Labor leader speaks out about road construction projects

The state's largest labor union is both praising and criticizing two of Utah's biggest highway construction projects.

The AFL-CIO was complimentary toward the workers and contractors hired for the I-15 corridor expansion project in Utah County but was much less flattering about the work done on state Route 92 near American Fork Canyon.

In choosing contractors, UDOT spokesman Nile Easton said UDOT uses two methods — one called "best value," in which the overall bid is made based on finite budget amount and time constraints. The other is "low bid," in which the major consideration is budgetary.

Easton noted that in the case of both the I-15 CORE and state Route 92 projects, each contractor was selected using the "best value" method. Deseret News