UDOT soon to overhaul Springville interchange

After receiving several funding allocations, the Utah Department of Transportation is planning a massive overhaul of Springville's main interchange to cut down on rush-hour traffic congestion.

Plans have been in the works for some time now, said UDOT project manager John Higgins, but now more than $82 million in federal and state funds have been set aside for improvements to state Route 77. The project entails several huge upgrades to improve traffic flow along a vital arterial roadway.

"It's going to be huge," Higgins said. "It's our main (I-15) exit to Springville and Mapleton."

Corridor improvements include:

• Rebuilding the existing freeway interchange as a single-point urban interchange — also known as a SPUI.

• Adding an auxiliary lane along southbound I-15 between the two Springville interchanges.

• Building a new bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks at 1500 West.

• Widening 400 South from I-15 to U.S. 89 to five lanes and rebuilding the existing bridge at 400 West.

Springville Community Relations Administrator John Gleave said there is a two-year plan to complete the project. He said there is a high degree of urgency to complete the project because traffic jams are an all-too-common occurrence on 400 South.

He said the biggest hindrance is the railroad tracks that cross the road at 1500 West. A single train can back traffic all the way up to the freeway.

"It's one of those long, old coal trains," he said.

UDOT has held several meetings with the public over the past year, the latest occurring last Thursday night. More than 60 community members attended, Gleave said, including the owner of a local Jiffy Lube who feared the widened roadway would cut into his business property.

Gleave assured business owners along that roadway that nothing is going to change, except needed detours while the construction is taking place.

"It will be a painful two-year process" but a necessary one, he said.

Gleave also said UDOT will be offering the public regular updates on the project.

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