State of the Cities – Part II of IV
Transportation - Iron County
Utah Economic Review Breakfast
Part I was about Cedar City and included information on Growth, Airport improvements, Internet/Broadband, Historic Downtown and General Plans.
Part II we’ll share information on Transportation.
Patience will still be the theme while UDOT completes four projects in and around Cedar City.
Cross Hollow Exit 59
Starting at Exit 59 on I-15, watch for survey workers – trip counters – anything to do with a planned survey of the interchange. Why? We’ve outgrown it and changes are in the works. Depending on what they discover about time-of-day usage, traffic patterns, etc. will dictate the proposed solution to the over crowding of the intersection.
Coal Creek Road
We got a better light at Coal Creek and North Main Street, but Coal Creek Overpass on I-15 has also become a bottle neck. UDOT will be contracting to widen the Coal Creek overpass to include sidewalks and protective fencing. At the bottom of the bridge the road intersects with Kitty Hawk and they will be installing a round-about. If you had planned on escaping the Main Street congestion by using Coal Creek overpass, think again. It will be a mess for several months. It’s too bad Lund Rd. is so far out from the cities. But that and 5700 W might be an easier North/South route. Hamburger Alley (AKA 200 North) is the only main East/West route that will be untouched this summer.
Nichols Canyon
Another needed I-15 project will be started in April at Nichols Canyon Road. UDOT will oversee the I-15 overpass reconstruction project and a traffic light will be installed t North Main and Nichols Canyon Road. The school busses will have safer access to “the barn” and commercial truck traffic to and from the alternate business route will be safer. But it’s another stop light on North Main Street. Maybe that will help keep the traffic speed at 45 MPH.
SR 130 – Minersville
And the last project will include the I-15 Northbound off ramp. UDOT is having it widened to two exit lanes – one for left and one for right turning vehicles. In addition, the project encompasses creating right turn refuge lanes at several intersections to get traffic off the highway that needs to turn, and I believe a center turn refuge lane will stay.
Enoch Transportation gets more congested. Without a regular public bus route, Enoch will become more congested. Over 200 homes are schedule to be built in the next 18 months (more about that in Part III) and both Old Hwy 91 and SR 130 will be a commuters' nightmare.
The last improvement on SR 130 will be another round-about at the intersection of SR 130 and Mid Valley Road. It’s extremely dangerous and several have lost their lives there. The commercial truck traffic from Milford and lots of regular resident traffic puts visitors at a disadvantage and with Enoch’s growth it won’t get any better without this change.
So be patient. Leave a little earlier to get kids to school or get to work. As school activities come back, plan on routes that avoid these zones (if you can). If you have nightly rentals, help your guests get around the work zones or be sure and alert them to the projects.
It’ll be a long, congested, slow summer driving in Iron County, but nice when they’re competed.
By The Way --
If you have thoughts on Iron County Transportation issues, Cedar and Enoch Cities have a susrvey for public input on transportation. Visit cedarenochplan.org to add your 2 cents.
Part III will be the report by Enochs' Mayor Chestnut.
Until then - - -