S.R. 248 construction begins

Road widening and intersection improvements will begin on S.R. 248 starting Monday, June 17. The work is expected to be completed by Aug. 15 and construction hours will be Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. with some Saturday work anticipated.

The project will seek to improve the intersection of Richardson Flat Road and S.R. 248 by adding turn lanes and installing the infrastructure for a future stoplight, according to a City Hall release. Additionally, the project will widen S.R. 248 to five lanes from Richardson Flat Road to Round Valley Drive with bicycle lanes. Park Record

Orem considering pedestrian bridge over I‐15

A proposed pedestrian bridge over I-15 at Utah Valley University is now one step closer.

The Orem City Council voted this week to amend the city’s master transportation plan to include the potential development of the bridge that would connect the UVU campus on the east to the commuter rail station across the freeway to the west.

Assistant city manager Jamie Davidson noted that no formal plans have been discussed thus far, but installing a bridge would help alleviate some of the traffic congestion plaguing the area around University Parkway in Orem.

The estimated cost of an enclosed pedestrian bridge would be in the $10 million range, he said. Where the funding would come from is something the city would need to figure out if the project were to come to fruition. Deseret News

Timpanogos Highway facing summer of construction

The Utah Department of Transportation said work to repair long, horizontal cracks in the soil nail wall that supports the ground along the highway will force closure of one lane in each direction periodically over the next several months.

Crews will be replacing concrete panels along the length of the project and a retaining wall on the westbound entrance of the commuter lane. Deseret News

Provo-to-Oakland jet service, coming soon

Allegiant airline will begin nonstop jet service between Provo and Oakland International Airport beginning June 7 and is introducing its service with one-way fares as low as $59.99.

The new flights will operate twice weekly.

Allegiant began offering nonstop flights between Provo and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on Feb. 15, 2012. It announced that service shortly before Frontier Airlines ended its service between Provo Municipal Airport and Denver International in January 2012. Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake City welcomes FrontRunner South

The length of Salt Lake City's commuter rail network almost doubled on February 22, when Utah Transit Authority (UTA) opened its FrontRunner South extension from Salt Lake Central to Provo.

Construction began in August 2008 on the 45 mile line, which parallels the existing Union Pacific freight line south of the city into Utah County, with six new park-and-ride stations.

With a maximum line speed of 79 miles per hour, the journey time between Salt Lake Central and Provo is around an hour and ridership is expected to reach around 8,000 passengers per day by 2015.

The project is part of UTA's Front Lines 2015 program, which will add 69 miles to Salt Lake City's 63 mile commuter rail and light rail network by 2015. International Railway Journal

Proposed high-rise apartments cause concern in east Provo

Two proposed high-rise apartment complexes have some Joaquin neighborhood residents and property owners concerned that too many cars and not enough parking places will cause more parking and safety issues in an already beleaguered area.

During today's municipal council meeting, the council will entertain two motions to have a zone change from residential conservation to campus high density residential. The first is for a seven-story mixed use development that would provide approximately 700 beds plus main floor retail space. The second project would feature 316 beds.

The first development seems to fit the bill for students and the city; developers would only need to provide seven parking spots for every 10 beds. However, if more than 70 percent of students bring cars, they're going to be left parking on the street. Add to that more cars in the area and more pedestrians and the area gets less safe as well.

That could be accomplished, given how close the buildings are to campus, according to one planner. Andrew Jackson, executive director of the Mountainland Association of Governments, said communities are getting back to the neotraditional style of walking communities and shops on each corner similar to Europe or the eastern United States. These types of design could eliminate the need for everyone to have a car, if done correctly.

With limited land to build out, Provo is looking at high-rises like these two developments and others being built downtown. Daily Herald

Provo Air Terminal Expansion Needed for Allegiant Passengers

Provo will have to enlarge its current terminal to accommodate the number of passengers Allegiant can put onto its planes.

Allegiant announced this week that it will be offering non-stop flights beginning Feb. 15 between Provo and the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, replacing Frontier Airlines, which will cease flights between Provo and Denver in January.

Airport manager Steve Gleason said the city built a terminal that could house federal screening equipment in 2011, when Frontier brought commercial flights to Provo. However, Frontier's Embraer 190 airplane holds 99 passengers. Allegiant's MD-80s hold 166 passengers, more than the terminal's capacity.

Gleason added, "Commercial service is important to our community. It's a great day for Provo."

Unique to Allegiant is the one-leg destination flights. For instance, the Provo to Mesa flight is a destination to destination flight. So, while there are many locations to which Allegiant flies from Mesa, such as Hawaii, Branson, Mo., and Las Vegas, passengers will have to book those connecting flights as separate itinerary flights, he said.

"We're confident Utah County will enjoy our low airfare and great packages," Hansen said.

Hansen also noted that throughout the year there are times when travel is significantly down and Allegiant will pre-cancel flights. He also anticipates other times, perhaps for LDS General Conference or other activities, when additional flights will be necessary and those can be added. All of this is under discussion.

Allegiant is expected to serve a large group of business and personal travel passengers to and from the Mesa area. Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix is about a 20-minute drive, and shuttles from Mesa to Sky Harbor are provided.

Allegiant also flies to the Ogden airport. Daily Herald

Smith’s Opens Fuel Center in Kimball Junction

Smith’s Food & Drug Stores has opened a fuel station in the parking lot of its supermarket located at 1725 West Uinta Way in the Village Kimball Junction, just off State Route 224 near the Olympic Park.

The station is comprised of eight filling nozzles and includes diesel fuel as an option, a courtesy air hose, a convenience-item case for snacks and a kiosk for the fuel attendant. Pumps are available 24 hours a day.

The adjacent grocery store will remain open while being remodeled. Construction is expected to be completed by spring.

"We are pleased to now offer our Park City customers fuel savings at our Smith’s Express," said Abbi Kimball, Smith’s Kimball Junction store director. "In fact, rewards points may be redeemed to save up to $2 per gallon through the remainder of the year."

Smith’s, a division of the Kroger Co., operates 131 food stores and 79 fuel stations throughout seven western states, including 47 stores and 39 fuel stations in Utah. Salt Lake Tribune

UTA changes include some surprises

The Utah Transit Authority unveiled some surprises Wednesday as it finalized schedule changes that take effect on Dec. 9 — including reducing weekend TRAX service because of budget constraints, and shortening how far the TRAX green line will run from West Valley City every day.

Also, FrontRunner riders who travel in the opposite direction than most peak-time commuters soon will find less-frequent service. And one FrontRunner train a day is being restored to the Pleasant View station north of Ogden, service that had been totally cut recently.

UTA projects overall revenue next year to increase by 5 percent — from $290.8 million to $305.6 million
— thanks to greater fare, sales tax and federal grant revenue.

Even amid rail expansions, UTA said budget constraints are forcing it to cut back weekend TRAX service beginning Dec. 9. Saturday TRAX service will begin about an hour later at about 6 a.m. Sunday TRAX service will have an earlier end time, with last trips of the day departing between 8 and 9 p.m.

The new FrontRunner service between Salt Lake City and Provo will end express buses from Utah County to Salt Lake City, and replace it with more local service in Utah County, often designed to connect to FrontRunner. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah County FrontRunner, airport TRAX lines still on track

Commuters heading to Salt Lake City from Utah County may have an alternative form of transportation sooner than expected.

Construction and testing on the FrontRunner South commuter rail line is moving ahead faster than anticipated, according to the Utah Transit Authority.

It promises commuters they will save time when the new FrontRunner South line opens Dec. 10. The agency projects approximately 6,800 passengers will ride the train each day. In addition to four stops in Utah County, FrontRunner South will also have stops in South Jordan and Murray.

According UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter, who said the FrontRunner South line is expected to begin transporting passengers beginning Dec. 10. He added that the project is also under budget thus far.

He said this phase allows the agency to ensure that all track signals are working properly, operators are fully trained and schedules are appropriately aligned. Test trains run at maximum speeds of up to 79 miles per hour, he said, the same top speed allowed when service begins.

As for the Airport TRAX line, the $350 million extension is scheduled to be operational by April 2013.

Under construction since January 2009, the new light rail line is one of five rail projects UTA has had on its construction agenda in the past few years. The others include the $535 million Mid-Jordan TRAX extension and the $370 million West Valley TRAX line — which both began operation in August 2011. Also in the works are the $212 million Draper TRAX extension and the aforementioned $850 million FrontRunner South commuter-rail line that will run from downtown Salt Lake City to Provo. Deseret News

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

Tanker trucks on highways

Give state officials an A for being frank. They don’t know what to do about vastly increased tanker truck traffic that will barrel down U.S. 40 when the volume of crude oil heading from the Uintah Basin to Salt Lake Valley refineries doubles next year. We don’t know what to do, either. But like state transportation officials and legislators, we know a problem when we see one.

A study is under way to consider options. The trouble is that those options are unlikely to be available before the truck traffic swells.

If you live in Heber City, where U.S. 40 doubles as Main Street, that’s not good news. That could mean one or two of the heavy trucks passing every minute.

Daniels Canyon above Heber City is steep and can be treacherous during winter weather. The same is true of I-80 through Parleys Canyon before the roadway passes into Salt Lake City. U.S. 40 passes Strawberry Reservoir above Daniels Canyon, and I-80 abuts Mountain Dell Reservoir in Parleys. An oil spill into either of those waters could be an environmental mess.

I-80 is the transportation aorta for Salt Lake City from the east. Adding more heavy truck traffic to that already congested roadway will inevitably add to safety risks.

Those are the negatives. There also are positives. It’s good that Salt Lake City refineries will be processing more crude oil from Utah to produce gasoline and other petroleum products. Energy independence is important to the nation and to Utah’s economy. It’s better to have the oil come from Utah than from somewhere more distant. Salt Lake Tribune

UTA proposes big changes for bus routes

The Utah Transit Authority is proposing to change all of its bus routes in Utah County — and many in Salt Lake City — to allow better connections with the new FrontRunner commuter rail section between Salt Lake City and Provo that is scheduled to open Dec. 10.

That includes eliminating all express buses between Utah and Salt Lake counties, and creating or altering local routes to take riders to FrontRunner instead. UTA says that will allow local service circulating around Utah County communities to increase by 17 percent.

Many changes are also coming to downtown Salt Lake City, which is scheduled to open a second FrontRunner station in December at the North Temple viaduct — on the present section of FrontRunner that runs from Ogden to Salt Lake, which will connect with the new section to Provo. The North Temple site also will connect to the new airport TRAX line when it opens in April. Salt Lake Tribune

A scanner will record your license plate, where it was and when

Drive your car over aspen-covered Boulder Mountain in southern Utah or park it in downtown Salt Lake City or on the Brigham Young University campus in Provo and you can expect something to happen.

The recent request by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to mount license plate scanners on Interstate 15 in southwestern Utah met opposition, but law enforcement across the state, including police at BYU, are already using license plate scanners to find everyone from parking scofflaws to violent crime suspects.

Even before the DEA request, southwestern Utah had a concentration of license plate scanners.

The St. George Police Department has its own scanner, while other police forces in that county are on a list of agencies that can borrow a car from the Utah State Tax Commission equipped with scanners. The drug task force that covers Iron and Garfield counties also has a license plate scanner it has used to build cases against people suspected of growing marijuana on public lands.

A Salt Lake Tribune review identified 47 police departments and county sheriffs who use license plate scanners or have permission to borrow the Tax Commission scanner cars. Statewide agencies, including the Utah Highway Patrol, also use the scanners. Salt Lake Tribune

Testing for FrontRunner trains to begin in county

Utah County residents will soon see FrontRunner trains rolling up and down its rail lines in Utah County.

The Utah Transit Authority is expected to begin testing the trains at the end of the month in preparation for the commuter rail service that will be fully operational by December.

Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson confirmed that UTA will begin the testing at the end of this month or early June and noted that having service running through the county will be a great addition to the transportation options available in the county.

Ellertson said the test trains are being rolled out so UTA can analyze all the safety procedures that will be need to be worked out along the line. They'll also work on proper timing for the signals and other logistic issues. Daily Herald

New Geneva Road provides Utah County alternative to I-15

This is the time of year a lot of road construction projects get started. But a major project has just reached completion, and it could make it easier to get around Utah County.

The new and improved Geneva Road opened Wednesday. It now has five lanes, and the improvements run from 1600 North to University parkway.

The road represents the changing west side in Orem. Gone is the storied steel mill, and now housing developments are growing on the west side of the road.

Drivers will immediately notice this new overpass bridge over both the freight rail and Frontrunner tracks at 400 South.

"It eliminates the conflict that was once there, where cars had to stop for the rail," explained Heather Barnum, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Transportation.

And it's not just the new wider road, Geneva Road now has sidewalks for pedestrians, including over the bridge, and the sidewalks are also on both sides of the road. KSL

New organization created to promote SkiLink

SkiLink support is growing. In an attempt to rally Utah around the idea of an interconnect between Canyons Resort and Solitude, a new coalition has been created.

Early Tuesday, that new coalition, Lift Utah, was introduced at a press conference in Salt Lake City. Intended to promote SkiLink, Lift Utah will be chaired by former United States senator Jake Garn, Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan and the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce President Lane Beattie.

Lift Utah is made up of 20 community leaders from along the Wasatch Front and Back, all with backgrounds in business and politics, from state legislators, bankers and chamber presidents. The group even has a few familiar names from Park City including Bill Malone, the president of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, and Tom Richardson, former president of the Kimball Junction Business Association and creator of Ski Our Canyons Responsibly, a local organization aimed at supporting the controversial gondola project.

Even as Lift Utah was announced at the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce headquarted in Salt Lake City, protestors from Save Our Canyons rallied outside. Save Our Canyons, an environmental nonprofit based in Salt Lake City, claims SkiLink could spur future development in the mountains, affecting the watershed of hundreds of thousands of people.

SkiLink was originally introduced as a transportation project last year as something that would cut down traffic, and therefore emissions in Big Cottonwood and Parley's Canyons. According to the SkiLink website, the gondola is projected to reduce ski season traffic through Big Cottonwood Canyon by as much as 18,000 cars per year. Since then, the project has focused more on the economic benefits SkiLink would offer creating the most connected ski resort terrain in the country. Park Record

FrontRunner South to begin service in December, will impact bus routes

The FrontRunner South rail line, which goes from Salt Lake City to Provo, will be up and running on Dec. 10, according to the Utah Transit Authority.

The new service will likely cause a lot of changes to Utah County bus routes, and UTA wants the public's help in deciding what those changes should be.

Construction on the FrontRunner line to Provo is 90 percent completed, running parallel to I-15 from Salt Lake City to Provo. In addition to four stops in Utah County, FrontRunner South will also have stops in South Jordan and Murray. The agency projects 7,500 passengers will ride the train each day.

Modifications to bus routes may happen in Provo, Orem, American Fork and Lehi to accommodate the FrontRunner stations. Deseret News

Lane reductions causing gridlock in Utah County

Drivers between Lindon and Lehi are often finding themselves stuck in traffic, especially during the morning and afternoon commutes. The major area of focus on the project this summer will be in Orem.

But the news isn’t all bad. Motorists who are getting stuck in traffic right now will be rewarded in just three months. The northbound section of freeway will be completely finished and opened from Lindon to Lehi.

UDOT plans to have the freeway in American Fork opened back to four lanes in each direction by April 11. Deseret News

Provo center on list of possible postal closings

The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service said Monday it is seeking to move quickly to close 252 mail processing centers, including one in Provo, and slow first-class delivery next spring, citing steadily declining mail volume.

The Provo center at 936 S. 250 East, employs about 80 people. If the facility is closed, an adjoining post office would remain open, USPS officials say. However, 14 other post offices in Utah, mostly in rural areas, also are on a closure list as part of cost-cutting moves. Salt Lake Tribune