Motorists making their way into downtown Salt Lake City from points north will need to plan for possible delays as part of southbound State Street closes today.
The closure of the right lane for about half the block between South Temple and 100 South is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' work on its planned City Creek Center, a mixed-use development that will replace the ZCMI Center and Crossroads Plaza malls.
Crews will be working on a utility vault underneath the sidewalk and west side of the road.
"Traffic will still get through," Kevin Young of the Salt Lake City Transportation Department said.
However, it might get a little tight through that area, especially during peak travel hours. The road channels many drivers into downtown from the Capitol Hill and Avenues neighborhoods, and also from Davis County.
The northbound lanes will not be affected.
The sidewalk on the west side of State Street on the affected part of the block also will be closed. Pedestrians should use the east-side sidewalk.
City Creek Center spokesman Dale Bills said the closures will be in effect until further notice. He did not specify when that might be, directing motorists instead to the Web site downtownrising.com, which is updated weekly with construction news, road closures and other information.
"We appreciate everyone's patience as deconstruction gets under way on the ZCMI block," Bills said.
Buildings have been coming down on the Crossroads block to the west for several months. The utility work on State Street marks the beginning of work on the ZCMI block. Future partial road closures include work in April on 100 South on the Crossroads block.
E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com