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Sugar House Journal

Bond reconstruction projects coming to Sugar House streets

Mar 23, 2020 14h47 ● By Jenniffer Wardell

The projects will also include smaller neighborhood streets, including 900 East from Hollywood Avenue to 2700 South. (Photo courtesy of Salt Lake City)

By Jenniffer Wardell | [email protected]

There's about to be more construction in Sugar House, but there will also be better roads.

Salt Lake City is about to kick off the first of their big bond reconstruction projects in April, with more than 30 announced through 2021. Many of the streets scheduled for work over the next two years are located in or near Sugar House, including two identified as major projects. City officials spent more than a year planning the work, which is the result of a bond Salt Lake voters approved in November 2018.

"It was a deep discussion, and we've identified that we were going to use 80% of our funds on arterial collector streets," said Salt Lake City Engineer Matt Cassel, during a recent Facebook Live discussion about the project. "We're going to use the remaining 20% on local and neighborhood streets. That helps us make sure that, when we do these streets, everyone is benefiting from the reconstruction."

The city determined which streets needed to be reconstructed by consulting the most recent survey of Salt Lake's streets. Every five years, the city hires a company to survey every street in the city and evaluate their condition with a specialized machine. According to Cassel, the last survey was done "three or four" years ago.

Once the survey is completed, all of the evaluated streets are ranked on a scale from 1 to 100. The lower the score, the worse shape the street is in. The city then uses these numbers to determine which streets need to be repaired and which streets need a complete reconstruction.

"Any street below 40 are those we identify as needing to be reconstructed," Cassel said.

The team also consulted with other departments to coordinate the road reconstruction with any other projects currently scheduled.

"We don't want to pave a street, and then one year later have public utilities go in and have to put a water line in," Cassel said.

Construction will start on the two big projects affecting Sugar House this summer. One of the projects will be 2000 East, which will be reconstructed from the intersection at Parley’s Canyon Boulevard to the city limit with Millcreek. The pavement surface, sidewalks, curb, and gutter will be upgraded as necessary, and the street will be redesigned in accordance with the city's complete streets ordinance and long-range master plans. The project is expected to be complete by the end of this year.

The other major project set to start this summer in the Sugar House area will be 500 East from 1700 South to 2100 South. The design will be upgraded during the reconstruction, and the pavement will be upgraded to accommodate frequent bus travel along the route. Sidewalks, ramp, curb and gutter improvements will be made when necessary and replaced as needed. Bus stops within the project area will be improved with concrete pads where necessary, and all bus stops will be made ADA accessible. Raised crosswalks at Downington Avenue and Ramona Avenue will link bus stop pairs, and the existing crosswalk at Hollywood Avenue will also be raised as part of a future east-west neighborhood byway. The project is big enough it may continue into next year.

These projects will interact with other work being finished up this summer.

"The work on 1300 East was supposed to be completed last summer, but unfortunately only half of that got done," Cassel said. "So they'll be out there between 1300 South and 1700 South reconstructing that segment."

Another sizeable reconstruction that will be started this year is 1700 East from 1700 South to 2700 South. The street will be redesigned, a project that will include all complete streets, multi-modal travel elements. Concrete pads for bus stops will be improved where needed within the area, and safety improvements around Highland High School will be added through roadway design components. Sidewalks and ADA improvements will also be made as necessary.

Some of the local and neighborhood streets will get new concrete or asphalt pavement, new flatwork (sidewalks, drive approaches) installed, accessibility ramps and curbs where necessary. Those scheduled for 2020 are 900 East from Hollywood Avenue to 2700 South and Kensington Avenue from 1400 East to 1500 East. In 2021, the streets scheduled for these improvements are Blaine Avenue from Nevada Street to Foothill Drive, Kensington Avenue from Ken Rey Street to 2100 East, Nevada Street from Wilson Avenue to Blaine Avenue, 1900 East from Sunnyside Avenue to 900 South, and Greenwood Terrace from 900 South to Sunnyside Avenue.

Other neighborhood streets are only marked for general reconstruction, some of which will include water and sewer utility improvements. In 2020, those streets will include Coatsville Avenue from 800 East to 900 East, Elizabeth Street from Crystal Avenue to Stratford Avenue and then from Stratford Avenue to Whitlock Avenue, Parkway Avenue from Elizabeth Street to Highland Drive, Ramona Avenue from 900 East to Lincoln Street and from Lincoln Street to 1000 East, and Zenith Avenue from 800 East to 900 East.

Bond projects have been planned for the next six years, and improvements to local and neighborhood streets will cycle through all seven of Salt Lake's council districts. For a complete look at all projects scheduled for the next two years, as well as the full six-year plan, visit fundingourfutureslc.com and click on the link that says "Bond Recon Projects." The two-year plan will come up in the form of an interactive map that shows the location and a brief description of every project throughout the city. The six-year plan will download as a PDF text document.