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SALT LAKE CITY — Traffic at the University of Utah near Research Park is even worse than usual this week because of a construction project at the intersection of Arapeen and Sunnyside.
For people who live in University Village, a married-student housing area nearby, that means gridlock and a host of other problems — mostly during morning and afternoon rush hour.
“I can tell you this, my son goes to preschool and it’s normally a two-minute drive, and lately it’s been taking us 30-35 minutes to do a two-minute drive,” said Jeff Pynes, a University Village resident.
Arapeen is only one of a couple roads out of Research Park, and confusion over the last week led quickly to frustration and desperate driver behavior.
“We couldn't make a left out of here, which is the only legal way out of here last night, because there were 35 cars lined up, illegally going the wrong way down the road,” resident Laura Theodosis said Wednesday.
One of the most dangerous situations exists when people go around the road closed sign and actually go the wrong way down Arapeen to get to Sunnyside. There have been some pretty close calls.
“They don't seem to care that there are cars going the wrong way down this street and that it's dangerous,” said Autumn Labarca, also a University Village resident.
The traffic situation is a nightmare for Keri Brown. “It scares me because I have two little boys in the car, and people aren’t paying attention,” she said.
All this has been going on for weeks. Over time, 40 new signs have been added in the area. Crews are directing traffic, and by Friday this section of Arapeen will become a two-way road.
The city says the project is necessary, and crews got to it as soon as they could.
“It's a busy time,” said Cameron DeWitt. “Fall is a busy time. It's the busiest time of year. Lots of people going to school, coming out of research park. So if it could have been done earlier I would have been happy.”
The project will be completed Oct. 6. In the meantime, crews should have one lane in each direction open on Arapeen by Friday.
Email:rpiatt@ksl.com.
