ST. GEORGE — Bluff Street will be open for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as road planners anticipate work wrapping up by mid-December.
According to an email update Thursday from the Utah Department of Transportation, all barrels and traffic control devices will be removed from Bluff Street prior to Thanksgiving and the roadway will be open.
“Motorists will be able to drive the road in its permanent configuration. Work will be suspended for the holiday weekend,” the email states.
However, work related to utilities and power lines, punch list activities, as well as sidewalk and trail installations and landscaping, will resume and continue through mid-December.
Occasional shoulder and lane closures may still occur during this time.
Work on the retention wall on the back of the Sun Stone Condominiums is being finished along with the installation of fall protection fencing.
“Residents of these condos should avoid parking in the parking stalls along the retention wall to protect their vehicles from any damage until further notice,” according to UDOT’s email.
Reasons behind all the roadwork
State and city road planners have said for years that improvements to northern Bluff Street are needed to better handle current and future congestion that accompany the area’s continuing growth.
Bluff Street carries over 44,000 vehicles every day, with that number expected to climb to 65,000 by 2040 as the population increases from over 150,000 to around 321,000.
The following are desired outcomes of the Bluff Street project:
- Upgrading and improving all utilities that are buried in the current roadway, including storm drain, culinary water, sewer, fiber optics, gas, electrical and an upgraded advanced traffic-management system.
- Increasing capacity with additional northbound and southbound lanes from 100 South to 1250 North through this heavily traveled section of road.
- Reconfiguring the intersection at Sunset Boulevard and Bluff Street to improve safety and traffic flow and to handle projected traffic increases.
- Adding a dedicated right-turn lane from westbound St. George Boulevard to northbound Bluff Street to improve safety and mobility.
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Woooooohooooooo…just in time for 4 days of drunk drivers celebrating the holiday
Some of the businesses on the right side going up should have moved the sidewalk is so close to the front doors, but we know colorland was an inside decision with the city..watch out for accidents, they have had trouble before