funded by an $87 million road bond that city voters approved in 2018. The roadway begins and ends with four lanes — two in each direction — but narrows to two lanes between 1000 East and McClelland Street.
The renovation also improved pedestrian spaces with better crosswalks and larger bus stops, Mendenhall said, while also updating utilities to support one of the city’s most popular neighborhoods.
Before the renovation, some portions of 2100 South were “failed streets,” according to the Overall Condition Index, a scale cities use to determine the health of a road’s pavement and infrastructure.
“We have made it,” Mendenhall said. “The light at the end of the tunnel is now here for 21st South, and I want to welcome everyone — all Utahns, even — to come back to Sugar House.”
To celebrate the road’s grand reopening, the neighborhood will host “Sugar Fest” on Oct. 4, when area bars and restaurants will host live music.
The community will also hold a drawing for prizes and, starting Thursday, patrons can pick up a punch card from their favorite Sugar House business to enter the drawing. Winners will be selected near the end of October, said James Roberts, owner of the Sugar House Station bar hall.
Although the 2100 South project is finished, orange cones linger in the neighborhood for other renovations. Construction along 1300 East between 2100 South and Elgin Avenue is expected to wrap up by early November, but a new project — the extension of the S-Line streetcar — is also on the horizon.
In August, the Utah Transportation Commission voted to extend the rail line across Highland Drive, which will place the streetcar’s last stop on the east side of the road, according to commission documents.
The city is partnering with a landowner to build the transit station on the ground floor of a housing complex, city Transportation Director Jon Larsen said Thursday. Construction on the S-Line extension will likely begin next spring and be completed by late spring or early summer in 2027, according to the Utah Transit Authority.
“It’s all part of the network,” Larsen said. “The beautiful thing is this extension will get to cross Highland Drive, and Highland Drive has been rebuilt with a multiuse path that will connect nicely into the Sugarmont Plaza area, kind of the heart of Sugar House, but it also gets across the street, so it will connect with riders with that whole development.”