NB I-15 To Close In Orem Saturday Night For Bridge Construction

OREM, Utah – The Utah Department of Transportation will close all northbound lanes of Interstate 15 in Orem Saturday night as crews install steel girder sections for what will be the longest pedestrian bridge in the state.

The closure will begin as early as 10:30 p.m. at University Parkway. Lanes are expected to reopen around 10 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release.

All northbound traffic will be detoured off the interstate at University Parkway and routed back to northbound I-15 via Geneva Road and Center Street.

In addition, drivers can expect some interim closures of southbound lanes.

DRIVER ALERT: NB I-15, between University Pkwy. and Orem Center St. will be closed starting 5/9, at 10:30 p.m. to 5/10, at 10 a.m. to place the next bridge beam segments for the @UVU bridge. Drivers can use State St. or Geneva Rd. to 800 N as a detour. @UDOTTRAFFIC @UtahDOT pic.twitter.com/4gEOGVCyTh

— UDOT Region Three (@UDOTRegionthree) May 8, 2020

Once assembled, each girder will be almost 1,000 feet long, the equivalent of 1.5 blocks in downtown Salt Lake City. The girders are made from 1.7 million pounds of structural steel, which is equal to the weight of roughly four locomotives.

Semi-trucks will move the beams from the nearby Utah Pacific Steel and Bridge plant in Lindon to the bridge site.

The work is part of a massive pedestrian bridge at Utah Valley University that will create a safe route for students and faculty traveling from housing, the Orem Intermodal Center and the western campus to the main campus. The span will cross College Drive, I-15 and Union Pacific and Utah Transit Authority FrontRunner tracks.

“It creates a walkable community for our venues such as the UCCU Center where we play sports, where we hold multiple events for the community”, said Val Peterson, vice president for Finance and Administration at UVU. “It will also link the Nordic Center with our performing arts, plays and concerts. You’ll be able to take frontrunner to Utah Valley University, and then literally be able to just walk over to our campus and attend those events.”

Peterson said the bridge was designed with the pedestrian in mind.

“The flooring will be heated so if we have snow or you have ice, it’ll melt that off,” Peterson said.

The bridge will also be covered to protect pedestrians from rain and snow.

The project is a collaboration between UDOT, UTA and UVU.

The bridge is scheduled to open later this year.