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Road crews descend on Park City as major repaving starts

Jay Hamburger The Park Record

Drivers along S.R. 224 in Park City saw some orange Friday morning.

State transportation officials, though, are confident people will not be seeing red as they navigate through Park City in coming weeks.

The Utah Department of Transportation began a major repaving project early on Friday, starting at the Old Town roundabout. Orange safety pylons were posted on Deer Valley Drive, and there were lane restrictions and flaggers at the roundabout by a little before 8 a.m. Heavy machinery had been brought to Park City as the work approached.

The Department of Transportation plans to spend $3 million tearing up the asphalt and then replacing it along sections of S.R. 224 and S.R. 248, two of the busiest streets in Park City. S.R. 224 is signed Deer Valley Drive and Park Avenue along the route of the roadwork while S.R. 248 is posted as Kearns Boulevard where the work is scheduled.

There did not appear to be road hassles early on Friday, but the traffic was light. The Department of Transportation has said drivers should expect to encounter minor delays.

Department of Transportation officials briefed Mayor Dana Williams and the Park City Council on Thursday, acknowledging that the work will impact Parkites, visitors and businesses. It is rare that both of the state highways will be worked on inside the city during the same project.

Jason Davis, who is the director of the Department of Transportation region that includes Park City, told the elected officials pedestrian ramps along the route of the work will be upgraded and the crews will improve stoplight systems that detect whether a vehicle is stopped at a light.

"It’s a quick project, a couple weeks," Davis, who lives in the Park City area, said.

He told the mayor and City Council one lane of traffic in each direction will be open at all times during the work. Parking lot entrances and exits will remain open unless the workers are at that precise spot, he said.

The elected officials did not spend extensive time discussing the work. City Hall’s senior transportation planner, Brooks Robinson, at an earlier meeting briefed the mayor and City Council about the Department of Transportation’s intentions.

The work is scheduled on weekdays from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., and the workers will finish a little earlier on days when special events like concerts are planned. The crews will move northward on Deer Valley Drive from the roundabout to Park Avenue and then on Park Avenue to Kearns Boulevard. The work on Kearns Boulevard will stretch from the Park Avenue intersection to Park City High School.

The Department of Transportation anticipates the major work will be completed the week of June 27. The major work will be followed with crews putting down sealant and striping for another six days. Park City leaders hope the work is completed by Independence Day, which is normally one of the busiest days on Park City’s summertime calendar.

"We’re not rebuilding the entire pavement . . . There shouldn’t be any surprises," Davis, the Department of Transportation official, said in an interview after appearing at the City Council meeting.

Davis said the worst delays could be between 10 and 15 minutes. He said the Department of Transportation had received little feedback from drivers by the time of the City Council meeting.

"The old days of going in there, shutting down roads, taking a long time to do this isn’t acceptable anymore," Davis said.


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