EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah — Construction on Pony Express Parkway is set to begin on Monday and go until Thanksgiving, and city officials are expecting a major impact.
“We definitely know that if our residents are working outside of Eagle Mountain, have appointments outside of Eagle Mountain, or other meetings or even just general activities to travel in and out of the city, this is likely the roadway they're going to be taking and so we understand that this is going to be a hassle for everybody,” said city communications manager Tyler Maffitt.
Neighbors are taking their frustrations to social media, saying they already have longer commute times with other construction going on around the city.
“I'm sure one of the things that our residents have experienced frustrations around is the number of projects taking place along Pony Express Parkway. We've had utility tie ins. We've had other water utility infrastructure work happening this year, and now this pavement settling issue,” Maffitt said.
Many are wondering why the city must add another project.
Maffitt said it’s something they need to do before temperatures drop.
“We definitely want to address that pavement settling before winter temperatures, the hot, cold and the precipitation cycle set in and potentially cause further damage to the roadway. What we want to do by finishing this work before the start of winter is to prevent roadway failure,” he said.
However, there may be room for adjustments during the construction process.
“We don't know the extent of the pavement settling until we begin work to open up the road, to take a look at what's happening under there, and then to really make an assessment. It could be that at any given time, we allow two lanes of travel in one direction and one lane of travel in the other,” Maffitt said.
People also want to know why crews aren’t working at night.
The city said that while they had every intention of doing so, there was no option to open up the roadway fully during the day, and that this was the only way to finish the project sooner.
According to the city, construction will begin on Monday, October 6 until November 26.
Maffitt said if residents have questions or concerns during this time, they can submit them in their online resident portal.
