UTA outlines BYU UVX station plan; contractor awarded and December opening targeted

Andrea Polis, the Utah Transit Authority project manager for the BYU UVX station, presented project history, design, funding and schedule to the Provo Transportation Mobility Advisory Committee on Jan. 2025. "I'm Andrea Polis. I am the project manager for the ... for UTA," Polis said as she introduced the team and confirmed UTA's consultant support.

The station is planned near the music building on 11 North Campus Lane and will have two platforms—one per travel direction—sited at the curb so buses can pull out and re‑enter traffic. Polis and consultant Kent Jody said designers matched platform columns and wall materials to nearby BYU buildings, removed concrete benches used on older stations and added ramps and railings to meet accessibility needs. "The columns are going to match the color of the top of the music building," Polis said when showing renderings.

UTA described system context and ridership: UVX began operations in December 2018, and presenters cited weekday boardings in the range described during the meeting (UTA staff referenced average weekday boardings around 8,000–9,000 for the corridor, with weekend ridership lower). Funding was described as coming from Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and MAG sources; Polis stated a project figure of $22,500,000 and referenced local match obligations (Polis said UTA is picking up a 6.77% local match). The PM2.5/match component and other grant items were discussed in Q&A but some line‑item clarifications were not provided in detail at the meeting.

Polis said the contract has been awarded to LiveSource and that UTA expects contract execution in mid‑February, with contractor mobilization in March or April depending on weather. "We are anticipating substantial completion in late August," Polis said, adding that substantial completion is followed by UTA activation checks, driver training and system safety validation; she said the target for opening to revenue service is in December, though UTA staff cautioned that soft openings could occur earlier for training runs.

TMAC members pressed on safety and vehicle encroachment risks. Multiple members asked whether platform railings could double as bollards to stop vehicles drifting into the platform. The UTA team said the station uses a full lane pullout and that a bollard would not necessarily prevent a high‑speed vehicle that had already crossed into the lane from reaching the platform; they noted railings and ramp design but said a bollard alone would not be a complete prevention for certain crash vectors.

City and UTA staff also discussed construction traffic control and signal timing. UTA indicated some lane reductions and temporary traffic control during construction are likely and that signal retiming work is planned; a contractor for signal timing has been engaged, and staff said they would provide details to the city and neighborhood as the contractor prepares submittals. Specific lane staging (build one side then swap, or build both sides concurrently) had not been finalized at the time of the presentation.

Polis identified Vern (city staff) as a local contact for questions and urged residents to route inquiries through regular UTA contacts or customer service to reach the correct team. Questions about pedestrian routing from adjacent BYU parking lots and measures to discourage cutting through private lots were discussed; presenters said design and companion sidewalk/wall elements were intended to direct pedestrians to sidewalks rather than through private parking.

What happened next: UTA staff said they will continue to send schedule updates and confirmed Vern as the city contact for neighborhood questions. TMAC members asked UTA to report back with any changes to schedule, traffic staging, and finalized signal timing details before work begins.

Votes/actions at the meeting: there were no formal TMAC votes on this station agenda item during the presentation; it was an informational update.