Busy Salt Lake City viaduct may not withstand an earthquake

SALT LAKE CITY — Open the south garage door of The Wrench-it Center, 1245 S. 700 West, and you see the 1300 South viaduct. Workers say it's not the best view. There are cracks and obvious signs of corrosion.

"I've noticed some seepage and some cracks along the way, and we're just concerned being right where we are," said Erik Mealing, an employee of The Wrench-it Center.

Salt Lake City wants to give the viaduct a much-needed face-lift, which would include making it more earthquake friendly. City officials are considering an agreement with the Utah Department of Transportation to begin designing the reconstruction of the viaduct.

In addition to residents and businesses in the area, city officials say they're also concerned about the viaduct's condition.

A memo to City Council members says concrete deterioration has led to joint failures and water seepage. If the girders and deck continue to deteriorate, it may become unusable; and the viaduct, built in 1975, is in such disrepair it may not be able to withstand an earthquake.

"Any sort of damage or anything like that would directly impact our physical building," Mealing said.

Some residents didn't know about the viaduct's condition, but people like Kierstyn Gibson say changes to the viaduct would affect her, too. "I go over it to work and school, so I use it every day," she said.

Gibson supports a redesign. So does Mealing, but only if any road closures don't affect his business.

"Otherwise, as far as safety goes, we would definitely want it fixed in order to be safer for us and the building and the people driving over it every day," Mealing said.

If all goes planned, construction could begin in the summer of 2012. The project would include improvements like a full deck replacement, the addition of bike lanes, girder and bridge joint repairs, partial seismic retrofit, upgraded lighting and improvements to traffic signals and sidewalks at the 700 West intersection.

e-mail: syi@desnews.com