Widening under way on U-92

LEHI — For northern Utah County residents, it's time to brace for change.

The Utah Department of Transportation on Tuesday began widening U-92 near the Alpine-Highland exit in anticipation of a traffic and building boom, including a new Cabela's outdoor superstore under construction near Traverse Mountain.

"The area is growing rapidly," said Geoff Dupaix, UDOT Region 3 spokesman. "With the commercial and residential development taking place there by the interchange, we decided to make these improvements in order to meet the initial demand generated as those developments take place. (U-92) will grow as that area develops; as to how much, I'm not sure."

Cabela's 180,000-square-foot building is expected to bring in more than 4 million people a year, as well as attract several other businesses to the area.

Cabela's is expected to be finished and open for business in mid-August. UDOT hopes to have the widening project completed by Aug. 10.

UDOT spokesman Brent Wilhite said the department does not anticipate closing any lanes to traffic during construction. Most of the work will take place outside present travel lanes. Delays, however, are still possible.

"We're just asking motorists to be patient and bear with us," Wilhite said. "Construction is never easy to deal with, but we recommend motorists to plan ahead. If you give yourself a little extra time, then you're going to be a lot happier on the road."

Residential projects, including 5,000 to 6,000 homes expected to be built in the Traverse Mountain area, as well as retail projects like Cabela's, are already in the works near U-92. Those projects are driving UDOT plans to widen the road from two to five lanes from the I-15 interchange eastward to 1200 West in Lehi, and have residents urging widening further east into Highland, as well.

U-92 leads from the I-15 exit near the Point of the Mountain east to Highland and Alpine. Crews will widen the road for a mile and a half east of the freeway. The southbound offramp will be widened to allow for two left-hand turn lanes to turn east on U-92, and the park-and-ride lot will be moved to the west side of the freeway.

Shawn Eliot, transportation planner for Mountainland Association of Governments, which conducts long-range transportation planning for the county, said as of 2003, there were just under 13,000 trips a day on U-92 but expects that number to explode in the near future. A new interchange with I-15 may also be necessary to accommodate the traffic increase.

"The data is showing that with this Traverse Mountain development, that the interchange will fail, no matter what you do," Eliot said. "Another interchange is going to have to be built somewhere in the Point of the Mountain area to handle the traffic in the area."

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Contributing: Sam Penrod, KSL-TV

E-mail: mdecker@desnews.com