Why does Main Street need to be torn up to fix Park City’s water infrastructure?
Public utilities engineer Griffin Lloyd said it’s largely because the water line in Old Town was installed in 1984.
“We’ve seen a substantial number of breaks in the last five years including roughly about 23 this year and one just in the past three weeks,” Lloyd said.
The water line will be replaced in phases during shoulder seasons over the next three years.
The first phase is April 1 to July 1. Main Street between Heber Avenue and Fifth Street will be closed to traffic weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Lloyd said one sidewalk will remain open at all times.
“This year we’re looking at starting a week early, we won’t have any closures during that time, but we want to allow the contractor to get in a week early… so that when April 1 comes, we’re ready to hit the ground and we’re installing as fast as we can.”
Parking will be free at the China Bridge garage on Swede Alley during construction except during special events like the Park Silly Sunday Market and Savor the Summit.
Park City received three bids for the project. Thursday the city council approved a $2.1 million contract with Silver Spur Construction for the first phase.
Lloyd said they favored Silver Spur because its bid was more than $700,000 cheaper than the other bids.
