State Street bridge in Pleasant Grove opens

Since the Utah Department of Transportation began detours around the portion of Pleasant Grove State Street between Geneva Road and 200 South, business at local hangout the Purple Turtle has been the pace of … well … a turtle.

"It has significantly impacted our business," said owner Steve Cobbley. "We were 20 to 30 percent down."

Cobbley knew construction was coming and saved as much money as he could to get through the past 11 months. He also cut labor costs by not hiring new employees at the burger and shakes joint when people quit.

Last week, UDOT announced the Monday morning opening of State Street. It didn't actually open until Monday afternoon because crews were still striping the road.

Cobbley is happy about the opening. To lure people back to the Purple Turtle, which is south of the bridge, he plans to offer a sale on hamburgers and cheeseburgers.

Anyone who has driven that portion of State Street remembers how the five-to-seven-lane highway narrowed down to just two lanes as traffic rolled under a railroad bridge, often creating a bottleneck.

UDOT spent $20 million on a new bridge and taking the Union Pacific line down to grade. The ultimate effect is that trains will run under traffic, and there will be more traffic lanes, UDOT spokesman Scott Thompson said.

"The bridge is wide enough to accommodate seven lanes eventually," Thompson said. "We're not quite through with all the work on the bridge. There's some side work that needs to be done on the bridge."

That extra work, which includes building sidewalks, will be done in the spring. Crews will restripe the area when the bridge is completely finished, Thompson said.

The project also includes improvements at the intersection of 200 South and State, Thompson said.