The price tag on a project to improve Highway 10 south of Price has increased, and the time frame has been extended as engineers work through the design phase and continue negotiations with property owners for right-of-way acquisitions. UDOT Region Four Communication Manager Kevin Kitchen noted there are 91 properties through the corridor, and there are still some outstanding rights-of-way on the west side of the highway.
The price of the project is now estimated to be about $15.1 million– up from about $11 million in the spring of 2016. The additional funding will come from the federal government. Some $2 million has been spent on preliminary engineering. The completion date is now projected to be sometime in the fall of 2019.
Kitchen said the delay stems from several factors, including right-of-way acquisitions, redesign and a shortage in supplies of materials used for transmission lines. He said a new federal law requires those materials to be made in the U.S.A., and that has resulted in reduced availability. He said they are also awaiting a plan from Rocky Mountain Power for utility lines through the corridor.
Additionally, Kitchen said, UDOT is in the process of implementing a new electronic bidding system where prospective contractors are involved in the design of projects. Construction management/general contractor (CM/GC), is a method where the project owner hires a contractor to provide feedback during the design phase prior to the start of construction. CM/GC is said to be more efficient than the design-bid-build system because it helps prevent design errors, and materials can be ordered sooner.
The contractor can also help develop the construction schedule during design, which minimizes lane closures and other negative impacts to the public.
According to the UDOT Project Overview, improvements on SR-10 from approximately 1150 South to 3200 South will increase safety by providing a continuous sidewalk on both sides, a center turn lane and widened shoulders. The project will also improve sight distance near Robertson Lane, and curb and gutter will be installed to improve drainage. At the unnamed wash, the project will replace the culverts with a 16-foot by 8-foot box culvert under SR-10.
Kitchen said there will be some adjacent utility work along the route next spring and summer, but the actual construction on the roadway isn’t expected to begin until 2019.
Right-of-way issues add to cost, delays on Highway 10 project
Highway 10 is heavily traveled by residential, industrial and tourism traffic. Kevin Ashby, Sun Advocate Publisher