UDOT outlines months-long impacts from Bangerter and Mountain View projects; city, contractors to coordinate detours and dust mitigation

Rob (Robert) Stewart, Region 2 director for the Utah Department of Transportation, told the Riverton City Council that work on multiple interchanges — including Bangerter Highway at 1300 West/130 Fourth and at 2700 West — is “fully underway” and that the projects are entering a period of concentrated impacts on local traffic.

Stewart said the pedestrian overpass and new ramps have been installed at the Bangerter interchange and that crews are shifting traffic to new configurations. He told the council a sewer‑line relocation requires a temporary full closure of the right‑turn movements onto Bangerter Highway from 1300 West/130 Fourth. “That’s what I’m being told by my project team — you do it now, you do it later,” Stewart said of the closure timing, adding that the department prefers a heavy‑impact, shorter‑duration approach to closures.

The city’s council members pressed for details on detour signing and outreach. Council Member Pucci asked whether left turns and westbound movements would remain possible from 130 Fourth onto Bangerter during the utility work; Stewart said the project team’s plan preserves certain turn movements and that UDOT staff and the contractor will coordinate detour signing with the city. Stewart said crews expect to start related work in mid‑February and complete the pavement and striping by May 1; he described the active closure window as roughly two months. He also said the contractor is meeting with UDOT communications staff to finalize public notices and detour messaging.

Council members raised concerns about noise, vibration and dust near staging areas. Stewart acknowledged dust is an issue “we are responsible to mitigate” and said typical mitigation is water spraying; he told the council he would provide specifics of the contractor’s dust‑mitigation plan to city staff for public distribution. Council members asked UDOT to prioritize signage directing drivers away from residential cut‑throughs and to ensure businesses in the work area remain accessible; Stewart said UDOT will try to provide clear business‑access signage.

On schedule, Stewart said the large interchange work is on a roughly 360‑day critical path for reconstruction of cross streets, with “substantial completion” for major traffic openings projected across winter into spring of the following year — freeing traffic under new bridges while some ancillary work (landscaping, permanent striping) continues afterward. He said the contractor‑designer model differs between projects: Bangerter used a design‑build contractor while Mountain View Corridor is planned as design‑bid‑build.

Stewart also reviewed the Mountain View Corridor design concept, which will include one‑way frontage roads with frequent slip‑ramps; he said the corridor will be delivered in phases (initial frontage/freeway conversion, grade separations, then widening). He told the council Mountain View is currently funded at roughly $490 million but the projected cost for the highlighted segment is about $1 billion, and that the corridor is being prioritized because it provides an alternate to I‑15 and improves east‑west mobility.

Stewart briefed the council on a separate U‑111 realignment project that could trigger a jurisdictional transfer of 126 South to the city after construction; he warned that jurisdictional transfers can carry long‑term maintenance costs and that the city may be expected to contribute to future maintenance of transferred segments. He also described the Welly Jacobs Canal trail and a planned pedestrian bridge (redesigned to a 12‑foot wide structure), noting UDOT and the city are coordinating design and construction responsibilities.

Stewart closed by saying UDOT will continue working with Riverton staff on traffic control, messaging, dust mitigation and access issues and will provide staff with further details for public communications.

Ending: The council asked staff to coordinate closely with UDOT on public notices, signage and detour routing, and to pass along community questions about dust mitigation and business access. UDOT said it would share a detailed mitigation and communications plan with the city’s communications staff before work begins.