By the middle of the century, 700 East
had become one of Salt Lake City's important
automobile corridors.
A BIGGER ROAD
Traffic problems on Seventh East had been
recognized for years. As early as 1941,
the stretch between 900 South and 1300 South
was being described as a traffic bottleneck.
By early 1956, the Utah State Road Commission
proposed spending $500,000 to widen Seventh East
and construct new median strips between
South Temple and 1300 South.
The work was described as the first leg of a
Seventh East expressway. The initial construction
program was planned for the fiscal year beginning
July 1, 1956.
JAN 1956
7TH EAST · AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC
JAN 14 1956
Before the widening.
Looking south from 900 South, the corridor
was photographed before the major widening work.
The house on the southeast corner still stands today,
giving us a fixed landmark between the street
photographed in 1956 and the street outside now.
ARCHIVE / 1956
JAN 14 1956
700 E @ 900 S · LOOKING SOUTH
NOVEMBER 1956
Then the street came apart.
By November, construction had moved directly
through the residential corridor.
Excavators, utility trenches and piles of earth
transformed the street while homes and apartment
buildings remained immediately beside the work.
Six views of the street under construction · Swipe through the photographs →
NOV 13 1956
7TH EAST CONSTRUCTION
NOV 13 1956
7TH EAST CONSTRUCTION
NOV 13 1956
7TH EAST CONSTRUCTION
NOV 13 1956
7TH EAST CONSTRUCTION
NOV 1956
7TH EAST CONSTRUCTION
NOV 1956
7TH EAST @ 3RD SOUTH
1957 → 1959
It wasn't finished in 1956.
The Seventh East project continued in stages.
In April 1957, the widening was still described
as progressing slowly.
The road-widening program kept pushing south.
By July 1959, construction was underway between
1700 South and 2100 South.
JUL 28 1959
7TH EAST · 17TH SOUTH TO 21ST SOUTH
1959
7TH EAST @ 22ND SOUTH
OCT 28 1959
TRAFFIC SIGN · 7TH EAST
Three years after the widening began,
a Tribune photographer captured workers replacing
a 30 mph sign on Seventh East with a 40 mph sign.
It's a small detail, but a revealing one:
the rebuilt street wasn't only wider.
It was becoming a faster automobile corridor.
A 40 mph limit is still posted along 700 East today.
DECADES PASS
The widening became the street.
For generations, the rebuilt 700 East
simply became 700 East.
JULY 2026
The equipment comes back.
Seventy years later, construction returned to 700 East.
The 2026 project had a different goal.
UDOT began the 2026 project on July 13, 2026,
along 700 East between 400 South and 1700 South.
Instead of substantially widening the corridor,
crews are rebuilding the street that earlier
generations left behind.
ROADWAY
Existing asphalt is being resurfaced.
MEDIANS
Existing raised medians are being replaced.
DESIGN
The same number of travel lanes will remain.
THE TIME-LAPSE
One street.
A record of change.
A changing street, recorded frame by frame.
Watch the view at 700 East and 900 South from August 29 to September 21, 2026.
TIME-LAPSE - AUG 29 - SEP 21, 2026700 E @ 900 S
About 7:03 into the film, the camera view shifts down toward the roadway.
The wider street view returns around 7:18. This change appears in the
source images from September 16-17.
UDOT
provided the source camera view. This film uses saved frames, not a live feed.
People may appear in the distant view.
Historical photographs:
Salt Lake Tribune Negative Collection,
Utah State History / J. Willard Marriott Digital Library.
Historical project information drawn from Utah State Road Commission
reporting and contemporary accounts of the Seventh East widening project.
2026 construction details from the
Utah Department of Transportation.
