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Cottonwood Heights Journal

Curating construction for Cottonwood Heights

Aug 02, 2021 10:12AM ● By Cassie Goff

Road projects for fiscal year 2020-2021 are wrapping up and members of the Public Works Team are excited to begin work on some of the capital projects budgeted for this 2021-2022 fiscal year. (Photo courtesy of Matt Shipp/Cottonwood Heights Public Works)

By Cassie Goff | [email protected]

Utah has four seasons: fall, the greatest snow on earth, one week of spring, and construction (as the local saying goes). By this time of the summer, it’s almost an expectation to encounter an orange cone or two on daily commutes. While many road projects are wrapping up in Cottonwood Heights, there are still a few more that may continue to impact residential transportation.

The Utah Department of Transportation will be overlaying Wasatch Blvd. (S.R. 190 | 6200 S./Wasatch Blvd) from the I-215 interchange to Fort Union Blvd. This project was scheduled to begin July 18 for crews to begin removing old asphalt. Most of the work resurfacing and reconstructing several sidewalk ramps will be done at night, with traffic reduced to one lane each direction. UDOT warns commuters may experience brief closures and nearby residents will likely notice an increase in noise. 

UDOT wants to ensure Cottonwood Heights residents this overlay project is not part of the environmental impact study to alleviate ski traffic (see neighboring article). 

Cottonwood Heights will continue their city-wide striping project this fall. The city will begin accepting bids for this project during August. Work for this type of construction typically occurs at night so it will not likely impact typical daily commutes. 

Road construction around the newly developed Canyon Centre (7341 Canyon Centre Prkway) and Racquet club subdivisions (7350 E. Wasatch Blvd.) will begin in August as well. 

During the last week of July and first week of August, a handful of projects within Cottonwood Heights are wrapping up. 

Construction work along Scottish Dr. will conclude this week (as of publication), as long as there are no unforeseen circumstances. This project has taken several months as Granite Construction crews removed old asphalt and completed concrete work. A full week of milling occurred from July 12 to July 16, along with a full week of paving from July 19 to July 23. On July 21, a section of Scottish Dr. from Danish Rd. to Martha’s Cove, along with McNeil Cir., was paved. 

Similarly, road reconstruction along 1950 East has been ongoing. The final milling and concrete work is anticipated to be completed this week (as of publication). Again, barring no unforeseen circumstance. 

Over the past few summer months, the Cottonwood Heights Public Works team along with M&M Asphalt contractors have been busy working through a citywide slurry seal project. Altogether, they have laid 3 million square feet of slurry this year. 

As described within the project details, “Slurry seal is a roadway maintenance procedure which involves spreading a mixture of emulsified asphalt and aggregate over the exiting street surface.” 

Slurry helps to protect existing roadways from various water and vehicle damage, ultimately extending the life of a roadway. While slurry seals are often quick to dry, they may take up to 48 hours to cure completely. 

For residents whose roads were recently slurried Cottonwood Heights asks to be mindful of jolted driving, including quick steering movements like turning (especially when traveling at low speeds) and fast breaking or acceleration. For the first month to 60 days of a newly slurried road, it’s best to minimize power steering burns. 

These various slurry and road improvement projects will complete the third year of the Cottonwood Heights five-year road maintenance plan. For 2022, District 3 of Cottonwood Heights will take focus for road improvements. Many construction projects will occur within the neighborhoods next summer so there should be limited impact to resident commuters.

As July marks the end of fiscal year 2020-2021, many of these projects will wrap up last year’s budgeted projects now, the public works team will begin working on items included within the 2021-2022 fiscal year’s budget, for which there is over $2 million worth of capital projects ($2,232,762). ($2,055,512 of which is budgeted for various road maintenance such as city striping, overlays, chip seals, and slurry seals.) 

For more information about UDOT overlay project, call 800-292-3557 or email [email protected]

For more information on these road projects or about Public Works, visit the city’s website at www.cottonwoodheights.utah.gov, hover over the “City Services” page until a drop down menu appears with the option to click “Public Works” towards the right-hand side. 

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