SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah's Department of Transportation is in the middle of a big repavement project on one of the busiest city streets in the state.
It’s been just a few weeks since UDOT started construction on State Street in Salt Lake County.
“Yeah, it’s pretty large,” Project Manager Byran Chamberlain said. “We’re gonna be repaving State Street from 30th South all the way up to 4th South, so its several miles in length.”
During the day, the street is littered with orange caution cones. The work is being done at night from about 7 p.m. to 10 a.m.
“We’re always looking for the best time to get out there where we can get the most work done and make the least inconvenience to the public,” Chamberlain said.
Local business owners on State Street said they’re happy the project wraps up in July, as they say the work is already hurting business.
“Instead of going home, some will think of pizza and see the sign, a small percentage will stop and do the business, but a lot of them avoid this whole area,” said James Zuiter, manager of Wild Mushroom Pizza in South Salt Lake.
Zuiter said the construction at night has been an inconvenience to his delivery drivers, but he knows it will be worth it in the end.
“We appreciate the work they do here,” Zuiter said. “More than anything, we all want nice roads. They have to be maintained.”
The plan is to take a whole inch of asphalt from the road and replace it with a fresh top layer.
But it isn’t just the pavement, the whole street is getting a facelift.
“We're a couple weeks into the project, started off by tearing out some of the median islands and replacing some of the pedestrian ramps on the sidewalk,” Chamberlain said. “We’re hoping to start repaving next week and be finished by mid-July.”
