Bluff Street project starts nighttime work to stay on schedule

A long section of the storm drainage system with the accompanying manholes along Bluff Street just prior to being covered, roadbase added and final paving, St. George, Utah, September 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Utah Department of Transportation, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — In order the keep the Bluff Street project on schedule, nighttime work hours are being added beginning Saturday, according to an update from the Utah Department of Transportation.

Paving the new Bluff Street and Sunset Boulevard intersection at dusk, St. George, Utah, July 2018 | File photo courtesy of the Utah Department of Transportation, St. George News

Nighttime roadwork will consist of paving between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. starting Saturday and carrying through Sept. 30. This may include work on Sunday.

As there will be nightly street closures during paving operations, motorists are asked to allow extra travel time through the project.

Caution is also advised as signals may not be perfectly aligned with the travel lanes during pavement and other operations, according to the project update.

“Please stay aware and be alert as you enter any controlled intersections within the project,” UDOT said in the update.

The Bluff Street widening project is slated to conclude in the fall and is 55 percent complete, according to the project website.

Alternative routes

Individuals who generally use the Sunset Boulevard to Bluff Street to St. George Boulevard corridor as their primary east-west route through town may want to consider Dixie Drive or Valley View Drive connecting to Sunset Boulevard, or Red Hills Parkway connecting to Snow Canyon Parkway as alternate travel routes.

Top: The former configuration of the Bluff Street-Sunset Boulevard intersection. Bottom: The intersection configuration designed to help traffic flow access Sunset Boulevard more easily without as much traffic backup. | Image courtesy of the Utah Department of Transportation, St. George News | Click image to enlarge

Road widening and improvements

  • Upgrading and improving all utilities that are buried in the current roadway, including storm drain, culinary water, sewer, fiber optics, gas, electrical and an upgraded advanced traffic-management system.
  • Increasing capacity with additional northbound and southbound lanes from 100 South to 1250 North through this heavily traveled section of road.
  • Reconfiguring the intersection at Sunset Boulevard and Bluff Street to improve safety and traffic flow and to handle projected traffic increases.
  • Adding a dedicated right-turn lane from westbound St. George Boulevard to northbound Bluff Street to improve safety and mobility.

State and city road planners have said for years that improvements to northern Bluff Street are needed to better handle current and future congestion that accompany the area’s continuing growth.

Bluff Street carries over 44,000 vehicles every day, with that number expected to climb to 65,000 by 2040 as the population increases from over 150,000 to around 321,000.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

10 Comments

  • Striker4 September 20, 2018 at 8:05 am

    trolling St George news at 8 am and came across this article….lol ! if you think there is a lot accidents on bluff now.. you ain’t seen nuttin yet !

    • Real Life September 20, 2018 at 10:31 am

      When the troller gets trolled, the troll gets angry.?

      • iceplant September 20, 2018 at 10:47 am

        Strikeout seems to be under the impression that trolling SGNews is a life worth living.

        • Redbud September 20, 2018 at 6:39 pm

          Iceplant, you are a troll yourself, so it must not be that bad, right?

  • comments September 20, 2018 at 8:23 am

    Am I the only one who thinks nighttime work should have been going on this whole time? It’s been a frickin nightmare for months now…

    • Redbud September 20, 2018 at 7:14 pm

      Yes they most definitely SHOULD have been working on it at night! Just wait till all the rich democrats from California build their houses along the Southern Parkway corridor though. They will build all these homes, lay down all these streets, cement, and sidewalks. Then after all that’s done, then comes the rain! The water will rise up an inundate all the libbys, and wash them all away down the crick! Just another part of draining the swamp!

      • Carpe Diem September 25, 2018 at 11:22 am

        Not so sure they are all liberals, MJ aint legal here, and rumors abound the COJCOLDS still has grips on the legislature!

  • LunchboxHero September 20, 2018 at 12:02 pm

    I’m sure the residents who live close to Bluff will just love that.

  • tazzman September 20, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    Oyy. No perfect remedy here. Widening Bluff was discussed for years but delayed. Procrastination is the root of all evil according to Mormons. Don’t know why….this might be an example.

  • Carpe Diem September 25, 2018 at 11:28 am

    Seems proper that Bluff Street is renamed to “California Dreamin’ Street”

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.