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AMERICAN FORK -- A lane closure on I-15 that already creates a bottleneck of traffic around the clock will turn into gridlock Saturday morning when thousands of fans head to the BYU football game.
The closure is part of the I-15 CORE project in Utah County. Construction workers are making progress in putting down new concrete, but the lane closure required to do the work is anything but progress for motorists.
Skyler Lloyd said, "It takes about an hour to get down there and it's just in Orem. I am from American Fork and it was an hour. It should only take us 10 to 15 minutes."
The center of the gridlock is the 500 East exit in American Fork. For the past two weeks, the southbound lanes of I-15 have been narrowed from four lanes to three. UDOT says those restrictions should be lifted by the end of next week.
One northbound lane from 100 East in American Fork to 200 South in Lindon closed Friday morning. The restriction between American Fork and Lindon is expected to remain in effect through Monday, Oct. 25, as crews finish paving.
UDOT spokesman Scott Thompson said, "Since we have had southbound closed, I think we've seen delays throughout the day, not just peak commute times. We anticipate northbound to be a similar situation."
"We're expecting things for the BYU game to be pretty congested this weekend," he added.
UDOT is timing traffic signals to keep State Street as a good alternate to I-15.
Thompson's advice for those who plan to drive south to the game is simple. "If they leave early, leave even earlier than they normally do," he suggested.
UDOT also encourages people to plan to shop at businesses and eat at restaurants after the game.
"If they can stay in Provo and have dinner and hang out awhile until the traffic clears, they will probably miss most of the congestion," Thompson said.
The BYU/Wyoming game kicks off at noon. People who are not going to the game may want to avoid I-15 in the late morning and mid afternoon.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
