WASHINGTON CITY — While much construction work still needs to be done in the area, Main Street is officially open for business without the alternating traffic signals.

Utah Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Riley Champneys told St. George News that the signals could be brought back intermittently for short periods of the project, which will give motorists the opportunity to exit Interstate 15 onto Main Street in Washington City.

Currently, one lane in each direction is open for travelers to use going to and from Buena Vista Boulevard. Crews have also finished work on the center bridges that carry interstate traffic over Main Street and are currently finishing work on the outside bridges, Champneys said.

“We’re still working on the approaches on the outside,” he said. “There is still a fair amount of work to be done on the outside portion of the bridges.”

All but one of the on- and off-ramps for the new Exit 11 are paved, but residents will not be able to use the new interchange immediately.

Work needs to be done to install fiber optics for Automated Traffic Management Systems used in traffic signals, cameras and public warning message boards, Champneys said.

Also hinging on the completion of the fiber optic project will be the second component of the Washington County I-15 improvement project, which involves widening the freeway to three lanes of travel in both north and southbound directions between mileposts 8 and 13.

Although most of the paving has been completed, other crews are installing guardrails, sound barriers and other aesthetics while waiting for the fiber optic and bridge work to be completed.

UDOT regional spokesman Kevin Kitchen said crews are working to complete the project before next year, but completion could be delayed until “early winter.”

Kitchen said the project is a larger piece of a statewide “transportation puzzle” and expressed gratitude to city and county leaders for partial funding through betterments and cooperation with state officials and to residents for putting up with the noise.

“To people’s credit, I think they were really engaged in work this early on,” Kitchen said. “And I think that what you are going to see here is a real good benefit to the city as well as the regional traffic flow.”

The sidewalks on Buena Vista Boulevard are open again for Washington City walkers previously dodging concrete work in the area.

The sidewalks on Main Street remain closed as ongoing fiber optic installation work is taking place.

Champneys said once the fiber optics are in place, traffic lights will need to be installed at the Buena Vista Boulevard and Main Street intersection, as well as the Exit 11 off-ramps.

“I think at the end of the day, this is a really good project that will benefit a lot of people,” he said. “Having a third lane on I-15 is going to help me; I make my commute to work quite a bit.”

The UDOT website states that residents with any noise or construction concerns can report them to a transportation team member by email at [email protected].

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