- South Salt Lake's Main Street will undergo night construction to improve bike mobility.
- The project reduces traffic lanes to one each way adding a center turn lane.
- Construction runs nightly 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Thursday to Monday.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — A portion of Main Street in South Salt Lake will undergo construction this weekend in efforts to reconfigure traffic flow, while increasing bike mobility.
The plan calls for resurfacing and restriping work on Main Street between 2100 South and 3300 South.
Morning and afternoon commuters won't see much of an impact as the project is planned to take place over the course of four nights, beginning on Thursday, according to city officials.
Crews will first place a "mirco-surfacing treatment" on the road, which is used to preserve and extend the life of the existing pavement, followed by restriping, in which crews change the lane configurations.
"This is something that we've been wanting to do for a while and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity," said Joseph Dane, communications director for South Salt Lake.
The city's new Main Street configuration takes the road from two lanes of traffic in each direction down to one, with a new center turn lane and dedicated bike lanes on both sides of the road.
Dane said the goal is to mirror Salt Lake City's Main Street configuration and provide "a seamless experience" for both motorists and bicyclists crossing city boundaries into South Salt Lake. The upcoming construction is a part of the larger Life on State and Main Street Corridor Vision projects announced a few years ago.
"Main Street runs through what is quickly becoming a more highly dense housing and developed section of our downtown South Salt Lake corridor — and we do want traffic to be a little more calm through that area," he told KSL.
Dane added that South Salt Lake's intention isn't necessarily to slow traffic down, but the hope is that with more accessibility for bikes and pedestrians, drivers will be more aware of their speed.
While the construction will happen at night, drivers traveling the stretch of road in South Salt Lake during the day may start to notice a difference while they navigate the area.
"Just for those few days it's going to be a little wonky with the resurfacing — no stripes and then the kind of changing of striping configuration," he said.
However, according to Dane, access to businesses will not be affected.
The Main Street restriping project will happen nightly from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m, from Thursday through Monday.
Drivers are advised to follow posted detour signs and seek alternative routes during the hours of construction.
