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SALT LAKE CITY -- On the first day of fall classes, students at the University of Utah are making their way through a maze of construction.
Several projects at the school have rerouted traffic and closed roads temporarily, but the school has a new tool to help everyone get through the orange cones and road blocks. It's an interactive website that shows exactly where the projects are on campus: constructionimpacts.utah.edu.
On the site, students can see highlighted areas on the map: Blue areas shows active construction projects; yellow shows projects that are completed; and triangle symbols show road closures and traffic delays. There's also a short summary of what the project is.
The map isn't just for cars, but for everyone trying to get through the construction.
"This is a good means to visually see what's going on and understand what the impact may do to you as you try to get around campus," said Darrin Blaisdell, with facilities management and the University of Utah.
Projects on the U of U campus will continue over the next three to four years. They include a new business school and a pharmacy building.
With those projects, the campus changes almost weekly. The university's director of construction says students need all the information they can to get.
"We want them to be able to focus on their academics and not get road blocked with a trench, or a road that's gone, or a parking space that's no longer there," said John McNary, director of campus design and construction at the University of Utah.
The school plans to keep this map on its website and will eventually add a feature where commuters can plan the fastest route and avoid construction delays.
E-mail: aforester@ksl.com
