I-15 The Point Project, Design-Build - Salt Lake & Utah County, Utah

Interstate 15 is the primary north-south connector between Salt Lake and Utah County, with a majority of the population living along the corridor. Between Timpanogos Highway (SR-92) and 12300 South, this section of I-15 experiences heavy traffic congestion and pavement buckling caused by aging pavement. Without substantial improvements or a reduction in capacity, traffic operations were expected to reach stop-and-go conditions by 2020, as traffic volumes increase to 220,000 vehicles per day. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) selected Utah County Constructors, a joint venture partnership between Wadsworth Brothers Construction Company, Inc. and Staker Parson Companies, and Wilson & Company, to reconstruct this stretch of I-15, commonly referred to as “The Point.”
 

UDOT was experiencing significant traffic backing at corridor interchanges and increase traffic circulation on nearby highways and arterials, including Bangerter Highway and Redwood Road. To provide the community with a sustainable thoroughfare network and maintain an acceptable level of service through 2040, the Design-Build team was tasked to reconstruct and widen 7.4 miles of I-15 to accommodate new southbound and northbound lanes, for a total of five general-purpose lanes and one high-occupancy vehicle lane in each direction.

Other key improvements include:

• Design of a new Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) at I-15 and 14600 South.
• Modifications to the 14600 South profile to improve sight distance and accommodate a new bicycle facility.
• A new signalized intersection at 14600 South and Pony Express Road to improve traffic flow.
• Realignment of Minuteman Drive to reduce traffic backing at the 14600 South interchange.
• A new auxiliary lane south of SR-92 to 2100 North (SR-85).
• Construction of a segmental box culvert and replacement of an existing culvert with a single-cell cast-in-place concrete box culvert.
• New high-mast lighting along I-15 to improve road user safety and reduce maintenance costs.
• Enhancements to the existing traffic management system to include new ramp meters at the 14600 South interchange and new intelligent radar detection systems and closed-circuit television cameras at .5-mile intervals along the interstate.

As with all UDOT design-build projects, the objective on The Point project is to help UDOT accomplish their strategic goal of Keeping Utah Moving, both during and after construction. This was accomplished through the use of lane splits and traffic shifts, which allowed the design-build team to keep all existing lanes open during A.M. and P.M. peak traffic periods throughout construction.

Construction was substantially completed October 3, 2016.