Maybe there really is a spirit who looks out for Utah motorists.
Satch, that fictional specter of Utah's roads and focus of the much-criticized I-15 ad campaign, was nowhere to be found Wednesday when the contractor for the largest public construction project in state history was announced.But some force for the common good apparently was at work this week as the state's top transportation officials reviewed three proposals for the reconstruction of I-15 through Salt Lake County. The manner in which the winning contractor plans to rebuild the freeway won't be as disruptive to valleywide traffic as originally feared.
With the announcement of the contract, the public learned for the first time Wednesday:
- The entire project is scheduled for completion by August 2001, three months ahead of original projections. The freeway south of 5300 South will be finished by October 2000.
- The entire southwestern loop of I-215 - from I-80 to I-15 - will be re-striped this summer to add an additional lane of traffic in each direction, making the belt route the primary alternate route and alleviating traffic on I-15 and parallel routes like Redwood Road and State Street.
- East-west streets that cross beneath I-15 intersections, like 3300 South and 9000 South, will be closed to all traffic for a total of four months instead of six.
- Three lanes of traffic will be open in both directions on I-15 south of the I-215 junction (about 6300 South) during peak hours, except for one 11- or 12-month period when that section will be reduced to two lanes in each direction. The timing of the lane reduction has not been announced, but users of the southern section of the I-15 project will have access to a third lane for more than a year longer than expected.
- Closing an entire segment of the interstate, even in the early morning hours, may be avoided altogether.
Wasatch Constructors, a consortium of construction, engineering and supply firms, will rebuild a 17-mile stretch of the freeway - from 10800 South in Sandy to 600 North in Salt Lake City - for $1.325 billion. It turned in the lowest bid, but also it also had the highest combined rating in each of the other 13 categories.
Strategies to speed up construction and improve traffic flow during the project were among the most attractive features of the proposal turned in by Wasatch Constructors, according to Utah Department of Transportation officials who reviewed the proposals.
David Downs, UDOT's project manager for the I-15 reconstruction, said Wasatch Constructors also proposed using more variable message signs to communicate to motorists. The consortium's proposal had "more innovations and a more simplistic approach," he said.
The project, however, is complex. Every bridge, interchange and inch of pavement will be torn up and replaced. When completed, most of the freeway will have been expanded from six to 10 lanes.
The work will impose immense hardship on anyone who now depends on I-15 or any route I-15 travelers will use as an alternate during the 4 1/2-year duration of the accelerated project.
But it could have been worse. Wasatch Constructors, for example, was the only one of the three consortiums to propose widening the southwest loop of I-215 before reducing I-15 to two lanes in each direction.
"They have a great plan for handling traffic," said Tom Warne, UDOT's executive director, who made the ultimate decision on the contract. "There's going to be less impact to the public."
Greg Brooks, Wasatch Constructors' communications director, said the consortium felt widening I-215 was crucial to a successful traffic management plan.
"When you get beyond construction, this job is about maintaining traffic flow," he said. "It's about making the best out of the situation."
Details, details
Here are other details of the project known for the first time Wednesday:
- The first three interchanges to undergo reconstruction will be 600 North in downtown Salt Lake City, 5300 South in Murray and 9000 South in Sandy. East-west cross streets will be closed sometime between late summer and next spring.
- The total cost of reconstruction now stands at $1.59 billion, up from UDOT's $1.36 billion estimate of last July. The $265 million above and beyond Wasatch Constructors' $1.325 billion contract will cover right-of-way acquisition, utility relocations, oversight and contract administration by UDOT, and other project costs.
Wasatch Constructors' contract price was $59 million under an estimate UDOT produced on its own in January, but kept secret until the winning proposal was announced.
- July 1 is the earliest that traffic on I-15 will be reduced to two lanes in each direction during peak hours, and that's only on the stretch of the freeway north of the I-215 interchange. The southern portion won't experience lane reduction until later. In the meantime, Wasatch Constructors will widen I-215 and do shoulder improvements and other work on I-15 to prepare it for full con-struc-tion by summer's end.
- UDOT officials had said the winning contractor probably would shut down one side of the freeway for two years or more and divert all traffic onto the other side. Wasatch Constructors plans to divert traffic from the east side of the freeway to the west side and back again at certain locations rather than isolate the work to one side.
Beginning in July or early August, all I-15 traffic will be shifted to the northbound side of the freeway between 10800 South and 3300 South. It will change over to the southbound side of I-15 between 3300 South and 2400 South, switch back to the northbound side between 2400 South and 1300 South, and go back to the southbound side between 1300 South and 600 North.
In mid-1999, those traffic patterns will switch to the opposite side of the freeway.
- All interchanges and new lanes of traffic are scheduled to be open by May 2001, five months earlier than anticipated.
- Some freeway ramps, including northbound entrances to I-15 from I-215, will be closed at times to force travelers to use alternate routes - such as continuing on I-215 - instead of driving I-15 while it is under construction.
- The contractor believes an "aggressive" public information program can reduce traffic on the corridor during peak hours by 10 percent.
Warne said the design-build process, used commonly in the private sector, will cut construction time by four or five years. It will save taxpayers $500,000 million in direct costs and $1 billion in indirect socioeconomic costs, he said.
Ready, willing, able
Alan Kirkwood, vice president of Kiewit Pacific, the sponsoring partner of Wasatch Constructors, said the consortium plans to "start moving people in immediately. We plan to hit the ground running."
Wasatch Constructors officials said they have a detailed plan of what they want to do, but some of the specifics and the timing may be modified as the project progresses. They may be asked by UDOT to make adjustments and may choose to incorporate the ideas of the losing proposers, all of which is to be expected with the design-build process.
"You have to remember this job isn't even designed yet," said Conway Narby, principal-on-site for the winning consortium.
And Wasatch Constructors will be under pressure to deliver as promised. If it completes the work on schedule and to UDOT's satisfaction, it will receive a $50 million bonus. If it completes the project beyond UDOT's November 2001 deadline, it could be penalized up to $100 million.
Members of the Utah Transportation Commission questioned Wednesday whether the contractor could deliver as promised. Not to worry, Brooks said.
"Fifty million dollars is a big carrot, but beyond financial incentives, we have put together a team here that largely encompasses the team that did what, up until now, was the largest transportation design-build project in this country," Brooks said, referring to the San Joaquin Hills Corridor in Orange County, Calif.
"We feel like our edge in this competition was that we understood this (I-15) project better than anybody else and with that understanding comes a level of certainty that we can apply what amounts to an aggregate of hundreds and thousands of years of man-experience."
Brooks said Wasatch Constructors will work hard to avoid the necessity of closing any segment of the freeway entirely. He said it's possible that two lanes of travel in each direction can be maintained on I-15 at all times, not just during peak hours.
"Full closure of both directions of the freeway is a very big deal. It is absolutely last on our list of options," Brooks said.
When work begins
Immediately after signing the contract and getting notice to proceed from UDOT, Wasatch Constructors will begin expanding the northbound lanes on I-15. After that's finished, most traffic along the corridor, both north- and southbound, will be routed to the northbound lanes while the southbound lanes are reconstructed.
The switching (please see map) will begin sometime in July, according to Narby. There will be some switching back to the southbound lanes in some areas for construction and traffic access purposes.
Brooks said the shoulder work to be done on I-15 in April won't require lane reductions, but traffic may be slowed as motorists get used to sharing the freeway with road crews.
Wasatch Constructors also will pay attention almost immediately to the 600 North interchange at the northern boundary of the project. Larry Cochran, deputy project manager for the group, said the 600 North interchange and viaduct will be closed for construction within weeks of the expected April 14 start of construction. It is the first interchange in the 17-mile stretch scheduled for an overhaul and should be completed within a year.
While 600 North is under construction, no traffic will be able to enter or exit the freeway at that interchange. But Cochran said traffic at 600 North would not be affected more than any other spot on the 17-mile corridor.
The east-side frontage road at 9000 South will be redone immediately, and crews will begin earthwork at the I-215 interchange and the 2100 South interchange.
Sounds walls will be placed through portions of Murray and Midvale, primarily on the east side of the freeway, by the end of this year.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Wasatch Constructors' proposed schedule
Entire I-15 project complete by August 2001.
The first 15 weeks (April through July):
- Begin work on 600 North interchange, to be completed in June, 1998
- Install construction lanes
- Restripe southwestern leg of I-215 to provide four lanes in each direction
- Prepare "crossovers" for switching traffic from one side of the freeway to the other
- Begin earthwork
The project will be divided into three geographical segments, each containing a major interchange:
South: 10800 South to 4900 South - includes I-15/I-215 interchange
Middle: 4900 South to 1900 South - includes I-15/I-80 east/2100 South interchange
North: 1900 South to 600 North - includes I-15/I-80 west interchange