I-15 pothole repairs continue in Utah County

PROVO — As UDOT spent most of Friday repairing more potholes on I-15 in Utah County, motorists waited more than an hour, at times, to travel through the five-mile backup that extended from American Fork to the Alpine-Highland exit.

Crews on the ground milled up sections of asphalt with potholes and then replaced those segments with fresh pavement.

UDOT said the hot mix asphalt has to be put down during the day, because night time temperatures are too cold.

The work Friday involved repairs in the southbound lanes near Lehi and American Fork.

And the repairs will continue next week. On Tuesday, crews will fix the potholes on the northbound lanes of I-15 near American Fork and once again traffic will be restricted to one lane.

The work is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and will continue throughout the afternoon on Tuesday

"We have this deteriorating asphalt that has been in place for decades, that obviously needs to be replaced and when we replace it, it will be a 40-year-old harder, more durable concrete, not asphalt and that should get us through may winters to come" said UDOT spokeswoman Heather Barnum.

The good news for drivers is that by this time next year a substantial part of the freeway will be on brand new concrete, as the 24-mile I-15 Core project makes progress.

The pothole repair is being done by the I-15 Core contractors and is part of maintenance budgeted for by UDOT.