Reconstruction of I-15 through Utah County

[CL]

Utah County is basically the Provo metropolitan area, the southern portion of the Wasatch Front urban conglomeration that spans from Provo through Salt Lake and into Ogden and Brigham City. The region contains around 2.2 million, while the Provo area has around 550,000. With I-15 reconstructed through almost all of Salt Lake County, it's now Provo's turn.

I-15 CORE is the name of the reconstruction project. Alas, a key stretch between the Salt Lake County line and Lehi will remain untouched due to lack of funds. But that's alright, because twenty-four miles are currently being rebuilt, from SR-73 in Lehi - through Orem and Provo - to US-6 in Spanish Fork. This is a majority of I-15 through the Provo area. Local drivers are disgruntled that twenty-four miles are being rebuilt at once, but won't it be neat to drive twenty-four brand new miles of Interstate freeway by December 2012? This'll include overhead signage, high-mast lighting, vastly improved interchanges... basically, it'll be like I-15 through Salt Lake County.

Anyway, I've created this thread to post updates on the project, seeing as it's a pretty big deal. The $1.15 billion project is slated to finish at the end of next year, and already about 40% of construction is done. Here's an animation of the Provo Center St (there are multiple Center Streets in Utah County; each city there has its own grid), which includes a Texas turnaround. If you've seen a better animation of a roadway, tell me. I won't believe you. It has all signage, shields, signals, etc. I recommend you just skip to the good part from 2:39 to 4:40. Note the '57 spec I-15 shields (without the state name, of course) in the animation. I doubt this is how the shields will look like in the end, but interesting nonetheless. Also note the arrow-per-lane signs, which Utah is adopting.

Also, the first two overhead signs have been posted at the southern end of the project, in Spanish Fork (prior to the US-6 interchange).

[xonhulu]

Any plans to build additional freeways in the Provo area, even if they are just pipe dreams?  550,000 people and growing could justify some new roads.  I know US 189 is being improved north of town, but you still have to plow through downtown to get to it.  Is there any room for a partial beltway around the east and north sides of Provo?  Others have suggested a freeway west of Utah Lake, I guess as a regional bypass as I don't recall a big population base over there needing a freeway.

[nexus73]

US 189 needs the 2-lane gap from Deer Creek Dam to Heber City dealt with and that will put a wrap on this highway.  The freeway section already in place is an engineering marvel of the first order and it was the toughest stretch to build in due to very narrow land availability.  The remainder is a cinch in comparison. 

Going east-west from I-15 to US 189 is the University Parkway, which is mostly expressway.  That's the main east-west conduit for Provo-Orem and it would be extremely expensive to turn into freeway due to the amount of structures already in place.  800 North in Orem is the second-biggest east-west route and it too suffers from a high amount of buildup.  In any case, east-west traffic is not as big a deal as north-south traffic since Provo-Orem is on a north-south axis.

With the extra lanes, I-15 will have the capacity to handle traffic for the forseeable future so no bypass on the west side of Utah Lake will be needed at this time.  20 years from now I'd be looking at upgrading the relatively new north-south expressway to the west of I-15 in Salt Lake County to freeway and then the second stage would be to add the bypass, connecting with I-15 around Santaquin.

Local traffic has the use of US 89 to go north-south right through the heart of Orem and Provo, then south to Springville and Spanish Fork.  That prime highway location will help keep I-15 clear of a lot of local short-trip traffic.

US 6 heading out of Spanish Fork to Price could use a 4-lane upgrade.  There is already a piece of 4-lane freeway by Price and getting the section from this one to I-70 to finish the route properly would help out tourist and truck traffic a lot.

Utah will be also putting in more light rail and commuter rail on the Wasatch Front.  The system has a plan to go all the way south to Nephi.  This will also aid the cause of I-15 being able to handle traffic for the next two decades plus.

Rick

[NE2]

Is US 189 (the signed part, not the US 40 freeway) really a freeway, or just an expressway with very few intersections?

[CL]

Any plans to build additional freeways in the Provo area, even if they are just pipe dreams?  550,000 people and growing could justify some new roads.  I know US 189 is being improved north of town, but you still have to plow through downtown to get to it.  Is there any room for a partial beltway around the east and north sides of Provo?  Others have suggested a freeway west of Utah Lake, I guess as a regional bypass as I don't recall a big population base over there needing a freeway.

Not in the older, eastern part of Utah County. Most freeway-type construction has been concentrated in northern Utah County. Work has commenced on the first phase of a spur to the Mountain View Freeway, which will run from the Salt Lake airport to Lehi. The spur connects from just north of Lehi to the 1200 West/US-89 interchange. The first phase will build just the frontage roads (much like with Texas slip roads), effectively making the spur an expressway. But the second phase provisions building a freeway. Also, SR-92 is being constructed with "commuter lanes," which are one-lane roads on each side of SR-92 that bypass all intersections until I-15.

Other than that, there are no plans whatsoever to build another freeway into Provo or Orem. As Rick mentioned, the city is so north-south oriented that I-15 fits the bill well in that area.

US 189 needs the 2-lane gap from Deer Creek Dam to Heber City dealt with and that will put a wrap on this highway.  The freeway section already in place is an engineering marvel of the first order and it was the toughest stretch to build in due to very narrow land availability.  The remainder is a cinch in comparison. 

Going east-west from I-15 to US 189 is the University Parkway, which is mostly expressway.  That's the main east-west conduit for Provo-Orem and it would be extremely expensive to turn into freeway due to the amount of structures already in place.  800 North in Orem is the second-biggest east-west route and it too suffers from a high amount of buildup.  In any case, east-west traffic is not as big a deal as north-south traffic since Provo-Orem is on a north-south axis.

With the extra lanes, I-15 will have the capacity to handle traffic for the forseeable future so no bypass on the west side of Utah Lake will be needed at this time.  20 years from now I'd be looking at upgrading the relatively new north-south expressway to the west of I-15 in Salt Lake County to freeway and then the second stage would be to add the bypass, connecting with I-15 around Santaquin.

Local traffic has the use of US 89 to go north-south right through the heart of Orem and Provo, then south to Springville and Spanish Fork.  That prime highway location will help keep I-15 clear of a lot of local short-trip traffic.

US 6 heading out of Spanish Fork to Price could use a 4-lane upgrade.  There is already a piece of 4-lane freeway by Price and getting the section from this one to I-70 to finish the route properly would help out tourist and truck traffic a lot.

Utah will be also putting in more light rail and commuter rail on the Wasatch Front.  The system has a plan to go all the way south to Nephi.  This will also aid the cause of I-15 being able to handle traffic for the next two decades plus.

US-189 through Provo Canyon really is a spectacle. They're slowly chipping away at that last two-lane section (it'll be four-lane from Wallsburg to Heber City by spring 2012, with the possibility of making the Wallsburg-Deer Creek section four-lane as well). Now, if they could just sign US-189 from Heber City to Evanston.

That new-ish north-south expressway in Salt Lake you mention, the Bangerter Highway: they're building a freeway to the west of it as we speak, the Mountain View Freeway. That'll pretty much eliminate any need of making Bangerter a full freeway, though they are building a bunch of CFIs and even one grade-separated interchange (a SPUI).

Is US 189 (the signed part, not the US 40 freeway) really a freeway, or just an expressway with very few intersections?

Yeah, US-189 is technically just an expressway through Provo Canyon. But there are so few intersections that everyone treats it like a freeway and goes 70 mph. Welcome to Utah.

[nexus73]

Thank you CL for all your info!  I wasn't sure about the name (Bamgerter?  LOL!  That was my guess...) but one thing I had no idea of was the Mountain View Freeway project.  A friend of mine lives in Heber City and he's said nothing about US 189 4-laning so I wonder, does Heber get a bypass from where US 40 freeway ends at the west side of Heber that then runs to US 189 south of Heber City?  It would be nice to get the truck traffic out of that downtown.

Rick

[Rover_0]

I can't wait for this road work to be done!  The southern end of the road work is in the worst shape, but it will be good when finished.  That would make my Logan-to-Kanab drives quite a bit shorter (and more enjoyable).

When I drove up I-15 yesterday, I noticed that the US-6 Eastbound Exit (Exit 257, I believe) is going to be closed for a day or two as UDOT works on it.  How would the detours work out?  Perhaps take UT-198 all the way instead, or use UT-156?

[CL]

Thank you CL for all your info!  I wasn't sure about the name (Bamgerter?  LOL!  That was my guess...) but one thing I had no idea of was the Mountain View Freeway project.  A friend of mine lives in Heber City and he's said nothing about US 189 4-laning so I wonder, does Heber get a bypass from where US 40 freeway ends at the west side of Heber that then runs to US 189 south of Heber City?  It would be nice to get the truck traffic out of that downtown.

Nah, Heber City won't be bypassed by US-189. Your best bet for that is taking SR-113 through Midway, but it's not that much of an effective detour. UDOT is currently working on a project study for widening the road.

I can't wait for this road work to be done!  The southern end of the road work is in the worst shape, but it will be good when finished.  That would make my Logan-to-Kanab drives quite a bit shorter (and more enjoyable).

When I drove up I-15 yesterday, I noticed that the US-6 Eastbound Exit (Exit 257, I believe) is going to be closed for a day or two as UDOT works on it.  How would the detours work out?  Perhaps take UT-198 all the way instead, or use UT-156?

I wouldn't know about the detour; I live in Salt Lake and venture down to Utah County probably only once a month. I don't see anything on the project website about a US-6 closure though...

[froggie]

Since nexus mentioned it, has UDOT widened the Price bypass to 4 lanes?  I recall it only being 2 lanes in 2005.

[CL]

I don't think so. There's not much need for that, if I recall correctly (from driving back and forth between Moab and Salt Lake).

[CL]

Here's some shots of the first BGSs installed on the project (besides the ones I posted above), along with some other general details.







Those last two images are of Flickr user sphansen47.

That last image is in an area that's substantially complete! Just add signage and an HOV lane and there you have what the freeway will look like. This is only a brief segment of the 24 miles that's being rebuilt, however.

[Quillz]

Very nice looking cutouts, particularly that 1970-spec US-6. I've always thought Utah had the most interesting state route shields, as well. Those signs look great, although I do think there should have been a line between "MAIN ST" and "PRICE."

[Alps]

Main St. just shouldn't be on there at all. While I don't agree with the MUTCD that street names and towns can't be mixed, once you have the route numbers, you really don't need the street name on the principal guide sign. Stick it on an auxiliary.

[CL]

The reason UDOT chose to sign Spanish Fork's Main Street (the exit to SR-156) like that is because every city in Utah County (Provo and its suburbs) has its own street grid system. This stands in contrast from the Salt Lake area, where the entire county conforms to one grid. So, to reduce ambiguity between the three Main Street exits (Spanish Fork, Lehi, American Fork) on I-15 (and the two Center Street exits in Orem and Provo), UDOT has chosen to append the city name at the beginning; it's not as a destination name, but just for the sake of distinguishing. The below photo shows that intent. Perhaps this still violates the MUTCD, but there you have it.

[corco]

But why was it necessary to include the Main St text? Before the construction, they just omitted Main St and displayed the city name

[CL]

It's been the trend - in Utah, and in other urban locales across the nation - to replace destination names with street names, and place the destination names on auxiliary signs. That's what they're doing with this reconstruction project.

[thenetwork]

Very nice looking cutouts, particularly that 1970-spec US-6.

Agreed.  I definitely prefer the extra white trim around the black outlines as well...They stand out better on the BGSs.

Now as far as correctly labeling cardinal directions on BGS multiplexes, or including all route numbers on BGSs, Utah has a lot of work to do...   

[JKRhodes]

Necromancing this thread as I just had an opportunity to cruise around Utah and check out the roads, along with some of the unique intersections they've built.

Last time I was here was in March 2011. The I-15 freeway was undergoing a lot of construction in the Provo area. It looks really nice now that it's all done. The HOV lanes remind me of California with the occasional dashed striping to allow traffic to enter and exit, advance signage of upcoming exits, etc.

I drove thru the CFI intersections at Redwood/5400 South in Taylorsville, as well as the one at University Parkway and Sandhil Rd in Orem.

Also got to navigate the DDI at St George Blvd I-15 in St. George, as well as the diverging diamond at Main St and I-15 in American Fork.

All of which seemed to run pretty efficiently, I admit, making a left at 54th South and Redwood was a little unnerving at first with the oncoming traffic on my right, but it happened without incident.

I also saw the bicycle traffic light on Redwood Rd and Porter Rockwell Blvd, where the visible illuminated  part of the signal head was shaped like a bicycle, very interesting.