A reconstruction project on the Hoytsville Road overpass in North Summit had to halt for the winter. That left a bridge out over Interstate 80, and motorists forced to use a different route.
But county officials say the project is due to start up again in just days and will be finished this summer.
The halt to the road project stirred concerns from some residents. County Council Member Glenn Wright noted they heard complaints during a recent Coffee with Council event in Coalville.
County Public Works Director Derrick Radke told us the project had some design issues that required extra work last year.
“The extra work took longer, took us into the winter season. Then we had to decide whether or not the risk to the county and the taxpayers was worth the extra work that it would take to work through the winter. So, you can’t place material on frozen materials so if they put a layer of material in during the day then its going to freeze overnight. So, you have to blanket it, or tent it, and heat it. That takes extra work. Also working in the wintertime and in freezing conditions also diminishes the potential quality of the work. We can’t afford to have the fill and the retaining wall settle.”
He said they shut down in mid-November to avoid any extra costs. Radke said any rumors that the contractor is in financial trouble are not true.
“There was just all about trying to make for the best project possible. Mitigate extra costs for the additional material that had to be excavated and put back.”
He said they anticipate the contractor will resume work by May 13th, and finish by about mid-July.
There have been traffic impacts. Frustrated drivers who can’t’ take the overpass are heading down the old Lincoln Highway Road, on the eastern side of the valley.
Radke knows about it, since he works at the Public Works Facility off Hoytsville Road.
“I drive it every day, multiple times a day. There’s certainly more traffic on the Old Lincoln Highway than there used to be, but it’s not terrible. There’re still people that drive faster than they should. For the most part the road’s held up well. We haven’t had any incidents that I know of. I know it’s inconvenient for the people that are used to flying down Hoytsville road to get to work and do their thing but hopefully by mid-summer we’ll be done.”
He said it makes sense to drive the road at a moderate speed.
“The speed limit’s 35. You drive the speed limit, it’s not that big a deal. There are a lot of deer along there. Going down there today there’s probably a herd of 100 deer in the fields every afternoon. So it’s nice scenery to drive slow and look at.”