12300 South reconstruction revs up

DRAPER — The Utah Department of Transportation has returned to the I-15 corridor with another major reconstruction project, this time at the 12300 South interchange.

And — as with the massive rebuild of I-15 completed last year — the $90 million interchange reconstruction and widening of six miles of 12300/12600 South will inconvenience motorists.

But perhaps not as much as they might expect.

The 12300 South onramps and offramps, for example, will be closed for no more than two weeks at a time — a far cry from the six-month closures common on the I-15 reconstruction project.

Nighttime work on the interchange will more often close a single lane in each direction rather than an entire side of the freeway. And UDOT plans to maintain traffic on 12300/12600 South while the road is rebuilt.

"We went out and talked to people well in advance of starting the project, and maintenance of traffic during construction was a huge issue, so it's something we decided to concentrate pretty hard on," said UDOT spokesman Tom Hudachko.

"We've put forth a pretty serious effort to maintain the flow of traffic during construction as well as access to businesses."

Motorists won't be spared from all pain, however, over the two-year duration of the design-build project.

Wednesday, crews began a nightly ritual that will continue through mid-December. One freeway lane was closed in each direction, between 11800 South and 12800 South, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

That squeezes the six-lane interstate into a four-lane freeway so UDOT can expand the median and shoulder. The extra space will allow all freeway traffic to be shifted onto the southbound side in the spring.

Again unlike the I-15 reconstruction project, the traffic shift will accommodate all six lanes drivers are accustomed to instead of reducing the freeway to two lanes in each direction for two years. Each of those six lanes will be 11 feet wide, however, rather than the federal standard of 12 feet.

While the current nighttime restrictions are in place, crews are building a temporary bridge that will carry traffic above 12300 South while the road and interchange are rebuilt. The work will require overnight closures of 12300 South, beneath the freeway, beginning in early December.

Crews will need more than 14 days to rebuild a freeway ramp, Hudachko said, but the work will rotate so that no ramp is closed for more than 14 days at a time.