University Avenue reconstruction and resurfacing will begin April 12, Utah Department of Transportation officials say.
A groundbreaking ceremony will be April 12 at 9 a.m. to mark the beginning of construction. The ceremony will be at Fifth South and University, the point were road work officially starts.Construction extends from Fifth South to Eighth North. The new road will be the same width as the present road with four lanes and a center turn median.
The contractor, Geneva Rock Products of Orem, will have 30 days to complete a section once construction begins.
"They will start a block, wait a week and start another block" to stagger work, said Linda Walton, executive director of Provo's Association of Involved merchants, who met with UDOT officials this week to review the construction calendar. "Four blocks will be going at the same time so when the fourth begins they finish the first block. In that regard they will move along quickly."
If the contractor remains on schedule, the University Avenue and Center Street intersection will be completed by July 4 - in time for the Freedom Festival parade to cross over to Freedom Boulevard, she said.
The company will have 95 working days or 140 calendar days (about five months) to complete the road work.
Dunn Construction Co. of Orem will continue to install water lines on the streets before they are resurfaced. Walton said water service may be interrupted for certain residents, but those affected will be informed several days before. Water should only be off for a maximum of four hours.