OREM — Utah County's busiest and most-congested interchange is about to become a bigger mess — at least for the next year.
Work was to begin Monday on a $15 million project to rebuild the interchange at I-15 and University Parkway in Orem near the campus of Utah Valley State College.
The interchange is one of the busiest in Utah. During rush hours, traffic commonly backs up on the north and south offramps for almost a mile. The interchange is used by hundreds of shoppers en route to businesses on University Parkway and college students trying to get to class on time at UVSC.
"I've never seen an interchange this busy," said Tracy Timothy, spokesman for Wadsworth Construction, the contractor for the project.
With plans to narrow lanes and redirect traffic from the onramps and offramps during the construction period, traffic congestion at the interchange will likely get worse.
"It's going to be rough going once this project gets moving ahead, but in the end it will be a lot better because traffic will flow much better when the interchange is complete," UDOT spokesman Geoff Dupaix said.
Initial work will involve the construction and paving of temporary lanes on University Parkway from Sandhill Road on the east side of the interchange to Geneva Road on the west side. Serious lane restrictions won't begin until about Sept. 20.
"We're going to shift some traffic but the same amount of lanes will be open," Timothy said.
The project, financed with Centennial Highway Funds, includes rebuilding the bridge that crosses over the freeway and reconfiguring the onramps and offramps into a design engineers call a single-point urban interchange. Basically, once finished, the interchange will be similar to the interchange at Bangerter Highway and I-15 in Draper. The onramps and offramps will have gradual turns instead of 90-degree turns. The offramp lanes will also be wider.
"When this is finished, it will be much better for the motorists, the pedestrians and the businesses in the area because traffic will go through the interchange much smoother," Timothy said.
Originally the project was expected to take 18 months to complete. However, because of concerns from businesses on University Parkway that the project would impact two fall and Christmas shopping seasons, the project will be shortened six months.
"They are really under the gun," Dupaix said. "But the businesses have expressed concern that if this project drags on it will significantly impact their sales."
Chevy's Fresh Mex restaurant, on Parkway hill at about 500 West, is one of those businesses that depends on traffic coming off I-15. General manager Rob Hutchinson worries that shoppers will go elsewhere to avoid construction delays at the already congested interchange.
"It's already a nightmare," he said.
Hutchinson said he is expecting business to drop about 50 percent during the construction period.
"I hope like heck it doesn't happen, but I'm prepared just in case," he said. "Time will tell."
Students attending UVSC can't avoid the area. Unless they're prepared to be patient, however, they'll have to find alternative routes to campus. The college is launching a campaign Monday to advertise alternate routes to campus by placing 10,000 flyers around campus and inserting them in the student newspaper.
"Students want the quickest way to campus, so if they're restricted they'll find another way to get here," said Val Peterson, vice president for college relations.
While the project will improve traffic flow at the interchange, college officials say it won't benefit the campus. Officials pushed, but lost, a campaign to keep a hook ramp that feeds from the campus directly onto the northbound onramp of the interchange.
Engineers say the hook ramp, built four years ago to provide temporary relief, would be a safety hazard if it fed into the new onramp. When the hook ramp is closed, however, college traffic now using the hook ramp will have to exit the campus at the intersection of Sand Hill Road and University Parkway.
"We're going to put a lot more traffic into that intersection," Peterson said.
UDOT officials are recommending that motorists consider exiting the freeway at the Provo Center Street, Orem 800 North and Orem 1600 North exits. They discourage using the Orem Center Street exit for a few months, however, because of continuing construction work on that city street.
Project officials say any full closure of the interchange during the construction period would only occur between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on the affected days.
E-MAIL: jimr@desnews.com