Widening of the Interstate 15 median for a new carpool lane to help ease traffic between Orem and Alpine is scheduled to begin in June.

Pending final approval by the traffic commission, the plan would add a carpool lane to an 11-mile stretch of I-15 from University Parkway to the Highland/Alpine exit by next summer. Construction will take about a year, said Geoff Dupaix, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Transportation.

Adding a lane to the median is relatively cheap at $42 million, said Shawn Eliot, a transportation planner with the Mountainland Association of Governments, because to totally reconstruct over the same distance would cost over a billion dollars.

“This project is meant to provide some short term relief for traffic on I-15,” Dupaix said.

The construction is temporary relief until a federally mandated environmental impact study is completed in 2007, the first step toward reconstruction of I-15, including interchanges from Spanish Fork to Sandy.

UDOT planners have been careful to ensure that the construction’s impact on motorists will be minimal, Dupaix said. During construction, there will be lane restrictions on I-15 at night and local roads that run under I-15 will be closed at times.

“There are enough vehicles on I-15 that we have to very prudent when we do any construction,” Dupaix said. “For example, in American Fork, if we close First East, we’ll leave Third East open as the detour route. That way, motorists will have a way to get around.”

Although all three lanes will remain open during the day, the speed limit will likely be reduced to 55 mph, said Eliot.

The new lanes will be cut out of the median, and additional supports will be added at all bridge locations.

“All they’re doing is adding more to the existing interchanges,” Eliot said. “We want to reconstruct that entire area by 2014.”

March 19 to April 18 is a public comment period, during which anyone can express concerns about the proposed construction by contacting Eliot at 801-229-3841 or UDOT.

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March 19 to April 18 is a public comment period, during which anyone can express concerns about the proposed construction by contacting Eliot at 801-229-3841 or UDOT.



Copyright Brigham Young University 31 Mar 2005