AMERICAN FORK, Utah — You can’t go too far in American Fork without finding a road closure sign, and with four projects happening at the same time, driving can get a little overwhelming.
“We totally get it, how frustrating this could be,” said Camden Bird, the assistant city administrator for American Fork.
While no residents who FOX 13 News visited wanted to be on camera, we initially received an email from a resident asking for help. FOX 13 then saw Facebook messages flooded with concerned residents.
Bird said he understands the frustration, but the goal is to make the roads better.
“The ultimate purpose of all this is to increase and improve the roads and the connectivity for the residents down there,” Bird said. "And it is some growing pain along the way as we do it, and we are so sympathetic and so sorry that residents have to endure that process."
Bird released the following timeline of when roads are expected to be complete:
- 100 E (city project). Geneva Rock is currently paving 100 E as part of the Automall Dr Project. It is anticipated that they will be completed tomorrow, but it could take till Wednesday. After that, 100 E will be open. It will likely close intermittently when they get close to paving Automall Dr in 6-8 weeks. That project is expected to be complete in October.
- 100 W (city project). Geneva Rock is still working on 100 West. Driving it today, it looks like they are finishing some utility tie-ins. I can talk to Chad Scott to get some more definitive dates, but I would guess they will start preparing the road base to pave in a few weeks. That project is expected to be complete in September.
- 100 W (TSSD Project). TSSD has 100 West closed between 1100 S and 1500 S, and it will be closed for 30 days. They are preparing to lay the sewer main under the river. 1500 S is open from 860 E to 580 E. It will be in October when their project will be out of American Fork right of way.
- 200 S (City Project). City crews are planning on completing 200 S, west of the tracks this Tuesday and Wednesday. We will be closing one lane each day to install concrete, asphalt, and adjust any structures to grade. This work was intended to happen with the 200 S project last year, but the railroad permit took too long to get approved, and the contractor change order to mobilize back into the area was too much, so City crews will complete the remaining work this week.
Residents also asked why all of the projects need to happen at the same time.
“Unfortunately, with Utah and Utah weather, there's kind of a narrow construction period in the summer months, and so if there's anything that needs to be done, has to get done during that time,” Bird said.
Some residents even claim the detours can be closed, and that it can be hard getting into their own neighborhoods.
“We do the best we can during a construction project to make sure that locals have access to get into their neighborhoods. There are a lot of elements to any kind of a road capital project, and I can't promise that at every point, at every time, the access will be ideal,” Bird said.
Bird said unfortunately, it might have to get worse before it gets better.
“The hope is that residents can see and can kind of grit through the difficult time and realize that the juice is worth a squeeze,” he said. "It may be difficult for a time, but it'll be worth it.”
Bird said the City works to notify residents ahead of time through social media, and that residents can email the City at info@americanfork.gov if they have more concerns.
