CLEARFIELD -- Dirt will soon be flying on a $6.9 million project to construct an overpass spanning one of Utah's deadliest railroad crossings.
The Clearfield City Council inked a cooperative agreement with the Utah Department of Transportation here Monday that clears the way for construction of the long-awaited overpass that will carry 200 South over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.From there, the road will swing north in a gentle S-curve to tie into Center Street at its intersection with State Street at the site of Clearfield's new $10.5 million Municipal and Justice Center.
Both projects are being constructed with a $15 million general obligation bond approved by Clearfield voters in November 1997. The overpass will also benefit from $2 million in federal assistance, including $1 million in railroad safety funding.
The 200 South intersection is considered critical to the future of Clearfield because it will carry traffic from Syracuse and West Point into the city's rapidly redeveloping commercial center.
Future plans call for extending the road south and east to U-193 to create a major east-west thoroughfare linking communities in northwestern Davis County with I-15 and U.S. 89.
The cooperative agreement calls for closing the at-grade 200 South railroad crossing, long considered one of the state's most dangerous. City officials indicate there have been 22 serious accidents at the crossing in the last five years. Construction of the overpass has been a top priority for Clearfield officials for more than two decades.
Wadsworth Construction, the low bidder on the project at $4.67 million, has indicated overpass construction would begin as soon as Clearfield approved the agreement with UDOT. The project is scheduled for completion late next summer.
Holding a special meeting before Clearfield's annual Christmas parade, the council endorsed the agreement without comment on a 5-0 vote.
In other business, the council also met in its other role as the Clearfield Redevelopment Agency to approve a resolution of inducement clearing the way for the city to sell up to $1.5 million in revenue bonds.
The bond proceeds will pay for intrastructure improvements on the Clearfield Town Square redevelopment project at about 160 S. State.
City officials indicate the bonds will be repaid over 20 years with the tax increment from the $8.2 million Kier Corp. project that will renovate the exteriors of three buildings and construct up to three more buildings, including a muffler shop and a two-story retail and office building.
A common strategy for helping fund redevelopment projects, the tax increment is the difference between the assessed value of the property frozen at its current rate and the increased value of the improved property.
That money is set aside to retire the bonds, which are being sold to fund infrastructure improvements such as water and sewer lines and to pay for any needed road work.