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OREM — The I-15 CORE project in Utah County has shut down a busy freeway access ramp — and it will remain so every night until May 17.
Seventy thousand cars pass through the intersection of Sandhill Road and University Parkway every day. Among those drivers: Drew Milton and Eric Gonzalez, both students at Utah Valley University.
- Phase 1
May 2-17: University Parkway from 400 West to the I-15 interchange is scheduled to close nightly from approximately 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. for pavement removal and replacement. The interchange is also scheduled to close periodically for paving. - Phase 2
May 11-18: Left turns from University Parkway to Sandhill Road will not be allowed, and traffic lanes will be shifted as work progresses. The north half of the Sandhill Road intersection and the direct access ramp from College Drive will also be closed during this phase for paving. - Phase 3
University Parkway is scheduled to close from 400 West to the I-15 interchange as early as May 17 at 9 p.m. through May 21 at 5:30 a.m., to complete paving, lane marking and signal work and open the University Parkway/Sandhill Road intersection as a CFI.
"There's so much construction going on always, that if you're not struck going one way, you're stuck going both ways," Milton said. "No matter what, you have to plan around it."
And with night classes, they're bound to be blocked by the orange barrels.
"Sometimes it's clear, and other times it is a big mess and I'm late for class," Milton said.
The Utah Department of Transportation started work Wednesday to remove the pavement from 400 West to the I-15 interchange. That's the stretch that will close each night, from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., until May 17.
When construction is finished, a new continuous flow intersection, or CFI, will be in place at Sandhill and University Parkway.
This new traffic pattern is already in place at 12300 South in Salt Lake County, but it's the first CFI Utah County.
"The main thing people will notice is more green lights," said UDOT spokeswoman Mindy Nelson Osborn. "It's going ot increase the flow of the intersection, hence the name ‘continuous flow intersection.'"
Drivers will actually cross in front of oncoming traffic before making a left turn.
"It is different, but it's safer because we're taking away that left-hand turn in the intersection," Osborn said.
Those nightly closures will set construction crews up for a full weekend closure May 17-21. Geneva Road or 400 West will give drivers the best access to east-west routes, UVU and area businesses during the closures.
"If you can hang in there through December, we're going to be all the way done," Osborn said.
